Which 3rd John role model are you?

“Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.” – 3rd John 11

The book of 3rd John is a letter John wrote to a man named Gaius. Gaius was a Christian who gladly welcomed traveling believers into his home, giving them food and a place to stay on their journey. John was glad that Gaius ministered to fellow believers in this way, but there were some in Gaius’s community who weren’t as happy.

In fact, there was a man named Diotrephes who was a leader within the local church, and he despised what both Gaius and John were trying to do. Even though Diotrephes was supposed to be a fellow believer and a religious leader, he relished in his power and shunned anyone who threatened his authoritative position. John wrote in verse 10 that Diotrephes slandered them, working to estrange John and Gaius from his small faction of followers. In addition, “he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church.” John also goes on to say that this supposedly pious man’s evildoing prevents him from even seeing God.

Apparently, John felt that Diotrephes’s influence was great enough that he needed to warn Gaius not to turn a wicked man into a role model simply because of his title or position. Instead, John recommends another man to follow — a man named Demetrius, who “has a good testimony from all, and from the truth itself. And we also bear witness, and you know that our testimony is true.”

As believers and kidmin volunteers, we need to consider what kind of example we set. Are we being good role models for those in our ministry? Are we being like Diotrephes or like Demetrius?

We also need to be like John. Pop culture, our neighborhoods, our schools, and even our churches are full of people who can be easily seen and imitated. We need to help guide our kids away from the Diotrepheses and toward the Demetriuses, teaching them to “not imitate what is evil, but what is good.”

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