Sep19-25: Power Struggle

Teaching Points

1. What do we learn about Gaius in 3 John 1-4?

• 3 John 1 The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth. 3 John 2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 3 John 3 For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. 3 John 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

ANSWER: Gaius was a man of God.

• 3 John 1 Gaius was greatly loved by John
• 3 John 2 Gaius was a spiritually prosperous man
• 3 John 3 Gaius lived according to the truth

OBSERVATION:

• 3 John 2, I am not sure but I think Gaius' health was not the best at the time John wrote this epistle. Or maybe it was just a general way of saying 'I hope you are doing well'. In any case, it is a good text to show that we should strive to be healthy.

SOP:

• Personal religion is of the highest importance. John wrote to Gaius, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth" (3 John 2). Health of body depends largely upon health of soul; therefore whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. Personal religion is revealed by the deportment, the words, and the actions. It causes growth, till at last perfection claims the commendation of the Lord, "Ye are complete in Him" (Colossians 2:10)--Lt 117, 1901. {1MCP 27.1}

2. Read 3 John 5–8 and paraphrase what John is saying.What important lesson is here for us?

• 3 John 1:5 Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers; 3 John 1:6 Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well: 3 John 1:7 Because that for his name’s sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles. 3 John 1:8 We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth.

ANSWER:

• 3 John 5 You show great hospitality towards the believers and to the strangers (or believers that are from other places)
• 3 John 6 And these believers talked about your good hospitality to other believers in other places. So it is a good thing to support them for their journey.
• 3 John 7 So that they can go do their missionary work in the Name of Jesus and not depend on the support of the unbelievers.
• 3 John 8 Therefore we ought to support such missionaries. In this way we are giving an evidence that we also are fellow workers of the gospel.

OBSERVATION:

• This is very interesting because in 2 John we see what type of people we should not receive but in 3 John we see what type of people we should receive into our house.
• We should definitely be ready to support God's traveling missionaries.
• Not only to provide hospitality during their visit but to give extra so that the missionaries can do evangelism to non-believers.
• This is how we can be missionaries even though we may not travel to other countries.
• This is one of the ways how we can love one another. So love another is more then just smiling at them during Sabbath day.

3. Read 3 John 9, 10. What was the problem with Diotrephes?

• 3 John 9 I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
• 3 John 10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.

ANSWER: Seeking preeminence and refusing to acknowledge John's authority

OBSERVATION:

• Whoever this Diotrephes was, he was a problem. Church members were being pushed aside or even disfellowshiped for showing basic Christian courtesy to others. But this was not all. Probably Diotrephes was trying to establish himself as the only leader of the congregation or at least as the one in control. He mayhaveconfused lust of power with zeal for the gospel. Arrogantly he rejected the authority of the apostle John and others; Diotrephes even went further and slandered John. This was a dangerous development, because it sounds as if Diotrephes wanted to be independent from those who were overseeing the church on a larger scale. Such an attitude had the potential to dramatically change the nature of the church and the role church members would playin the church. p. 107
• "Loveth to have the preeminence among them" -Lust for power
  
• "Receiveth us not"-Over protective of their own power, dictatorial
  
• "Prating against us with malicious words"-Vindictive, defensive, sharp tongue, crafty, manipulative, and fault finding
  
• "Casteth them out of the church"-Controlling, cold hearted
  
• Diotrephes was trying to work for God and thinking that was the best thing for the church. Maybe he thought that he was smarter than other leaders and in order to fulfill the purpose of the church, he needed to use his might to make it happen.
• Sometimes we can be so protective of the goal of the church that we become defensive and argumentative. We become insensitive to people's feelings and refuse to change our ways because we think God's work comes first.

APPLICATION QUESTIONS:

• Might there not be a bit of Diotrephes in all of us?
• Look at your self. Are you greedy for power?
• Do you speak out against those you don’t like?
• Most important, are you making the sad mistake of automatically assuming that what is best for you personally is best for the church as a whole? (All these application questions are from SSL p 107)

4. Read 3 John 11. Why would John write this when he did? What important point is he making here, especially given the context, that of warning about a church leader who was acting contrary to the principles of Christ?

