THE DISEASE OF DIOTREPHES
SCRIPTURE: KJV III John 1:9 “I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the
preeminence among them, receiveth us not. (v. 10) Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.”
Amplified Version III John 1:9 “I have written briefly to the church; but Diotrephes, who likes to take the lead among them and put himself first, does not acknowledge my authority and refuses to accept my suggestions or listen to me. (v. 10) So when I arrive, I will call attention to what he is doing, his boiling over and casting malicious reflections upon us with insinuating language. And not satisfied with that, he refuses to receive and welcome the [missionary] brethren himself, and also interferes with and forbids those who would welcome them, and tries to expel (excommunicate) them from the church.”
INTRODUCTION:
I. GAIUS
A. John’s letter is written to a local church in Asia Minor under the leadership of Gaius.
B. It is apparent from the introduction of the letter that Gaius was dearly loved by John. (v. 1)
C. Beloved by the local church. (v. 2)
D. Walking in truth as testified of by visiting brethren. (v. 3)
E. Attempting to accept in hospitality the missionary brethren. (v. 6)
F. Dealing with Diotrephes
1. Gaius
a. Accepting those who preach and practice the truth.
b. Rejecting those who preach false doctrine; gnosticism in this case.
c. Needing apostolic affirmation that he was doing the right thing.
2. Diotrephes
a. Rejecting those who preach the truth.
b. Accusing Gaius and the local church of not showing love to him and those like him.
c. Needing an apostolic rebuke. (v. 10) “I will remember his deeds”
II. DIOTREPHES
A. Preached Gnosticism. A Gnostic heretic according to Spiros Zodhiates.
1. Gnostics denied the incarnation of Jesus Christ.
2. John addressed Gnosticism in his first epistle.
I John 1:1 “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;”
I John 4:1 “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. (4:2) Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.”
B. Loved the preeminence. (v. 9)
1. It means simply, “who loves to be first” — meaning that he loved to be at the head of all things, to rule, to lord it over others. It is clearly supposed here, that the church would have complied with the request of the writer [to receive missionary brethren] if it had not been for this man. Barnes’ Notes
2. Have you ever seen the actions and reactions, the behaviors, the attitudes of someone who loves to be first? “The Disease of Diotrephes” by Darren Ethier
a. Such people are usually filled with pride - the kind of pride that is not easily humbled [unteachable].
b. Such people like to have their name prominently mentioned whenever possible, have to have the jobs that get tons of recognition, and always want to have to last word.
3. Why do you think people want to be first?
a. Maybe they want recognition, maybe its because they’re afraid of being last, of being left out or left behind.
b. Maybe they crave the attention.
c. Maybe its because they want to hide some weakness they have.
4. Often people want to be first because it satisfies their desire to feel needed .
The inappropriate expression of this need leads many down a road of destruction,
and disaster, and the one thing they feared the most . . . being rejected.
5. The case furnishes an illustration of the bad influence of one ambitious and arrogant man in a church. It is often in the power of one such man to bring a whole church under his control, and effectually to embarrass all its movements, and to prevent all the good which it would otherwise accomplish. Barnes’ Notes
C. Rejected the Apostle John and the Brethren. (v. 9)
1. Resented interference from outside authority declaring independence.
a. Diotrephes did not accept the Apostle John to be over him because he thought of himself as a super-apostle, and therefore he was a false prophet.
Spiros Zodhiates pg 523
b. Remember that Diotrephes loves to be first. One of the signposts of such a person is that they won’t play second fiddle to nobody. They won’t accept anybody’s authority over them. Darren Ethier
2. There may have been at the bottom of it some secret dislike of John, or some private grudge; Barnes’ Notes
3. Perhaps Diotrephes argued that the church just couldn’t afford to support the traveling missionary brethren.
4. Prating against us with malicious words. (v. 10) Barnes’ Notes
a. The word “prate,” (fluarew), occurring nowhere else in the New Testament, means to “overflow with talk,” (Greek fluw, Latin: “fluo,” flow); to talk much without weight, or to little purpose;
b. The word does not properly imply that there was malignity or ill-feeling in what was said, but that the talk was of an idle, foolish, and unprofitable character.
c. As John here, however, specifies that there was a bad spirit in the manner in which Diotrephes expressed himself, the real thing which is implied in the use of the word here is, that there were much talk of that kind; that he was addicted to this habit of “running on” against the apostle; and that he was thus constantly undermining his influence, and injuring his character.
d. Malicious --- Greek, “evil words;” words that were fitted to do injury.
