1:1 This letter provides us an important glimpse into the life of the early church. Third John, addressed to Gaius, highlights the need for showing hospitality to traveling preachers and other believers. It also warns against a would-be church dictator.
1:1 The “elder,” John, was one of Jesus’ 12 disciples and the writer of the Gospel of John, three letters, and the book of Revelation. For more information about John, see his profile in John 13, p. 2327. We have no further information about Gaius, but he is someone whom John loved dearly. Perhaps Gaius had shared his home and hospitality with John at some time during John’s travels. If so, John would have appreciated his actions because traveling preachers depended on expressions of hospitality to survive (see Matthew 10:11-16).
1:2 John was concerned for Gaius’s physical and spiritual well-being. This was the opposite of the popular heresy that taught the separation of spirit and matter and despised the physical side of life. Today, many people still fall into this way of thinking. This non-Christian attitude logically leads to one of two responses: neglect of the body and physical health, or indulgence of the body’s sinful desires. God is concerned for both your body and your soul. As a responsible Christian, you should neither neglect nor indulge yourself but care for your physical needs and discipline your body so that you are at your best for God’s service.
1:4 John writes about “my children” because, as a result of his preaching, he was the spiritual father of many, including Gaius.
1:5, 6 In the church’s early days, traveling prophets, evangelists, and teachers were helped on their way by people like Gaius, who housed and fed them. Hospitality is a lost art in many churches today. We would do well to invite more people for meals—fellow church members, young people, traveling missionaries, those in need, visitors. This is an active and much-appreciated way to show your love. In fact, it is probably more important today. Because of our individualistic, self-centered society, many lonely people wonder if anyone cares whether they live or die. If you find such a lonely person, show him or her that you care!
1:7 The traveling missionaries neither asked for nor accepted anything from nonbelievers. This was not intended to be a criticism of unbelievers, but a statement of how things ought to be. Imagine the awkwardness of a Christian worker’s requesting funds or lodging from the very people he or she was trying to reach! Instead, it is the responsibility of churches and Christian individuals to support those who are called by God to full-time vocational ministry. In that way, unbelievers will not be questioning the missionaries’ motives for preaching. God’s true preachers do not preach to make money but to fulfill their calling and express their love for God. It is the church’s responsibility to care for Christian workers; this should never be left to nonbelievers. Don’t just automatically discard the next missionary fund-raising letter you receive. That appeal may be God’s invitation for you to become a partner in a new gospel venture.
1:8 When you help someone who is spreading the gospel, you are in a very real way a partner in the ministry. This is the other side of the principle in 2 John 1:10 (see the note there). Not everyone should go to the mission field; those who work for Christ at home are vital to the ministry of those who go and who need support. We can support missionaries by praying for them and by giving our money, hospitality, and time.
1:9 This letter to which John refers was neither 1 nor 2 John but another letter that no longer exists.
1:9, 10 All we know about Diotrephes is that he wanted to control the church. John denounced (1) his refusal to have anything to do with other spiritual leaders, (2) his slander of the leaders, (3) his bad example in refusing to welcome any teachers, and (4) his attempt to excommunicate those who opposed his leadership. Sins such as pride, jealousy, and slander are still present in the church, and when a leader makes a habit of encouraging sin and discouraging right actions, he or she must be stopped. If no one speaks up, great harm can come to the church. We must confront sin in the church; if we ignore it, it will continue to grow. A true Christian leader is a servant, not an autocrat!
1:12 We know nothing about Demetrius except that he may have carried this letter from John to Gaius. The book of Acts mentions an Ephesian silversmith named Demetrius, who opposed Paul (Acts 19:24ff), but this is probably another man. In contrast to the corrupt Diotrephes, Demetrius had a high regard for truth. John personified truth as a witness to Demetrius’s character and teaching. In other words, if truth could speak, it would speak on Demetrius’s behalf. When Demetrius arrived, Gaius certainly opened his home to him.
1:14 Whereas 2 John emphasizes the need to refuse hospitality to false teachers, 3 John urges continued hospitality to those who teach the truth. Hospitality is a strong sign of support for people and their work. It means giving of your resources to them so their stay will be comfortable and their work and travel easier. Actively look for creative ways to show hospitality to God’s workers. It may be in the form of a letter of encouragement, a gift, financial support, an open home, or prayer.