• 3 John 11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God; but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

ANSWER: To say that the church members should not follow Diotrephes' example. Why? Because Diotrephes does not have the true experience with God.

OBSERVATION:

• "Seen God" means having a personal experience with God. Gen. 32:30 "For I have seen God face to face"
• "Seen God" is connected to "abide in Him" and know God. 1 John 3:6 "Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him.
• Diotrephes did not have or if he did but did not remain in the experience of 1 John 1:1-3 ("We have seen and heard" the Word of Life).
• A believer can be a dictatorial Diotrephes if he or she does not seek God daily for "seen and heard" experience with Jesus. Diotrephes-symdrom can be seen in all churches. Therefore if we learn to know God then we learn to love one another. When we learn to love each other then there will be patience and humility. True patience and humility mean we are willing to listen and give people time to see your point of view without anger and pride. We can be free from Diotrephes-symdrom when we dwell in the spirit of patience and humility.
• The image of "evil" does not have to be satanic and devilish. It can be much more subtle then that. Contextually speaking, John called the spirit of Diotrephes "evil". Was he doing animal sacrifices? Was he killing people? Was he "worshipping" satan? Most likely the answer is "no" to all these questions. However "evil" is much more subtle then most people think. Pushing to do God's work in the spirit of dictatorship is "evil" according to 3 John. We need to stand strong for the truth. However our standing strong for the truth should not offend people with our wrong attitude. If our attitude is bad then we are not really standing in the full truth.

SIDE NOTE:

• Diotrephes means Jove-nourished. Dio comes from Dis and Dis is connected to Jove or Jupiter, the supreme deity of the Greeks. Trephes comes from trepho. Trepho means nourish. So in application Diotrephes was nourished by Jupiter.

APPLICATION QUESTIONS:

• What would people say about your spirit when you do God's work?
• Is there a connection between antichrist and Diotrephes?

5. What do we know about Demetrius? 3 John 12

• 3 John 12 Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record; and ye know that our record is true.

ANSWER: He has a good reference from many people.

OBSERVATION:

• Perhaps the most important principle we can take away from this one verse about Demetrius has to do with the power of influence. Read the verse again. Who was able to testify about the “faithfulness” of Demetrius? It came from many directions. The point is that if we are living a Christian life, if we are faithful, others will know. Others can bear witness and testimony to it. And most important, others can be influenced by it. In the end,one wayor another,our life, our existence, sends a message, and that message can be a positive or a negative influence. This doesn’t mean we are perfect, this doesn’t mean we don’t make mistakes, this doesn’t mean we don’t have room to improve. It means, instead, that others are watching us, others are listening to us, and others are influenced by us. The question is, What kind of witness do we bear? SSL 108

6. What can we learn from the following texts about how the church is to be governed? Mark10:42–44; Acts 6:1–7; 15:6, 22–25..

ANSWER:

• Mark 10:42-44 Leaders should be servants
• Acts 6:1-7 Ministers should pray and study and teach the word of God. Deacons should "serve tables"
• Acts 15:6, 22-25 God has ordained church leadership to deal with major issues in the church.

OBSERVATION:

• The bottom line is good leaders are good servants. Good speakers are good listeners. Good teachers are good students.

CONCLUSION:

• The problem that existed in John's time exists today. This lesson is not to point out who is "Diotrephes" in the church but rather we should search our own heart to see if we have any spirit of Diotrephes. So that we do not become one or we blindly support someone who has the spirit of Diotrephes. What make it hard is that many Diotrephes have that appearance of a good leader, like Judas who betrayed Jesus. Many of them are gifted with talents and abilities. They are often gifted with good speech. Other people may think that these Diotrephes are valuable to the church and willing to overlook their dictatorial spirit. Such an action can makes it worse for the future of the church. It is not an easy matter to point out Diotrephes-syndrom in others. It is much better for ourselves to pray everyday that we do not allow this virus to spoil our character and our Christian community.

APPLICATION QUESTIONS:

• Do you dare to ask others in the church if they see Diotrephes-syndrom in you?
• If they say 'yes" then what would you do? How would you react to their exhortation and rebuke?
• Do you feel that the church cannot be successful without your help?