9 I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say.
Though the early tone of this epistle is a warm one it quickly changes when the topic of Diotrephes is brought up by John. It was a situation that had arisen in the church which the apostle felt necessary to address, and this epistle was most likely written for this purpose. The missionaries which John were sending were being turned away by Diotrephes which not only was causing tension in the church, but threatened to cause a division. This was a spiritual crisis of sorts which left unchecked could do great damage to Christ's church. John felt the need to take action. He does so by first letting Gaius know that a previous letter he had authored for the benefit of the church was withheld from the people by Diotrephes. We don't know much about this man since this is the first mention of him in the New Testament, however based upon his actions and John's testimony about him we begin to develop an idea of his character. The name was not a common one most likely being pagan in origin. He held a position of leadership within the church where Gaius lived, most likely with them belonging to the same church. The contents of this lost letter cannot be known but since Diotrephes had not accepted it, and was currently turning away John's missionaries, you can infer that it was an encouragement to the church to extend hospitality to these travelers. We know the reason for the rejection of the letter for certain has to do with Diotrophes' character, and that is because of his love to have the preeminence before men. This is a dangerous attitude for one to possess since we know that Christ should have the preeminence before all men according to Colossians 1:18. Diotrephes was usurping a position that is only suitable for Jesus to hold, and not only that but he was looking to put space between himself and any other who could challenge his authority. His rejection of the elder’s missionaries was a rejection of John himself which is in line with the message contained in John's gospel. This states in several different places that to receive the ones sent is the same as receiving the one who sent them (John 5:23, John 12:44-45, John 13:20 , John 14:24). Diotrephes was seeking a church that was completely independent from apostolic authority, and in making it autonomous any of its success could be claimed by Diotrophes to glorify himself. From this verse we can see that Diotrephes was a man who had become infected with a proud and self-interested attitude. It is this attitude that John concerns himself with not false doctrine. The risk of a servant of God to use the church to gratify his own selfish ambitions exists and must be resisted.
Though the early tone of this epistle is a warm one it quickly changes when the topic of Diotrephes is brought up by John. It was a situation that had arisen in the church which the apostle felt necessary to address, and this epistle was most likely written for this purpose. The missionaries which John were sending were being turned away by Diotrephes which not only was causing tension in the church, but threatened to cause a division. This was a spiritual crisis of sorts which left unchecked could do great damage to Christ's church. John felt the need to take action. He does so by first letting Gaius know that a previous letter he had authored for the benefit of the church was withheld from the people by Diotrephes. We don't know much about this man since this is the first mention of him in the New Testament, however based upon his actions and John's testimony about him we begin to develop an idea of his character. The name was not a common one most likely being pagan in origin. He held a position of leadership within the church where Gaius lived, most likely with them belonging to the same church. The contents of this lost letter cannot be known but since Diotrephes had not accepted it, and was currently turning away John's missionaries, you can infer that it was an encouragement to the church to extend hospitality to these travelers. We know the reason for the rejection of the letter for certain has to do with Diotrophes' character, and that is because of his love to have the preeminence before men. This is a dangerous attitude for one to possess since we know that Christ should have the preeminence before all men according to Colossians 1:18. Diotrephes was usurping a position that is only suitable for Jesus to hold, and not only that but he was looking to put space between himself and any other who could challenge his authority. His rejection of the elder’s missionaries was a rejection of John himself which is in line with the message contained in John's gospel. This states in several different places that to receive the ones sent is the same as receiving the one who sent them (John 5:23, John 12:44-45, John 13:20 , John 14:24). Diotrephes was seeking a church that was completely independent from apostolic authority, and in making it autonomous any of its success could be claimed by Diotrophes to glorify himself. From this verse we can see that Diotrephes was a man who had become infected with a proud and self-interested attitude. It is this attitude that John concerns himself with not false doctrine. The risk of a servant of God to use the church to gratify his own selfish ambitions exists and must be resisted.
