Not even the apostles had perfect churches.
I have written about this in the past. John’s letters show us how they were imperfect.
2 John is about false teachers.
John built this epistle around unifying key words.
In the 13 verses of 2 John the following words are repeated:
- “truth” (5 times),
- “love” (4 times),
- “commandment” (4 times),
- “walk” (3 times),
- “teaching” (3 times),
- “children” (3 times).
- He also utilizes a rare word, “antichrist,” which appears in Scripture only in 1 and 2 John (see 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7).
In this letter, John tells his children to:
- (1) walk in the truth,
- (2) obey the commandments,
- (3) love one another, and
- (4) guard the teachings of Christ so that they will not be deceived by the Antichrist and his teachings.
This is how we build strong churches, then and now.
3 John is about 3 types of people that are in our churches. One is not so good.
In verses 1-8 John calls Gaius a dear friend. He is commended for his love of the truth which is demonstrated by his generous hospitality toward traveling missionaries that he did not know personally.
In verses 9-10 Diotrephes is warned about seeking to be first and not acknowledging the authority of John and other leaders. John will deal with him personally if he comes to the church.
In verses 11-12 Demetrius, who may be the bearer of the letter, is commended for his truthful life with a personal recommendation from John.
Key Points for Reflection and Application:
What type of people are the leaders in our churches?
How and when do we cooperate with other churches?
Are there people on our churches who have self-centered agendas? How do church leaders help these people change and protect the church from them.
How are we training the next generation of leaders?
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