Jeremiah 50-51; 3 John 

“To my dear friend Gaius…It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth…I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us…gossiping maliciously about us…Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone – and even by the truth itself…”

3 John 1, 3, 9-12

The apostle John has personal words for three members of a local Church to which he has sent a team. Gaius is commended for faithfulness to the truth; Diotrephes is rebuked for pride and damaging relationships; Demetrius is commended for his character. The standard that John applies to these evaluations of people is the truth of God’s Word in Christ.

How do we match up to the character and teachings of Jesus?

Jesus is our sufficiency. Once we clearly see God in Christ, and receive him as our salvation from trying to succeed through our own strength, we, too, will stop abusing positional authority, gossiping, and practicing/indulging in sin. The truth is that we desperately need God! The truth is that we need the Holy Spirit’s power to be faithful to the truth. If the early Church could be faithful to the truth without personal Bibles to read every day, so can we.

What would John write if he mentioned our names?