"I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church.
Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true."
(3 John 1:9-12 ESV)
Again a bit of a different idea this week, but the Bible isn't all about uplifting and emotional hype. It is full of nitty gritty life applications. This one is a great one for churches. Sometimes one or two people in the church (or a small group in larger churches) 'put themselves first'... this is obviously not what Jesus had planned for his church or its mission. It's a huge hindrance and John here equates it with being 'evil' and not really knowing or even having seen God at all.
Let's make sure that a) our own motives are clear whenever it comes to Church business and b) we ensure our leaders are both humble and respected by the entire congregation.
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