5. In Diotrephes case his malicious gossip was intended to degrade the authority of the apostle’s leadership and puff up himself. You know the funny thing about gossiping is we’re ready to expound on the latest troubles or failures about someone but we’re not doing the slightest thing to help them.
Gossip is something that destroys a body of believers rather than building up. It causes distrust, anger, hurt feelings, broken relationships, and spreads Diotrephes disease like wildfire. Darren Ethier
6. Not content therewith. (v. 10) Barnes’ Notes
a. Not satisfied with venting his private feelings in talk.
b. Some persons seem to be satisfied with merely talking against others, and take no other measures to injure them; but Diotrephes was not. He himself rejected the brethren, and persuaded the church to do the same thing.
7. Again Diotrephes failed to welcome the brothers not because they deceive the minds of naïve people by smooth talk and flattery - not because they are divisive (that is they seek to bring division to the church) but because… he desires to be first. Darren Ethier
D. Excommunicated those who supported visiting brethren. (v. 10)
1. Diotrephes was guilty not only of gossiping maliciously about John and company but also made sure that any associates of John would not be welcome. Darren Ethier
2. His influence was so great that he “cast out” of the church such as were disposed to receive them. Fausett’s Bible Dictionary
E. John’s Evaluation of Diotrephes (v. 11)
1. He that doeth good is of God:
2. He that doeth evil hath not seen God.
III. DEMETRIUS
A. It probable that he was a member of the same church with Gaius.
B. United with Gaius in showing Christian hospitality to these strangers.
C. It is the use of the phrase “hath good report of all,” implying that some testimony was borne D. Demetrius is praised as of the opposite spirit to Diotrephes;
1. Demetrius was to be followed.
2. Diotrephes was to be shunned.
IV. CONCLUSION: LEARNING FROM DIOTREPHES
A. Inward Reaching versus Outward Stretching (Pond versus Lake)
One of the biggest dangers of a church contracting Diotrephes disease is that it starts to become inward reaching instead of outward stretching. Instead of being encouraged by new people coming into the church and welcoming them with open arms such a church feels threatened because these new people might bring problems we can’t handle or they may be better singers, or better musicians, or better teachers, or make a better casserole or pie than we can. Or doesn’t it seem that the pastor has been spending more time with the new people recently? The challenge presented by this attitude of Diotrephes is to overcome our tendencies to continue to nurse the exclusive club mentality is to stretch out and make people feel welcome - going beyond the simple hello and handshake during service, going beyond the casual wave around town - and onto the dinner invitations - the surprise visits - the invitation to participate in church activities - the offer to drive to church…..
Diotrephes saw some people stretching out to welcome the brothers and 3 John records, "he stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church" Diotrephes and the people that were infected with his disease became so inward reaching that they became angry towards the people who knew the right thing to do and did it. Darren Ethier
B. Visiting Brethren (Spiros Zodhiates pg 511)
1. Hospitality should be shown to believers whether they are known or unknown to us.
2. The unknown ones are brethren in Christ and deserve our love and care.
3. One should make sure that the strangers are not heretics and deceivers propagating another doctrine which is contrary to the doctrine of the Word of God.
C. Missions (Spiros Zodhiates pg 519)
1. It is not an optional thing to support missionaries. It is a must for believers.
We, as believers, out to support our missionaries.
2. We ought to discriminate in our support and only give to those who have
sound doctrine.
3. Our support should be in full accord with our ability.
D. Diotrephes
1. Must be dealt with. John could not remain silent on this matter. (v. 10)
2. Must be exposed.
E. Peace is possible in spite of those who love to be first.
