31 Be a Gaius not a Diotrephes!

‘I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us... Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.’ (3 John vv.9-10)

Here is a church, a group of believers whose growth and advancement was being hindered by one man. A man, who by the looks of it was in a position of authority, had become a hindrance to the church and the advance of the gospel in that area. He had developed a wrong understanding that the church was his, that he was in charge, that the pulpit belonged to him, that he decided everything about who spoke and who did not, who came and who was not allowed to come, who stayed and who went. The pulpit and the ministry became his throne. Look at me, listen to me, let me entertain you... If you get bored of my voice, my looks and my ministry, I will fill the meetings with entertainment, I will look trendy, I am your cool leader. Listen to me and to no one else... As a result, no one looks happy, no one smiles, none of the other leaders, gifted men and women, are allowed to exercise their gifts, share or be heard. No, they are meant to be subservient, to serve quietly and to suffer in silence until the day they have had enough.

And here comes the apostle John, sent by God, but, for Diotrephes, John was too challenging. Here come the brothers, but he refuses them too. Diotrephes invited and welcomed, shared his pulpit and stage only with people that suited him, but resisted anyone sent by God. He found their anointing and ministry distressing, uncomfortable and too challenging, simply because what was in him was exposed.  He could not handle real spiritual life.

When such people are in leadership or hold a position they become a stumbling block, they frustrate both the work of God and his servants. Unfortunately, such a kind of leadership can become normal and acceptable, but all it produces is spiritual death. Such people need to repent, and if they don’t they need to be uprooted, and God will make sure that they are uprooted sooner or later.

God desires that everyone in his church knows who they are, and understands their purpose and role both inside the church and outside. Those called to preach and teach should be encouraged not hindered. A church will be stronger when believers are allowed to testify and their voice heard. The church will be healthier when even believers that may not have been to a Bible school, but God has gifted them to minister the word, are allowed to do so. The church will be healthier when people with the gift of exhortation are allowed to exhort, and others with different gifts are allowed to exercise their gift. If the pastor is the only preacher in a church and for the past 20 years no teacher or preacher has been produced under his/her ministry, then he/she has failed, because those with the gift have either been silenced by not giving them the opportunity, or they have been forced to leave.

John Wesley, one of the greatest preachers the world has ever known, was rejected by the clergy of the churches where God had sent him to preach. Sure, all those churches would have cheered for revival, but when God sent them a man who was to bring that revival they cast him out. So Wesley had to preach anywhere he could, in church grounds, by graveyards, in market-places, near mines, etc. As he preached, people would repent and the presence of God was so mighty that people fell under its power. The sad thing about leaders like .... who close the doors of the church is that they condemn themselves and their churches to dead religion. In church life, order and proper godly management are necessary, but usurpation, control and the suffocation of others must be avoided.

And here is the apostle John’s response to such a kind of ‘leader’: ‘So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us... Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good.’ (vv.10-11). It takes a man of John’s calibre and maturity to deal effectively with such a phenomenon in church life and leadership, to bring correction, discipline and order, and to open the doors once again to the fresh activity of God’s Spirit.

Copyright © 2020 Rev. Suela Brown