It’s No Small Message—
Big Messages From Short Bible Books
3 John—“How are you, REALLY?”
A Sermon by Jim Hammond

Most people use the common greeting, “How are you?”  Do you ever wonder if it’s really a question or simply a hello? 

     One Senior Citizen walked into the cafeteria at the Senior Living Center and after sitting down with his friends, she asked, “How are you?” 
     That got things started. Everyone began talking about their ailments:
     "My arms are so weak I can hardly lift this cup of coffee," said one.
     "Yes, I know. My cataracts are so bad I can't even see my coffee," replied another.
     "I can't turn my head because of the arthritis in my neck," said a third, to which several nodded weakly in agreement.
     "My blood pressure pills make me dizzy," another went on.
     "I guess that's the price we pay for getting old," winced an old man as he slowly shook his head.
     Then there was a short moment of silence…
     "Well, it's not that bad," said one woman cheerfully. "Thank God, we can all still drive."

Seriously, is the greeting, “How are you” really a question?  Do we want to know?  I have a friend that greets me with the “How are you” greeting, and after I’ve answered back with the typical, “Fine, how are you?” he will say, “No, REALLY, how are you?”  Now the greeting isn’t just a greeting but a real question.  Have you had a friend like that?  The question also communicates caring.  A connection is made.  Today we are going to look at John’s greeting to Gaius in his short letter we now call 3 John and allow that greeting to become the lens through which we look at the rest of the letter.  By doing this we will hopefully learn some important truths about ourselves.  We are going to allow John’s ancient greeting to be used as God’s tool to ask each one of us personally, “How are you, REALLY?”

Before we get into the letter and see John’s greeting, let’s consider the background to this letter.

Background

It was about AD 90.  The Elderly Apostle John wrote his first letter to a troubled church (1 John) from Ephesus and in the letter he described a theological problem that some of the members of the church believed.  It was the heresy of Gnosticism, the belief that Matter is inherently evil, and spirit is good.  The problem with the heresy was that it caused them to teach that Christ could not have really come as a man in the flesh.  During this controversy, some of the people who did not agree with the apostolic teaching left the church.  However, the controversy did not die.  Many of the false teachers who had left came back.  As a result John wrote the second letter (2 John) and confronted the false teachers and told the church to stand firmly against the “deceivers” who are “antichrists.”  The temptation for the Christians was to be kind, loving, and hospitable to these former associates.  John emphasized the twin pillars of the faith, emphasizing truth and love.  To support these “deceivers” would mean diluting the all-important central truths about Christ.  John told them not to provide hospitality because that would support their “ministries” and would do further damage to the Gospel, since these teachers did not believe Jesus came in the flesh.  The controversy didn’t stop after the second letter either. 

John wrote 3 John to a friend named Gaius.  He commended Gaius for being hospitable to the emissaries that John had sent.  John had been making repeated efforts to bring correction to the house churches that were affected.  The situation had become critical.  A church leader by the name of Diotrephes was no longer listening to the Apostle John whatsoever.  Diotrephes had rejected the first letter John had written.  Then John sent emissaries.  It became obvious that Diotrephes had rejected John’s authority.  He had gone as far as to reject the emissaries John had sent.  Diotrephes disallowed the congregation to accept, or show any hospitality to these messengers of the Gospel that John had sent.  Diotrephes had gone so far as to tell the congregation that if anyone in the church gave these men hospitality he would put them out of the church and reject them along with John’s emissaries.  Diotrephes began spreading maligning rumors about the Apostle John. 

Here is where Gaius became the lone standing hero.  For reasons we do not know, Gaius did not fear Diotrephes.  Perhaps Gaius was a leader of a different house church so he didn’t fear Diotrephes.  Gaius housed John’s friends and when he sent them off, he gave them monetary support for their travels and continued ministry effort.  Word quickly got back to John about the events that transpired.   Upon finding out what happened, John wrote this quick note we call 3 John, a personal letter of praise and encouragement to Gaius who had remained faithful to the Apostolic truth and he demonstrated his loyalty to John himself.  John’s third letter was a letter to say he would come personally as soon as possible, though he couldn’t come immediately.  So he sends this letter by way of a courier he commends to Gaius by the name of Demetrius.  John knew he would need allies like Gaius when he would personally go to confront Diotrephes.  3 John is the shortest letter in the entire New Testament, but don’t be fooled; “It’s No Small Message.”

