John the apostle wrote his third epistle to an individual named Gaius between AD 85-95. This epistle is one of the shortest and most personal letters in the Bible. But despite its nature and length, 3 John is packed with several applicable truths.
John wrote this letter for two main reasons. The first one was to commend Gaius for his generosity towards traveling Christian workers even though they were strangers to him. And the second reason was to condemn the actions of another individual named Diotrephes, who not only refused to be hospitable toward missionaries, but he prevented other church members from doing so.
These reasons identify the primary theme of the epistle, which is hospitality.
Hospitality in Greek is the word philoxenia (fil-on-ex-ee’-ah), and it means “love of strangers.” To show hospitality literally means to show friendliness, warmth, or generosity to strangers. It was a highly regarded custom in biblical times, as well as a command in the Torah.
Leviticus 19:33-34 says, “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
Showing love to strangers is also a mandate for Christians (Matthew 25:35, Romans 12:13, Hebrews 13:2, 1 Peter 4:9). And though we must give hospitality to our neighbors, our efforts must primarily go towards fellow believers. Galatians 6:10 says, “So then, as we have the opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”
And in his letter, John mentioned a couple of reasons why we must give hospitality to Christian workers.
They accepted nothing from the Gentiles. The believers mentioned in 3 John labored solely to spread the gospel. As they did not make any gain from it, the workers relied on generous support from others to continue their mission. Jesus was the same. During His ministry, He was for all intent and purposes homeless (Luke 9:58), and He heavily depended on the support and hospitality of others.
That we may be fellow workers of the truth. All Christians are called to ministry and the mission field. However, God does not call everyone to be in vocational ministry or to be a traveling missionary. But we can all participate in the Kingdom’s work by supporting missionaries and contributing to Gospel-centered ministries financially. Jesus even said that when we receive those whom He sent, we receive Him (Matthew 10:40). Hence supporting workers of the truth makes us workers of the truth (Matthew 10:41).
But we must not be hospitable for the sake of hospitality. As with everything, God commands us to do, He sets the guidelines, and we must abide by them.
Take the elect lady of 2 John, for instance. She showed hospitality to strangers, as Gaius did. Though they both obeyed God and had honorable intentions, only Gaius received a commendation. John reprimanded the elect lady because she lacked discernment and welcomed false teachers in her home.
And in the same way supporting workers of the truth makes us fellow workers of the truth, supporting false teachers makes us take part in their wicked works (2 John 1:11). Therefore, it is critical to examine the ministries we support and ensure they promote the true gospel of Christ. This also applies to the music or books we purchase, royalties support false teachers.
John also touched a little bit on authority in the church. He was the elder of the church, and Diotrephes had to acknowledge his authority and submit to John. But Diotrephes rebelled and did what was wise in his own eyes—which was to refuse to give hospitality. And the result of his disregard for apostolic authority resulted in sin.
Likewise, if we step out of the power God placed over us and do what we want, it will most likely result in sin. That’s why Hebrews 13:17 says to, “obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.”
But there is a caveat; we must submit to them as long as they submit to God (Acts 5:29). On judgment day, God will judge us individually for our actions or inactions, not our leaders (though they will receive a stricter judgment).
Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
3 John 1:11
John ended the letter by urging Gaius (and us) not to imitate evil but to do good. God has equipped us with His Word and Spirit to discern good behavior from evil one, and He has empowered us with His grace to do it.
And one way to do good to others is to give them hospitality!
P.S: Check out these articles from Rosaria Butterfield about Christian hospitality!
