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Beloved, do not imitate the bad but rather, the good.1 The person doing good is from The God.2 The person doing harm has not seen The God.3
| 1 | Do not imitate the bad but rather, the good: Or, KJV: follow not that which is evil, but that which is good; WEY: do not copy evil, but good. [Romans 12:9; 1 Peter 3:11] Compare Hebrews 13:7. There are bad examples in the Church, sometimes in the majority. One does well not to look at these but the lone excellent examples of true followers of Christ. [1 Corinthians 11:1; 1 Peter 2:21] Even when others, including a majority, follow a harmful path the genuine disciple must continue to imitate the good. |
| 2 | The person doing good is from The God: Or, is of God, is a child of God. Jesus taught that there was only One who was absolutely Good as the source of all goodness. Those desiring to be genuine disciples of Jesus do well to keep their eye on good examples and avoid the bad. [2 Timothy 2:20-22] |
| 3 | The person doing harm has not seen The God: Or, evil, wrong-doer, does what is bad. [1 John 3:10] Here “seen” means “experience.” [Job 19:26] “Harm” or bad here must include slanderous speech against traveling elders and missionaries. |
Dear Friends of the Nazarene,
Today we take a look at 3 John. We choose 3 John 11 as the theme verse of the chapter – Mimic Goodness. The beloved apostle writes briefly to the elder Gaius. [1] John prays that all is well and that Gaius is in good health. [2-4] John rejoices at the report that Gaius continues to walk in the truth.
John praises the hospitality of Gaius to visiting strangers. [5-8] All Christians are obligated to receive such Christians as co-workers. However, Diotrephes – likely another elder – is ambitious and disrespectful of these visiting brothers. He “maligns us with his foolish gossip.” [KNX] He also tries to excommunicate those who are kind to the visiting brothers.
John urges that Gaius to imitate good examples like Demetrius and not bad ones – like Diotrephes. [11, 12] The good person has experienced God, but the evil and hurtful person has never been acquainted with God. John concludes with the news he will visit Gaius and then he sends greetings from “the Friends.”
Abba our Father bless those who imitate good examples.
[13 September 2002]
