Contemplative Bible Reading

3 John (New Living Translation)

⁹ I wrote to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be the leader, refuses to have anything to do with us. ¹⁰ When I come, I will report some of the things he is doing and the evil accusations he is making against us. Not only does he refuse to welcome the traveling teachers, he also tells others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts them out of the church.

Here we have Diotrephes. He:

1. Makes evil accusations
2. Refuses to welcome traveling missionaries
3. Tells others to refuse to welcome traveling missionaries
4. Puts people out of the church who do welcome traveling missionaries

Also note this – Diotrephes is a Christian brother. He is a member of the church (how else could he put people out of the church if he was not in it?).

In John’s three letters, he often writes about people who deny that Jesus is the Christ, i.e., the one anointed to take away the sins of the world. John writes to have nothing to do with those people. Note that Diotrephes does not teach that false teaching.

So, you are a Christian brother. What would you say to Diotrephes? What kind of conversation would you have with our Christian brother?