3 John 1:9-11

Diotrephes who loves pre-eminence. 3 John 1:9-11

(3 John 1:9) I wrote something to the congregation, but Diotrephes the one loving pre-eminence among them is not receiving us. (3 John 1:10) On account of this if I should come I will bring about his remembering the work which he is doing, unjustly accusing us with wicked words, and not satisfied with this neither is he receiving the brethren but is hindering those who want to, and casts them out of the congregation. (3 John 1:11) Beloved, do not mimic that which is evil but that which is good. The one doing good is from God; the one doing evil has not seen God.

Divine wrath is the reaction of divine love in the presence of sin. Here is a superb demonstration of this truth as the Apostle of Love severely castigates a self-assuming status seeker by the name of Diotrephes. Most scholarship is agreed that Diotrephes is, like Gaius, an elder in the same congregation. The situation which exists is not an unfamiliar one.
Diotrephes, the self-seeking, assertive overlord, dominates the congregation. He refuses to receive what the apostle has written, probably concerning the gnostic controversy, or to receive the travelling missionaries with the hospitality his eldership demands of him. Instead, for his own reasons, he has opposed those who would extend such hospitality and has even cast them out of the congregation.
Gaius, as is so often true of loving, sincere, Christian men, has given no apparent resistance to Diotrephes-' self-assertion. John implores him not to mimic that which is evil by passively tolerating Diotrephes-' unchristian behavior. It is time for someone to stand up against the dictatorial demagoguery of Diotrephes and to see to it that proper treatment is afforded the ministers of the Word!
All that is needed to make this letter one of the most relevant of the New Testament is to change the names of these two elders! Where is the congregation that has not been plagued by its own Diotrephes? There is an abundance of egoists holding office in local congregations. They will espouse whatever doctrine, false or otherwise, that will gain for them the most personal status. They will mistreat any member of the congregation who, though not outwardly opposing their grab for power, attempts to receive the truth in love and treats the ministers of the Word with Christian gentility.
To the honest, beloved, service-seeking elders who serve with the modern kin of Diotrephes, John's plea is needful today. Such men gain power only when others, through failure to oppose, follow after their evil behavior. The dictators of history have all climbed to power on the backs of good people who simply did nothing to oppose them. To go along with such a man is, in effect, to mimic his conduct.
Self-aggrandizement has no place in the kingdom. Jesus taught that he who would be great among us must be servant or all. Anytime a cousin of Diotrephes rises in any congregation, it is the duty of the kin of Gaius, the beloved, to actively oppose and put down such enemies of the faith.

The example here is John himself, the Apostle of Love, who warns of stern action should it become necessary to visit the congregation in person to set the situation right. His warning is reminiscent of Paul's to the Corinthian congregation. (Cf. 1 Corinthians 4:21, 2 Corinthians 10:11; 2 Corinthians 13:1-3)