We live in a very
different culture than when John writes this letter, and yet people are not really all that
different, no matter when or where we live. The early church
historian Eusebius dates this letter from John to after John’s exile to the
island of Patmos, where John wrote the last letter of the Bible Revelation. After
his exile, John went on a missionary journey, visiting various churches and
even went into areas not yet evangelized, offering encouragement and wisdom to
the churches already established and sharing the gospel of Jesus with those who
hadn’t heard about Jesus yet. This was a time of travelling missionaries; John
himself is one of these travelling missionaries.
John likely writes this letter from Ephesus,
where he spent some time with the church there. Both this letter and 2 John are
about travelling missionaries, but for different reasons. In 2 John, John warns
the churches about false teachers. These false teachers may respect Jesus as
a great prophet, but they don’t recognize him as the Son of God and promised
Messiah. John’s warning them against supporting Gnostic teachers. In John’s
time, Gnosticism was just beginning to develop as a belief system. Gnostic teachers believed that people
could only be saved through revealed knowledge, or γνῶσις. Gnostics held a
negative view of the physical world; salvation was only about the soul. Early
church fathers, such as Irenaeus, considered Gnosticism heretical because only
those who had access to special knowledge were saved. John urges
wisdom about supporting these teachers who taught heresy rather than the gospel
of Jesus. He even tells them that anyone who welcomes these false teachers’ is
sharing in their work. In a culture where hospitality was extremely important,
this is a powerful call to the churches about the extreme danger false teachers
were. That danger is still present today, especially with the growth of social
media.
A recent study shows that approximately 50% of Christians today turn
to social media for spiritual growth; the study also acknowledges many people
today no longer have the ability to discern truth from falsehood. Satan often
disguises himself as an angel of light; this is why it’s becoming important in
the church and our homes today to teach Scripture and learn how to recognize what’s
true and what’s false. If someone is making Jesus less and humanity more, be
careful. Satan often uses a little bit of truth to entice us into beliefs that
are false, leading us away from Jesus rather than towards Jesus. This is why
faith formation is so important, why we focus on Scripture reading, prayer, and
worship as a church family to equip our homes, not social media. The center of
forming our faith comes through reading the Bible as a family, praying
together, and worshipping the Lord in everything we do: our work, our play, our
rest are all shaped by who God is and our relationship with him. Discipling our
children in Jesus is the first and most important job we have.
In 3 John, John encourages the church, through Gaius,
to welcome in travelling teachers and missionaries who have dedicated
themselves to teaching the gospel news of Jesus and helping the churches grow
deeper in their faith. John’s older now, which you hear in the tone of his
letters. He sees Gaius as a dear friend, calling him ‘beloved.”
John mentions how he received a wonderful report about Gaius’ faithfulness to
the truth, how he walks in the truth; how Gaius is walking in the way of Jesus,
faithfully following the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This flows into his joy
in hearing how Gaius is taking care of the visiting teachers and evangelists
who were travelling through, and staying to do ministry in the city and area.
These brothers in the faith were so impressed by Gaius’ hospitality that they
made special mention of it when they reported their experiences at a church
where John was attending.
Hospitality, the willingness to invite people into your life,
making sure that the foreigner and stranger are looked after, was important
during this time in history.
The Old Testament presents
hospitality as both a practical necessity and a religious command rooted in
God’s character. In a world without inns or hostels, hospitality was crucial
for travellers, business people, prophets, and the vulnerable; providing food, a
place to stay, and protection. Yet hospitality was about more than just
survival; at its core are both religious and social features; hospitality serves
as a response to God’s own kindness toward Israel. Most travellers
relied on the hospitality and generosity of strangers when travelling. This was
especially true for the early missionaries and teachers that John’s talking
about here who’ve dedicated themselves to sharing the gospel news of Jesus
without a church or structure in place to support them financially. Many of
these missionaries would receive some help from already established home churches,
but it was often limited and sporadic. They needed to rely on local support
wherever the Lord led them. John’s main point here is that Gaius and the church
should help and support those who are working for Jesus, working together for the truth. Even today, as we
share the truth of who is Jesus locally, we’re fellow workers with those who
are called to share the gospel of Jesus elsewhere.
