In the book of 3 John in the Bible, the author, John, refers to a letter he had previously written. This letter was lost. It no longer exists. In this blog, I provide a little background as to what the letter was according to John. Then, I create a fake. In this fictitious letter, I imagine what else John might have or could have said to us.
Background
John explains that he wrote a letter to Diotrephes, a man in the church who “loves to be the leader” (2 John 1: 9). He even tells us at least part of the subject of the letter to Diotrephes: it urged the church to support and care for God’s workers, referring to traveling teachers, who were strangers passing through (3 John 1: 5-9). That same theme is in 3 John. Indeed, 3 John was written to Gaius, another person in the Diotrephes’s church and a closer friend to John, for the sole purpose of reiterated the one he wrote to Diotrephes, which had gone ignored by Diotrephes (3 John 1: 2). It’s important to understand the situation. Travelers were at the mercy of the people they encountered for hospitality such as room and board. The host church could welcome them, pray with them, include them in their fellowship, and give them a platform from which to share the Truth of Jesus. The letter, now lost, was probably written in approximately A.D. 90 by a man (John) who had walked with Jesus and seen him resurrected. Christianity was still in its infancy. Therefore, supporting those Christians on the road was even more needed. There were not a lot of Christians yet, and the world was not on their side. Nonetheless, for reasons not completely understood other than surely wickedness, Diotrephes refused to help the nomadic Christians. Not only that, but he condemned anyone else who did choose to help them. If you helped the travelers, Diotrephes would exile you from the church.
Fictitious Version of the Lost Letter of Diotrephes:
Greetings
This letter is from John, the elder.
I am writing to Diotrephes, for whom I pray.
Dear friend, I hope you encounter the Holy Spirit who will guide you in your decisions. Favor will continue to be with us who live by faith.
I am writing to address the troubling news I have received from my friends who have visited your church. They described you as hostile. You turn away traveling teachers seeking refuge in the church. You also exile people in your church who offer food and shelter to these strangers. If you think the travelers are false prophets, you are wrong. If you know they are not false prophets yet reject them anyway, then the false prophet is you. Either way, you are at odds with message and will of God.
False Prophets Are Enemies of Christ
It is true that your church must be watchful of false prophets. I have written you before about these sons of vipers. They have the spirit of ambition, and they are slaves to desires of the flesh. They speak prophecies that seek to kill and destroy for the sake of their personal profit. They are foolish slaves to the fear of man. But whoever believes in the Son of God is a slave to the fear of God, which is the beginning of all wisdom. False prophets are enemies of the message. Christ is the message. False prophets add or takeaway from the message. Nothing can add or takeaway from Christ. His life is perfect, so His story is perfect.
Strangers Are Friends in Christ
But the traveling teachers are friends. It is true they are strangers to you but not strangers to the Lord. Even strangers can be friends in Christ. Whosoever is a follower of Jesus cannot be a stranger to another follower of Jesus. If a traveler proclaims the lordship of Christ, and if his actions demonstrate that his faith is alive, then he is a friend.
My friend, the travelers you have refused have been called to travel. You will know them by their message of salvation. Not all are called to travel. Some are called to be hosts instead. The travelers and the hosts are two sides of the fellowship. All are called to fellowship. Fellowship requires compassion from the two sides. Christ calls us all to have compassion for others, as God first had compassion for us. Compassion requires sacrifice, as God sacrificed his only begotten Son to save us.
John Recounts His Time with Jesus
What the strangers tell of Christ is true. I walked with Jesus. I witnessed Him perform miracles as numerous as all pebbles at the bottom of all the rivers. His miracles did not make Him the Son of God, but the miracles confirmed it, just as the pebbles at the bottom of the river do not make the river, but the water flowing over them makes them pebbles of the river.
Jesus is both the Son of God and the Son of Man. He alone is both. As such, He was both fully God and fully man. With God’s blood in his human hands, Jesus healed sick people with a touch. With God’s breath in his human mouth, Jesus spoke dead men to life. With God’s all-knowing vision, Jesus saw demons and they fled from his sight. With God’s creative power, Jesus blessed baskets of fish and bread and the baskets never emptied. With God’s sovereignty over all the sky, water, and earth, Jesus calmed storms, walked on the sea, and turned dirt into miracle mud with his spit.
And yet, with God’s throne, Jesus came as a lowly servant to lead us. Before Christ died, he prophesied His own death. He washed my feet to comfort me as I grieved this death that was to come. During the washing of our feet, knelt at my feet, Jesus said, ‘Fear not for I die so that you may be washed of sin, and I shall defeat death so that you may walk with clean feet forever.’”
The Message of Christ
Finally, I saw Him overcome death. And Christ came into the world to overcome the world. God’s message is clear: follow Jesus by serving those in need. Jesus preached to love God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul. Love God with all your heart by sacrificing all you have for his children. Love God with all your mind by thinking less of yourself and more of Him. Love God with all your soul by inviting the Holy Spirit to dwell in it. Amen.
Farewell
Diotrephes, I have more to say to your church, but I will not write it here because the brothers will be there to speak for me. Welcome them. Till then, do not keep this letter private. Share this letter with the church.
Jordan Tate 