3 John
Chapter 1
Overview
This brief letter comes from an elder in the early Jesus movement to his friend Gaius. Traveling teachers depended on local believers for food, lodging, and help with the next part of their journey, so hospitality was more than good manners—it kept their work alive. The elder praises Gaius for welcoming such travelers, warns him about Diotrephes, a local leader who wants control, and recommends Demetrius as trustworthy. Beneath the practical details runs a simple question: Does a person’s conduct match the truth they claim to follow?
1From the elder to my dear friend Gaius, whom I truly love.
2Dear friend, I pray that everything will go well for you and that you will be healthy, just as your inner life is doing well.
3I was extremely happy when some fellow believers came and spoke about your faithfulness to the truth. They reported that you are living by the truth.
4Nothing makes me happier than hearing that those I consider my children are living by the truth.
5Dear friend, you show your faithfulness in everything you do for fellow believers, even when they are strangers to you.
6They have told the gathered community about your love. You will do well to help them continue their journey in a way that honors God.
7They set out to serve Jesus, accepting no support from people who do not believe.
8Therefore, we ought to support people like them so that we can work alongside them for the truth.
9I wrote something to the community, but Diotrephes, who loves to be their most important leader, refuses to accept us.
10So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing. He spreads malicious nonsense about us. And that is not enough for him: he refuses to welcome the traveling believers himself, stops those who want to welcome them, and throws them out of the community.
11Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. Anyone who does good belongs to God. Anyone who does evil has not truly known God.
12Everyone speaks well of Demetrius, and the truth shown in his life speaks well of him too. We also speak well of him, and you know that what we say is true.
13I had many things to write to you, but I do not want to write them with ink and a reed pen.
14Instead, I hope to see you very soon, and then we will talk face-to-face.
15May you have peace. The friends here send their greetings. Greet each of our friends there personally.