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
3 John is a letter from the apostle John to a man named Gaius in the church, likely while John is an old man and perhaps in exile.
The Big Idea of 3 John
I have taught the big idea of 3 John as follows: Imitate Good. This phrase seeks to capture the essence of what John is saying amid the details of missions, conflict, and obedience to God.
The passage above is a helpful representative text of 3 John because it captures what John wants Gaius to do. There are many specifics that need to be considered. Life is complicated, as this letter reflects. Nevertheless, a helpful and efficient way to reduce the core of the Christian life that we must live is to say that we should imitate good rather than evil. The people who do the former are from God. The people who do the latter are not. And that makes all the difference.
John encourages the church to continue in what they have been doing and supporting, encouraging them, warning them from dangerous influences, and giving warm personal greetings in hopes of seeing them in person soon.
John is happy to know that the people are walking in the truth and that they are supporting missionaries among the Gentiles. But he is concerned about some who do not accept their authority and are troubling the church. In that vein, he is concerned that they imitate good and not evil, and that they know of his affection for them and his hope to see them soon.
We could imagine John as an elder apostle writing with a similar affection and concern for us. Walking in the truth has no time stamp, nor does imitating good. We also must beware of putting ourselves first and following others who do the same. We should be like Demetrius, who receives a good testimony from people and the truth itself.
An Outline of 3 John
1-4: Affectionate Greeting
John begins the letter with an affectionate greeting. He addresses the letter to Gaius in particular, perhaps a leader in the church. John addresses him as “beloved,” emphasizing his love and affection for him. John grounds his prayer for Gaius’ health and overall wellness in his hearing from others how Gaius is walking in the truth. This, John says, is as great as his joy can get. John addresses Gaius as one of his children. It is reasonable to imagine that Gaius is someone with whom John has a significant history.
5-8: Faithful Support
John transitions to describe Gaius’ faithful efforts for his brothers and sisters in Christ. Apparently, he does not know them. John could be referring to a group among whom Gaius is living, but it could refer to people whom John is sending to Gaius on their way elsewhere. In any case, John knows of Gaius’ love for the church and commends him for it. John exhorts Gaius to support these people who are serving the Lord with integrity and to join them in their work as he can.
9-10: Putting Self First
John then addresses a particular problem in the church where Gaius is. There is a man named Diotrephes who not only puts himself first but also refuses to acknowledge apostolic authority and controls who has access to the church. Diotrephes is doing the opposite of Gaius in many ways. John plans to deal with Diotrephes when he visits himself.
11-15: Complementary Testimonies
As John closes this brief note to Gaius, he reminds him not to imitate evil but good. Whether people come from God or not depends on whether they do good or evil. John mentions a Demetrius as one example of this. John ends with a blessing and greeting to other friends as he says that he plans to talk about other things in person.
Benefits of 3 John
John’s affection for Gaius is apparent. Those who have been Christians for longer than a few years and have had the privilege of being used by God in people’s lives for their conversion and growth in the Lord know of the kind of warmth that John feels and maintains toward Gaius. Are we cultivating a similar kind of affection for others that is grounded in the truth and motivated by love?
John’s point about preferring to speak face-to-face is also instructive. Some things are best discussed in person rather than via text. The medium of communication has great potential either to help communicate love and truth or to undercut it. In modern day, the most common mistake I see is people attempting to deal with through text what would take far less effort in personal conversation or even a phone call. It is often best to deal with things quickly and directly rather than to draw them out over long text message threads.
But then there is the more basic admonition to walk in the truth and according to love. This is one of the most common emphases by John, who records the commandment by Jesus to love one another in John 13. There is little for John that is more important than that.
Finally, John’s admonition to imitate good rather than evil is relevant in every age. We are always imitating something. Our behavior has reference points in the behavior of others. We either seek to follow them or to go in a different direction. John tells us that this imitative instinct is not bad, but it needs to be harnessed. Walking in the truth means imitating good rather than evil. That means we must know good from evil and be able to determine what it looks like to imitate the one over the other. There is little in the Christian life that is more important than that.