Work Together for the Truth

3 John 1:14

Key verse: 1:8

“We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth.”

Today I have the privilege of serving the final message in a series of messages from First, Second and Third John. Throughout these letters, the command to love one another has come up again and again—as an old command and as a new command. And, many of us are struggling more to love one another. Now, in this last passage, the Apostle John addresses the matter of co-working. Good co-working is not easy. But it is necessary in order to advance God’s kingdom. Also, through co-working we can learn to love one another, not only in theory, but in practice. May God use today’s message to help us to become better co-workers, loving one another and advancing the kingdom of God mightily.   

Part I.  “My Dear Friend Gaius”

Third John was written to a man named Gaius, a member of one of the churches in Asia Minor, and Apostle John’s co-worker. 

Look at verse 1.  The elder, To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.

In order to become a good co-worker, we must first be a good friend.  While living in the world, I thought that I had lots of friends. But after meeting Jesus, I found that those friends were not true friends, but only drinking buddies. On the other hand, friends in Jesus are true friends. Why is this so? It is because friends in Jesus love in the truth!  

Here the truth has to do with the work of salvation in and through Jesus Christ. To love in the truth is to love souls in light the gospel. But what does this really mean? For the sake of today’s passage, we can say that to love in the truth means to not compromise with sin. Joseph in the book of Genesis set a good example. When Joseph was a slave in Egypt, Potiphar’s wife tried to persuade him to go to bed with her. But Joseph refused. He told her, “With me in charge, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house… How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God? (Gen 39:8-9)” He did not compromise with his sinful desires by sinning against Potiphar or against God. And, even though Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, he did not seek revenge. He accepted his situation as God’s sovereignty and forgave them. Yet, when they came to Egypt to buy grain, he did not reveal himself to them right away. Instead, he treated them as spies and disciplined them over a long period of time. Although he forgave them, he did not compromise with their sins, but helped them to repent. Clearly, Joseph was a true friend to Potiphar and to his brothers and loved them in the truth.  

Look at verse 2. Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 

Proponents of the health and wealth gospel love to quote this verse. But, they tend to ignore the part that says, “… even as your soul is getting along well. Here the word even stands out. It implies that health and prosperity are of relative importance compared to ones spiritual wellbeing. In other words, if ones soul is getting along well, then we can pray for that person to also have good heath and to be prosperous. But, if one’s soul is not getting along well, then we better first pray for that. Apparently, Gaius was doing well spiritually. So the Apostle John prayed for him to have good health and to be prosperous as well. 

To be a good co-worker we need to pray for others according to their need. The apostle John calls himself the elder; not an elder, but the elder. He had many years of experience as a prayer servant. In fact, tradition says that he lived to an advanced age, maybe even close to 100 years old, and outlived all the other apostles. He must have thoroughly understood the importance of good health. When I was a young shepherd, I didn’t have to worry about my weight. But after getting married, I put on several pounds each year. As a result, I began to feel heavy and tired. Thankfully, I did not have any serious health problems. But I became lot more aware of the value of good health, even in serving God. I realized that I should pray for myself and my co-workers to enjoy good heath, so that we may serve the Lord joyfully, with strength and vigor.  

Look at verses 3-4.  It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. ⁴ I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

Here the word joy appears twice; great joy and greater joy. Apparently, the Apostle John was a very joyfull. He was encouraged because of a good report about Gaius, that Gaius was faithful to the truth and continued to walk in the truth. If we want to be an encouragement to our co-workers in the Lord, especially to our spiritual seniors, then we have to be faithful to the truth. At the same time, we should be able to experience the joy of the Kingdom of God whenever we see God’s work in others. The Kingdom of God is a place of great joy and greater joy. The joy is literally non-stop. However, we are not always able to tap into this joy because of our spiritual blindness. Especially, we are often so aware of the weakness and flaws of our co-workers, that we are unable notice their good points; such as their small faithfulness in one area or another or their struggle to walk in the truth. And, as a result, we miss out on the joy of God.     

Look at verses 5-8. “Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you. ⁶ They have told the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. ⁷ It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. ⁸ We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth.”

The men who came to Gaius were strangers to him, but he accepted them as co-workers and friends. He welcomed them Christ’s love, inviting them into his home and serving them a delicious meal. Maybe he even gave them his bed to sleep on and first dibs on the use of the shower. Whatever, it was that he did, they were impressed by his love and hospitality, and reported it back to Apostle John. 

There are a few co-workers among us that continue to welcome others into their homes. They host eating fellowships and invite various co-workers. They house guests from other mission fields and serve them. When it is time for them to leave, they drive them to the airport and send them off with prayer. Such co-workers are a great encouragement to us and to our co-workers from other chapters.     

