The elder, to my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.  Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.  It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it.  I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you.  They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honors God.  It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans.  We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.

I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us.  So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.

Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.  Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.

I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink.  I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.

Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.

3 John

This, the third letter attributed to the Apostle John, is short as was his second. John is encouraging a leader, Gaius who walks in the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and who welcomes strangers into the fellowship of the church. John holds Gaius in high regard.  John encourages him to continue to walk in the truth, a phrase that we expect from John.  For John, the truth of the Gospel is not a secret affirmation but a life-changing way to live, to walk.  Following Christ is a walk, not just a cold doctrine.

Gaius’ open-hearted approach stands in strong contrast to that of Diotrephes whose leadership was sharp, critical and divisive, indicative of the fact that he loved to be in charge.  He disparaged John, the Apostle.  John was a tender disciplinarian, unlike this fellow who saw himself as number one.

John then lifted up the leadership style of Demetrius, who not only loved the truth but walked in it.

So the letter ends with John sharing his intention to visit the church where this was happening.  He intended to help the believers there to recognize Christ-like leadership.

I have been studying leadership in the church these many years and have seen the blessings of God flow where leaders lived the truth.  I have also seen the horrible damage done by self-seeking leaders.   Each generation must deal with this issue.  It requires discernment and determination, to encourage all leaders to tend the flock of God with great tenderness.

Leadership; in the Body of Christ is a call to risk-taking quite often, requiring us to reach across cultural barriers for the sake of Christ and the Gospel.   As a timid missionary in East Africa I found myself doing just that.  As I look back I would not trade that experience for another.  I began to understand the call to love all those who love Jesus, no matter what culture, language, color or history.  That is absolutely revolutionary.