Daily Scripture Reading 3John 1:9-15
People tend to be selfish. Left to their own devices, they will always put themselves first. On top of that, technology and social media has created an environment that encourages people to always think about themselves.
The latter half of 3John warns us that self-centeredness is not a good thing, and is something that Christians should guard against.
In verses 5-8 the elder praised Gaius because Gaius was helping the brothers, even those who were strangers. The elder wrote that Christians should give financial support to those who go out for the sake of the Name.
3John 9 ¶ I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not welcome what we say.
Take note that there were two problems with Diotrephes. One, he loved to be first. Two, he did not welcome the word of the elder.
The unspoken teaching is that it is bad to love to be first. That means we should not have that priority.
21st century social media conditions people to post about themselves incessantly. This creates an environment in which people are subtly encouraged to love being first. There is nothing wrong with using social media, but Christians should be careful that we don’t allow social media to corrupt us into prioritizing ourselves above everything else.
3John 10 For this reason, if I come, I will bring to remembrance his deeds which he does, unjustly disparaging us with wicked words. And not satisfied with this, he himself does not welcome the brothers either, and he forbids those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.
In contrast to Gaius, Diotrephes was not helping the brothers, and he was actively prohibiting others from helping the brothers.
3John 11 ¶ Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
Notice the command in this verse. We should imitate what is good, not what is evil.
Modern technology exposes us to an incessant parade of sin and evil. Christians need to make sure we do not imitate the evil we are constantly bombarded with. Instead, we need to imitate the good that is taught in the Bible.
3John 12 Demetrius has received a good witness from everyone, and from the truth itself; and we add our witness, and you know that our witness is true.
3John 13 ¶ I had many things to write to you, but I am not willing to write them to you with pen and ink;
3John 14 but I hope to see you shortly, and we will speak face to face.
3John 15 ¶ Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends by name.
People are by nature self-centered. In addition, social media, which has swept the world over the past several decades, is designed to enable people to focus on themselves.
However, the author of 3John criticized Diotrephes because he loved to be first. This is a warning to us that we should not have that same priority, meaning if we use social media, we need to guard against being tricked into indulging our selfish tendencies.
To what extent have you allowed social media to deceive you into exalting yourself?
What are ways you can use social media in a good, healthy way that is not self-centered?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”