Taken together, this letter and its companion give a balanced view of proper Christian hospitality. Second John warned against entertaining false teachers. But 3 John praises a man names Gaius for warmly welcoming genuine Christian teachers. His acitons had been opposed by Diotrephes, a cantankerous church dictator, who was also gossiping against John.
In a very condensed form, John's two letters deal with heresy and church splits, two problems that have plagued the church in every age, in every place. To defend against those dangers, John urges love and discernment. Believers must know whom to accept and support, and whom to resist. |