Focus:  (The Big Message) We must each carefully look to the health of our own souls because some who believe themselves to be prospering are spiritually impoverished.

3 John 1:1-14 (NIV)
    ¹The elder, To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.
    ²Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. ³It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. ⁴I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
     ⁵Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you. ⁶They have told the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. ⁷It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. ⁸We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth.
     ⁹I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. ¹⁰So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.
     ¹¹Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. ¹²Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.
     ¹³I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. ¹⁴I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.
     Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.

I.  How are you REALLY? (2)

²Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.

Is this verse a greeting primarily, or a prayer, or a promise?  It is expressed as a prayer but it serves as a Christianized form of a conventional greeting.  Some people today, continue to use this verse in their teaching as if it were John’s intention to teach us that God promises to prosper us materially and in other ways proportionately to how our soul prospers.  What do you think?  This greeting is certainly NOT the major point of the letter.  Oral Roberts is an example of one person who went too far with this verse.  He began to teach the prosperity Gospel based on his view of this verse.  Many at many churches have used this verse with the emphasis Oral Roberts placed upon it.  But now people even among Pentecostal groups are bringing needed correction to how this verse is being used.  For example, one teacher at the Pentecostal Church of God School of Theology in Cleveland, Tennessee, is now using this verse in his introductory classes on biblical interpretation to show how context determines the understanding of the phrases.[i]  He disagrees with Oral Roberts interpretation of this verse.

John’s reason for writing the letter had nothing to do with teaching about prosperity as it relates to the soul.  This phrase then falls in the realm of greeting more than promise.  But it is a greeting stated as a prayer.  There is nothing wrong with praying that someone should prosper even as his soul prospers, but this is saying something much less than saying God promises that we will prosper materially, or physically, as our soul prospers.

Even though this verse does not teach the prosperity gospel, it does nevertheless bring up an important way of evaluating our own lives.  We do need to ask the question, how is it with my soul?  So with this concept in mind, we will notice from the rest of this letter that there are people who are prospering yet their souls are impoverished, just as there are some people who are poor monetarily, or are experiencing poor health yet their souls are prospering.  Having said that, I want to use this comparison of prospering souls with impoverished souls as we evaluate the key players in this letter. 

The context indicates that Diotrephes was an impoverished soul though outwardly everything looked wonderful.  By contrast we will look at Gaius who according to John had a soul that was prospering.  Let us consider what a prosperous soul looks like, and by contrast what an impoverished soul looks like as we learn more about Gaius and Diotrephes.

A. The Prosperous Soul (Gaius)

1.         Is Faithful to the Truth (3-4)

³It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth.  ⁴I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

Gaius had listened to John, learned from John and now was living out the truth he learned.  Gaius proved his loyalty to John and the truth.

2.         Loves and Serves Others (5) For the sake of the Name (7)

     ⁵Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you.

