Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: 3 John 1 and Psalm 51

We can learn a lot from this letter written by John (“the elder”), particularly from the way he describes its recipient, a local Christian named Gaius. The letter was most likely sent as a letter of recommendation and support for those who carried it (one of whom may well have been the man, Demetrius, who is named and commended in the letter).

In this very personal letter, John honours Gaius for the practical help and loving hospitality he has given to travelling Christian teachers in the past, and urges him to do so again in this instance (v.5-8). By doing so, Gaius would be sharing in their important work.

Not every Christian is called to be on the frontline of evangelism and mission work. But all of us are called to support those who are, and to do so in ways that assist and strengthen them for the work they are doing for Jesus’ Kingdom on behalf of us all.

John also honours Gaius for being faithful to the truth and for “walking in it” (v.3). At its most fundamental level this means that Gaius lived in a way that was consistent with what he believed. It’s easy to say that we believe something. But the proof of whether or not we truly believe it is how we act. Gaius proved his belief in the truth by “walking in the truth”.

In relation to the matter John wrote about, we can surmise that Gaius believed the truth that Jesus had lived, died and been raised from the dead for the salvation of all who would believe. And because he genuinely believed that truth, he sowed his resources into supporting the lives and the work of those who had given up their day jobs to travel to the ends of the earth to proclaim this Good News. He proved his belief in the Gospel by channelling his material resources to the work of propagating the Gospel.

Life application: If you are a Christian missionary, thank you for the work you’re doing for our King! If you are not, what are you doing to support the work of Christian mission? Make a decision today to use your material resources to support the work of those who extend God’s Kingdom, locally or further afield.