Letters from John: Third John

8 Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. 
3 John 8 

In John’s second letter, we learned how the limitations for Christian Hospitality are reached at the point in affirming those who teach false doctrines that, heresy, which would lead people away from the truth of the Gospel. In John’s third letter, we see what a proper view of it looks like. For sure we do not welcome people into our homes for our own sakes, to show them how beautiful it is or to show off our collections, but rather hospitality ought to be extended for the sake of the other person. In the highest sense, our hospitality is used for God’s glory and for the good of others.

It is deeply sad when we read articles, such as one found in Christianity Today which highlight the opposite. In that article, we read the following:

“I am presently completing the second year of a three-year survey on the hospitality or lack of it in churches. To date, of the 195 churches I have visited, I was spoken to in only one by someone other than an official greeter—and that was to ask me to move my feet.”

In John’s times, as it is even today, Christian ministers depended on the hospitality of others to support their ministry. And in John’s third letter, Gaius is commended as a hospitable man for all of his work in supporting these strangers (3 John 5). However, his generosity was not restricted to just the care that he had in hosting them, but extended much further in sending “them on their journey in a manner worthy of God” (3 John 6). This phrase indicates to us that Gaius was also willing to send these traveling believers with an adequate amount of supplies and provisions in manner that is worthy of God; in such a way that it is ultimately generous as God has been generous towards us.

Gaius is presented as an example of how we are likewise to be hospitable, especially towards those laboring in the ministry while Diotrephes is quite the opposite. He is condemned for his pride, lust for power and prestige, and his total opposition to supporting these travelers (3 John 9-10). And the condemnation on him is strong as John states that “whoever does evil has not seen God” (3 John 11).

Although we live in a world with hotels and restaurants on every street corner, this does not mean that we are exempt from showing hospitality. Our hospitality should start within the local church and not be reserved exclusively for visiting strangers. I encourage you to find opportunities to love and care for the students, elderly, widows, families, etc in your local body. Additionally, as you are able to, do not neglect to support those ministers who labor for the Kingdom of God for God’s glory for this what we are called to.

Grace and Peace,
Alex Galvez

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