Letters from John: Second John

10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11 for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works. 
2 John 10-11 

All Christians are very familiar with the greatest commandments found in the Scripture; that is to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself (Matt 22:34-40). Christians also understand that this means more than just preaching the Gospel and being friendly to others, but is an act of worship to God. Given that, it seems odd that John would give a command in his letter to not receive or greet a person who comes with false teachings. Is there any way that we can reconcile this passage with the great command to love? Is this passage prescriptive for just that specific point in history, but not one that should be practiced today?

Reconciling this passage with the love command is easily handled when we remember the context for this passage. The elder warns against those who are “deceivers and the antichrist” who will come with teachings that do not line up with the teaching of Christ (7). Limited to just false teachers, they are not to be received into the church. This does not mean that we cast out everyone who we simply do not agree with, because no one has a perfect theology. What it does mean is that if there are those who are teaching heresy, they are not to be received and welcomed into the church so that they are not able to perpetuate their false teaching. It is rather an unloving thing to allow a person to come into the church and to lead people astray or to try and accommodate for their error.

Concerning the greeting, it served as an expression of acceptance and support. Some translate the word “welcome” (chairein) to means “God bless” or “may it go well”. But given that these individuals are promoting teachings which would lead someone away from God, there is no encouragement given from these teachers. 

Having that understanding of the context of the passage, we then can see that this regulation is prescriptive for us even today. We should always be hospitable, however we must also hold firm to the truth. The sad reality is that there are too many churches who will want to accommodate or overlook false teachings in order to be hospitable and loving. However, we are called to love God who is truth, and to sacrifice the truth is to neglect and disregard God’s Word.

Grace and Peace,
Alex Galvez

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