Kurtis the stock boy

In a supermarket, Kurtis the stock boy, was busily working when a new voice came over the intercom asking for a carry out at check register 4.  Kurtis was almost finished, and wanted to get some fresh air, and decided to answer the call. As he approached the checkout stand a distant smile caught his eye, the new check out girl was beautiful. She was an older woman (maybe 26, and he was only 22) and he fell in love.
     Later that day, after his shift was over, he waited by the punch clock to find out her name. She came into the break room, smiled softly at him, took her card and punched out, then left. He looked at her card, BRENDA. He walked out only to see her start walking up the road.
     Next day, he waited outside as she left the supermarket, and offered her a ride home. He looked harmless enough, and she accepted. When he dropped her off, he asked if maybe he could see her again, outside of work. She simply said it wasn't possible. He pressed and she explained she had two children and she couldn't afford a baby-sitter, so he offered to pay for the baby-sitter. Reluctantly she accepted his offer for a date for the following Saturday.
     That Saturday night he arrived at her door only to have her tell him that she was unable to go with him. The baby-sitter had called and canceled. To which Kurtis simply said, "Well, let’s take the kids with us. "She tried to explain that taking the children was not an option but again, not taking no for an answer, he pressed. Finally Brenda brought him inside to meet her children. She had an older daughter who was just as cute as a bug, Kurtis thought. Then Brenda brought out her son, in a wheelchair.   He was born a paraplegic with Down syndrome. Kurtis asked Brenda, "I still don't understand why the kids can't come with us?" Brenda was amazed. Most men would run away from a woman with two kids, especially if one had disabilities, just like her first husband and father of her children did.
     That evening Kurtis and Brenda loaded up the kids and went to dinner and the movies. When her son needed anything Kurtis would take care of him.  When he needed to use the rest room, he picked him up out of his chair, took him, brought him back. The kids loved Kurtis. At the end of the evening, Brenda knew this was the man she was going to marry and spend the rest of her life with.  A year later, they were married and Kurtis adopted both of her children.  Since then they have added two more kids.
     So what happened to the stock boy and check out girl? Well, Mr. & Mrs. Kurt Warner, now live in St. Louis, where he is employed by the St. Louis Rams and plays quarterback.[ii] 

He’ll be playing in today’s Super Bowl game.  I tell you this story as an example of loving and serving others. 

Speaking at a Billy Graham crusade in St. Louis last fall, Warner told a crowd of 40,000 people, "Who am I? I am a devout Christian man. I am not a football player. That is what I do. When I throw a touchdown pass now, my thoughts are on how I can use this success on the field as a platform to glorify and praise my Lord Jesus Christ.  People often ask the secret of my success as a football player. It has nothing to do with how I work out in the off-season or my diet. The secret of my success is simply Jesus Christ."[iii]

From what I have read about him, here is a man who is trying to love and serve others for the sake of The NAME.

3.         Is a Ministry Partner (6-8)

⁶They have told the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. ⁷It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. ⁸We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth.

How’s your soul prospering?  Are you walking in a close relationship with the truth?  Can that be seen by the way you serve and love others for the sake of the Name?  Are you partnering in ministry, helping others to succeed in ministry in some way?  These are the characteristics of Gaius, somebody John considered had a prospering soul.

B. The Impoverished Soul (Diotrephes)

1.         Loves to be first (9)

⁹I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first,

Diotrephes enjoyed a great measure of prestige, power, and influence, but he wanted more prestige power and influence. Outwardly he looked as if he had it all together.  The impoverished soul looks at a partner as the competition and a rival because he wants to be number one.  Competition is how Diotrephes viewed John and the missionaries John sent.  John was a threat to Diotrephes position and power.

USA Today All-Joes Team (in its 10^th year)

"If you work hard, good things will happen…to someone else."  So goes the motto of the All-Joes Team. Each year USA Today honors overlooked and often unappreciated football players by naming them to what the newspaper calls its All-Joes Team. Now in its tenth year, the All-Joes award celebrates men who sacrifice their egos for the good of their team. Some players simply have "slob" jobs, all down-and-dirty tasks that yield no statistics. Think of our worthy fullbacks, who rarely get a carry or see a pass thrown their way. Think of all those offensive linemen.  It is these little known, little recognized players that are picked for the All-Joes Team.
     We as Christians need to work for someone else's glory also. Our role is to diminish so that Jesus may increase.[iv] 

The All-Joe motto: If you work hard, good things will happen—to someone else. 

Gaius didn’t mind proving this motto to be true, Diothrephes would have hated proving this motto true because he loved to be first.  He didn’t like serving to make good things happen for others.  What about you?

Whereas Gaius is Faithful to the truth, Diotrephes is faithful only to himself.