Look at verses 7-8 again, “It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. ⁸ We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth.”    

How could Gaius welcome these men even though they were strangers to him? It was because they all worked for the same Name. These men were short-term missionaries, who when out to encourage and build up the churches in Asia Minor. In a sense, they were strangers to Gaius, but in a more real sense they were strangers in this world. Gaius received them as fellow citizens of the kingdom of God.   

As co-workers in the Lord, we have much in common. We are all strangers in this world. We are all citizens of the Kingdom of God. And, we all work for the same name and purpose. Of course we have many individual differences, in terms of our opinions, ideas and ways of doing thing, but the bond of love that we share as the family of God is much greater.      

Look at verse 8 once more. The Apostle John viewed Gaius’ hospitality as a way of building up good co-working relationships in the Lord. The important thing is that we “work together for the truth.” Each part of this phrase is important.  First, notice the word work. Co-working involves work. So in order to be a good co-worker we must actually work. Anyone who does not work cannot be a good co-worker. The next thing is to work together. In order to be a good co-worker, we must not only work, but work together. This means that we must put aside individual differences, opinions and ways of doing things for the sake of working together. Anyone who does not work together cannot make a good co-worker. Finally, there is the matter of working together for the truth. We must not only work and work together, but we must also work together for the right purpose. What we work for is the most important issue. In order to be a good co-worker, we must work together for the truth not for some other agenda—hidden or otherwise.    

Part II. “Diotrephes, Who Loves To Be First”

Gaius was a good co-worker, but Diotrephes was not a good co-worker. He could not work together with the Apostle John, because he was working, not for the truth, but for his own agenda.    

Look at verses 9-10. 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.

Diotrephes was not working for the truth, but to promote himself above others. He refused to work together with the Apostle John or with the brothers that he sent, or even with anyone that welcomed them. Instead, he was gossiping maliciously them. This guy Diotrephes became a divisive force within the church. 

Malicious gossip has no place in God’s ministry. Instead of bearing malicious gossip, we must call attention to it and put and end to it. Especially, malicious gossip can destroy co-working relationships in the Lord. So please do not gossip, rather encourage.   

Diotrephes’ desire to be first made him extremely power hungry. He stopped those who tried to co-work by welcoming the brothers he sent. He even went as far as to put them out of the church. Excommunication is a serious matter. It is a not a matter that should be decided by one person, but by a committee; such as a council of elders, or in our case fellowship leaders. Whenever one person exercises too much power the effect on co-working relationships is very destructive.  

Look at verse 11. “Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.”

Can there be any doubt that this letter was written by the Apostle John. This is clearly his theology.  “… anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.”  Diotephese set a bad example. The Apostle John didn’t want Gaius to follow his example, but to follow the example of Jesus and other faithful servants of God.  He did not want to lose a good co-worker to evil influences.  

Part III. “Demetrius is Well Spoken Of by Everyone”

Rather than allowing Gaius to co-work with Diotrephese and so be influence by him, the Apostle pointed him toward a good co-worker in the ministry. 

Look at verse 12. “Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone —and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.”

  

Demetrius was a very good co-worker. He was literally well spoken of by everyone. Sometimes we might be suspicious of such a person that is spoken well of by everyone. But the Apostle John said that Demetrius was even spoken well of by the truth itself. Apostle John must have prayed about Demetrius, to find out what kind of man he really was. And, evidently, he received an answer directly from the Lord. It doesn’t say exactly what the Lord said about Demetrius, but it was obviously something very good. The Lord Jesus himself revealed through the Holy Spirit that Demetrius was a good co-worker for the truth.  

Through today’s passage, I opened my eyes to see how I was not really appreciative of all of my co-workers in the Lord. I wanted them to value me as a good co-worker, but I did not value them as much as I should have. As a result, I could not experience the joy of God’s Kingdom or become a source of encouragement to others. 

In conclusion, the Apostle John sought to have a good co-working relationship with Gaius. Even though he could not speak with him face to face, he took the time to write him a letter and to pray for him. His purpose was that they might work together for the truth. 

If we just look around us, we have many good co-workers. Campus fellowship co-workers, JBF/HBF and CBF co-workers, co-workers serving orchestra, the choir, the planning committee, the Bible study materials committee and so many other committee, those who move chairs, those who serve food, prayer servants, wives and husbands, spiritual seniors, those that encourage or do many small unnoticed things to serve other. We have so many good co-workers. So what we need to do is to appreciate and value them and serve them. Then our joy in the Lord will only increase as our love for one another grows. 

One word: Work together for the truth. 

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