Hospitality has always been one of the key marks of the Jewish people and
their faith. Its roots lie in the experience of how Abraham and Sarah act with generosity in
their hospitality, reflecting an early expectation that once a traveller made
himself known, generous hospitality was expected, with the hosts offering rest,
refreshment, and a meal. The importance of hospitality appears latter on again
in Lot’s welcome of visitors in Sodom and Gomorrah and how this led to his
family being spared the destruction of the cities. The writer of Hebrews is
thinking of these stories when he writes, Hebrews 13:2, “Do
not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have
shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”
Hospitality isn’t just
a way of life for followers of Jesus;
it’s commanded by God.
Leviticus 19:33–34, “‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not
mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your
native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the
Lord your God.” God gives this command because the people of Israel were
foreigners themselves in Egypt, and at least at first, were treated with
hospitality and grace in the time of Joseph. Later on, Israel was commanded to leave grain and grapes
for the poor and foreigners so they could eat. Hospitality is not just for the
stranger, it’s also to be extended to your neighbour.
Israel is commanded to
show hospitality to foreigners
because God loves them too. God clearly commanded Israel to care for the widow,
orphan, and stranger and sent prophets to remind Israel over and over again of
the importance of hospitality. Jesus shows how hospitality is central to who
God is when he tells his followers in Matthew 25, that those who extend radical
hospitality by giving water to the thirsty, feeding the hungry, visiting the
sick and prisoner, are actually serving him. How a person received guests, by
providing water for dusty feet, think of Jesus washing his disciple’s feet, revealed
the host’s character and commitment to honouring God. As one commentary writes,
“From a social perspective, hospitality created networks of human
interdependence designed to secure basic necessities for those at disadvantage,
especially the poor and landless. Ultimately, hospitality represented Israel’s
response to both divine love and human need.” Through the early church’s
hospitality, the gospel news spread to all corners of the Roman empire,
including the heart of the empire, the palace of the emperor himself.
Yet, the church’s history is filled with those who’ve loved power over
servanthood; at the heart of hospitality is a generous servant heart. We don’t
know what Diotrephes’ beliefs were, whether he was gnostic or simply
power-hungry, but he was willing to use his power to deny hosting travelling
missionaries, and even kicking those who did help them out of the church. This
is such a departure from Jesus’ teaching on servanthood for leaders.
So how does John’s letter to Gaius fit for today? We support
our missionaries both on the field and during their home service; servants like
Selena, Margaret, the VanderMeers, and other missionaries we’ve committed to
helping. We support local missionaries such as Nikki and CAYU, in a similar
way, the Broomtree serves a mission field with mission workers. Supporting
these workers and organizations are ways of living out the call to hospitality
as we work together for the truth.
But it’s even applicable closer to home, pastors and all
those working full-time in the church trust that God will encourage his people
to provide for their needs as they do their work for Jesus and the church. It’s
better that we err on the side of generosity than on the side of stinginess so
that those who work for the church to equip us to grow deeper in our faith, our
love of Jesus, and to invite our community to repent and believe in Jesus, can
do their work without worrying about how to provide for their families. Hospitality
is more than financial support; it’s also about relationship. Often within a
church, staff are known for what they do, not for who they are. We have an
interesting staff, some chuckle if you mention 42 or the importance of a towel,
some are old souls who love old devotionals, some like quadding and camping,
others love learning new things, while some enjoy sports and Taco Tuesdays.
Hospitality’s about inviting people into your lives and hearts, what do you
know about our staff as people?
Jesus reveals the kingdom of heaven as a place of generous hospitality,
where the king’s servants go into the hi-ways and byways to bring people into
the banquet, where those who are last shall be first, where the unseen are
seen, the broken find healing, where the hopeless find hope because our God is
more generous and hospitable than we could ever imagine, welcoming sinners into
his family at his own cost, even the cost of his only beloved son Jesus. Go,
shaped by the generosity of God; supporting his kingdom’s workers.