2.         Rebels against God given authority (9-10)

“. . . will have nothing to do with us.”

Diotrephes may look to be in control but he is in rebellion (Rebellion is willful living outside of God’s control) (10)

¹⁰So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.

It is possible, though not provable by this letter, that Diotrephes aligned himself with the false teaching confronted in 1 & 2 John and began openly opposing John’s teachings about the person and work of Jesus.  It is more likely however that this is not the case since John did not address him as a “deceiver” as he did the false teachers of 2 John.  The fact that he had been able to persuade others to his viewpoint demonstrates that he is no intellectual slouch.  Some are falling for his schemes.  Even if he was a bad example and leading people away from God’s will, he was a leader.

Diotrephes thought he had it together and didn’t.

His hidden spiritually impoverished condition was becoming exposed and would be exposed further.  If you judge yourself, you can make corrections and avoid God’s judged.  If you humble yourself, you will avoid being humiliated. 

INVICTUS

The Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh embraced the poem "Invictus," by William Ernest Henley. According to Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck, in their book, American Terrorist, McVeigh intended to include some of its lines in his last words.  I didn’t hear whether he did or not, but here are some of the words from Invictus [v]

It matters not how straight the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.

Invictus is the Latin word for invincible, a poet’s tribute to self-reliance. The last stanza describes the attitude of people like Timothy McVeigh or Diotrephes, or for anyone else who puts too much stock in self-reliance as they disregard God ordained authority.  People like McVeigh or Diotrephes are in for a painful surprise. 

Jan Davis’ Surprise 

Consider now Jan Davis’ surprise.  Jan Davis, 60, a professional veteran parachutist, was involved in a dangerous sport called BASE jumping—leaping off fixed objects like cliffs and towers. It was while BASE-jumping that she fell to her death October 22, 1999.

Her husband, who was filming the jump, and several reporters were stunned when Jan, the 4th of 5 jumpers, fell for 20 seconds and crashed into the rocks. Her chute had not opened properly. She was jumping off the 3,200 foot granite cliff, El Capitan, in Yosemite National Park, California.

She and the other jumpers knew that BASE-jumping is illegal in Yosemite Park.  The law was adopted because there had already been six deaths in Yosemite along with numerous injuries due to BASE-jumping. The five jumpers were in fact protesting the park's jumping restrictions and, ironically, were jumping to prove that the sport is safe.  [Jan Davis wore black and white stripes in mockery of the fact she could be arrested for her jump.  She also wore some borrowed older equipment because she assuming her own expensive equipment would be confiscated upon her arrest.] 

These jumpers not only knew the risks, they also knew the law and deliberately broke it. Jan Davis paid with her life.

In a similar way, many people think they can deliberately violate God's law. But eventually people learn, sometimes the hard way, that God's laws are there for a reason: our well being. [vi]

Whereas Gaius Loved and Served Others For the sake of the Name, Diotrephes hindered others for the sake of his Name, His Reputation.

3.         Is a Ministry Hindrance (10)

Whereas Gaius Is a Ministry Partner, Diotrephes is a ministry Hindrance even though he calls himself a ministry leader!  The purpose for this letter is to continue the process of confrontation.  John planned to come and confront Diotrephes.  We don’t know whether he did, and what became of it. 

What we do know is that a very strong contrast is before us.  We need to answer the question about ourselves.  How are we REALLY?  Are we like Gaius because our Souls prosper, or are we more like Diotrephes?  We look like we are doing okay on the outside, we profess to be doing okay, but when God asks, “How are you REALLY?” God knows when we are not “just fine.”

·        How are you REALLY?

·        How is it with your soul?

·        Are you faithful to the Truth?  Or have you been BASE jumping, doing things you know to be outside of the will of God?

·        Do you Love and Serve Others For the sake of the Name?  Are you okay with the Motto:  If you work hard, good things will happen—to someone else.  Who do you need to love and serve?  What can you do? 

·        Are you a ministry partner?  How can you partner up in ministry to further the cause of Christ?