Hello, my Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,
As we continue our study of 3 John, we pick up at verse 9. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle John writes:
“I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.”
3 John 9,10.
The Apostle is writing to a dear friend, Gaius, about activities going on in that local church. Earlier in the letter John had commended Gaius for supporting the work of the traveling Evangelists, but now is addressing the evil deeds of a person who had commandeered the church. As we look at the comments John made, we may question how could one person take over a congregation to the point they personally called the shots even to the point of kicking people out of the church if they went against them.?
I was Interim Pastor at a Church some years ago where I witnessed a similar situation. One Deacon, through manipulation and malicious gossip, and dividing the church body, and convincing a small group to support him, had taken control. He had gained so much power people who were still there were frightened to cross him. The Pastor resigned and left. However, through prayer, and the power of the Holy Spirit operating in the congregation, he was eventually forced out. It was a fight. It almost destroyed that church.
So when we see prima donnas trying to run the church and turn it into a ‘Club House’ instead of a ‘House of the Lord’, realize that is simply evil trying to destroy the work of the Lord. We must not get involved in gossip, or cliques if we see this happening, or decide to just ‘leave the church’. Rather we must lift it up to our Lord in prayer, plead the cleansing blood of Jesus upon the situation, ask the Holy Spirit to lead us and empower us to take the right action, call attention to it in an appropriate manner to the appropriate people, and help rid the church of the evil trying to take it down.
This happened in John’s time, it happens in ours. Let us be aware, and alert to the schemes that might be used to hurt the body of Christ. Let us keep our eyes on Jesus. He, is who we follow – not man.
“Let the ‘Beloved of the Lord’ rest secure in Him.
Poppa B.
Abundant Life Christian Fellowship. On Line.