3 John

Book Reviews aim to provide succinct, thoughtful summaries of books I have read. Each review contains quotes from the book, thoughts from others, and also some thoughts of my own. Typically they will be structured in the following order: author, introduction, message and purpose, remarkable chapter, and conclusion. This review will cover 3 John, a book written almost 2,000 years ago and one that is part of a larger collection of books called The Bible.

3 John

Author

John the apostle

Introduction

The shortest book in the New Testament, 3 John is a letter with a kind but business-like tone. "The Elder" sought to encourage Gaius, who was perhaps a pastor under his oversight. The epistle gives mostly positive counsel but also warns against a power-hungry leader named Diotrephes. Truth, love, and the goodness of God are predominate themes.

Message and Purpose

3 John is a personal letter that revolves around three individuals: (1) Gaius, the recipient of the letter; (2) Diotrephes, the one causing trouble; and (3) Demetrius, who was probably the bearer of the letter. The purpose was to give a word of exhortation to Gaius and encourage him not to imitate the bad example of Diotrephes. Instead, Gaius was to continue the good work he was doing in receiving and supporting the traveling teachers or missionaries.

This brief letter of apostolic instruction underscores certain central Christian convictions: love, truth, faithfulness, the church, and witness. It also testifies to the God-centeredness of apostolic faith. Jesus and the Spirit are not mentioned specifically, but in the writer's view, Jesus and the Spirit were undoubtedly included in the reference to "God" whose "truth" this epistle appeals to so frequently.

Remarkable Chapter

Only fourteen verses in total, 3 John is short and to the point. However, I'd like to highlight three verses (verses 8, 11, and 13-14a) that I think are worth discussing briefly.

Verse 8: "Therefore, we ought to support such men so that we can be coworkers with the truth." A privilege of Christian identity is to be "coworkers with the truth"—in sync with what God is doing as well as with fellow servants who are fiving their all to do God's bidding.

Verse 11: "Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God." A person like Diotrephes might profess Christian faith, but the profession can be bogus. As the old theologian Leonard Ravenhill once said, "Everybody wants a new definition of Christianity. What we need is an old demonstration." Look to and imitate Christ!

Verse 13-14a: "I have many things to write you, but I don't want to write to you with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face." With the words "don't want to write", John indicated that this epistle was a stopgap measure until he could pay a personal visit to his readers. This is a lesson for all of us in the twenty-first century: some things are necessary to send via email or text, but save the good and meaningful stuff for face to face.

Conclusion

The two short epistles of 2 John and 3 John are often described as "twin epistles", though they should be viewed as fraternal and not identical. Similar in structure and format, they both are written by "the Elder" and the recipients were those whom he loved "in truth." 3 John is a helpful reminder to not stray from that which is good and hold tight to Christ, our Faithful Father.