Title [Text: 3 John 1:9-12] Diotrephes
There are different kinds of saints in the church. Some saints are really exemplary and respected by everyone, while others are embarrassed to be called saints. In the text, the two are introduced in contrast. Demetrius and Diotrebe. Demetrius was a faithful saint who was able to receive witnesses from both the truth and people. But Diotrephes was not such a person. There is a negative side today, but I'm going to focus on Diotrephes.
1. He was a person who liked to be first.
Although this is human nature, it is not the attitude that the saints who have received the grace of the Lord will take. There are people around us who like to be first. I have a friend like this among my friends who graduated from seminary together. In the end, I see that he is not accepted by everyone and leads a lonely life. Even in the church, there are people who like to be first. The magnet must always be the market door. When someone else is the boss, they are jealous, jealous, panting, and accusing. Never cooperate. It's not like a true believer. The Lord taught us to regard others as superior to ourselves. Those who like to be first are the proud, after all. God defeats them. Let us be saints who do not like to be first, but rather who prefer to serve below.
2. He was a person who criticized God's servants in vain.
There are people who like to talk. Rather than praising them and referring to their behavior to imitate, they speak a lot of slander and slander. Diotrephes was a man who tried to undermine his spiritual authority by slandering John. It's unfortunate. Criticizing and slandering the servants that God has established is the same as slandering the God who established him. So it can be said that it is a ghost. If there are those among us who slander and slander the servants God has established, please stop doing that. I hope you do not disparage the clergy and other office holders.
3. He was a person who did not entertain the servants of the Lord.
As I have already said, the virtue of the early church members was hospitality. Nevertheless, Diotrephes was a man who never knew how to treat. Hospitality is a matter of the mind rather than the material. True hospitality is not material things, but sincerity. Some hospitality is generous, with a lot of money, but it is not sincere and heartfelt. Other hospitality is humble but pleasing to the recipient. I hope that our members will put more effort into hospitality than now. What kind of image will you be when you stand in front of God if you can't treat yourself once in your lifetime? Let us remember the word of the Lord that even if we serve a bowl of cold water in the name of the Lord, we will not lose the reward.
4. He was a person who forbade those who entertained and expelled them from the church.