Loving to be first
This week is on 3 John 1:9-10:
I was reading these verses and the phrase "loves to be first" stood out. The man John describes, Diotrephes, was a kind of first century cult leader. He forbade his people from mixing with people from other churches, even telling them to leave his church if he caught them doing it. He would badmouth other Christians so that people would keep them at a distance. And he refused to have a relationship with anyone who could be his better, because he "loved to be first."
We hear stories in the news from time to time about "churches" led by sociopaths who control and abuse their people, but it's not a new thing. People have wanted to be first since the beginning. The great schism in denominations splintering came about because even the main church was excommunicating people for associating with "heretics." There's love ("hey, welcome, come meet my people and maybe we can share something") and there's control ("stay away, because I don't want you disrupting this nice thing I've built for myself here.") Diotrephes was more about control than love, by the sounds of it.
But what about us? Don't we sometimes love to be first? The flesh urges us to dominate our fellow men, when that's not the gospel. We're to love and have fellowship with one another and submit to one another.
Compare Diotrephes's jealous hostility towards John to the love shown by the Galatian church to Paul: (Galatians 4:13-15). They would have even given him their eyes, if he'd needed them. He was sick and a burden and they welcomed him anyway with love. What a difference to the poison Diotrephes was spewing!
What love was there in the Galatian church for being first? They wanted Paul to be first! They weren't eying him to see if he would overshadow them or have a different perspective. They simply wanted to help him and share the blessing God had given them. It was love. There was no poison agenda.
John vows to draw attention to Diotrephes' schemes when he gets there. His act of love is to point out the difference between love and control. Diotrephes' actions don't help his people. On the contrary, they produce isolation, fear, arrogance, sorrow and division, both within his flock and between his flock and the rest of the church. He's not acting in love, but stifling it. The stereotypical "jealous boyfriend" is better at being jealous than he is at being a boyfriend. That was Diotrephes.
Are we any better though? Who do we include in our lives? Do we try to arrange things such that we'll be first amongst our circle of friends? Do we chase people away from us by our jealousy or need for control? Is God's love unevenly distributed among those people whose lives ours mingle with?
Jesus said the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Who would then love to be first? Poor Diotrephes probably got humiliated by John in front of his congregation because of trying to be first. Nothing he was trying to prevent from happening was likely as bad as that would have felt for him. He was the last guy in the pecking order in that moment, when everyone realized he'd been using them. Is that what we want?
As we understand God's kingdom more, why on earth would we want to be first? If anything, we'd want to be last! Better to be the poorest guy in the room than the most selfish. Better to be the dumbest guy in the room than the most arrogant. Better to be the weakest guy in the room than the most domineering. (Not that people can't be both, but you get my point.) There's a delight in being harmless and out of the way.
We can ask ourselves, is the servant first, or is he last? Does the servant have the fancy robes and the nice carriage and the summer palace, while his masters wear plain clothes and walk everywhere and sleep in the cramped downstairs? No, the servant is the guy who walks everywhere, sleeps in the downstairs, and wears whatever clothes he has. He's last. If he's trying to be first, he's not a servant anymore. He's competition. He's thinking about being the master instead of serving him and his family.
If we find ourselves loving to be first, we should try to also love to be last. Being last is the quickest way to get ahead in God's kingdom. How much better might Diotrephes have been remembered if he'd allowed himself to be last when John wanted to visit instead of loving to be first?
I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.
I was reading these verses and the phrase "loves to be first" stood out. The man John describes, Diotrephes, was a kind of first century cult leader. He forbade his people from mixing with people from other churches, even telling them to leave his church if he caught them doing it. He would badmouth other Christians so that people would keep them at a distance. And he refused to have a relationship with anyone who could be his better, because he "loved to be first."
We hear stories in the news from time to time about "churches" led by sociopaths who control and abuse their people, but it's not a new thing. People have wanted to be first since the beginning. The great schism in denominations splintering came about because even the main church was excommunicating people for associating with "heretics." There's love ("hey, welcome, come meet my people and maybe we can share something") and there's control ("stay away, because I don't want you disrupting this nice thing I've built for myself here.") Diotrephes was more about control than love, by the sounds of it.
But what about us? Don't we sometimes love to be first? The flesh urges us to dominate our fellow men, when that's not the gospel. We're to love and have fellowship with one another and submit to one another.
Compare Diotrephes's jealous hostility towards John to the love shown by the Galatian church to Paul: (Galatians 4:13-15). They would have even given him their eyes, if he'd needed them. He was sick and a burden and they welcomed him anyway with love. What a difference to the poison Diotrephes was spewing!
What love was there in the Galatian church for being first? They wanted Paul to be first! They weren't eying him to see if he would overshadow them or have a different perspective. They simply wanted to help him and share the blessing God had given them. It was love. There was no poison agenda.
John vows to draw attention to Diotrephes' schemes when he gets there. His act of love is to point out the difference between love and control. Diotrephes' actions don't help his people. On the contrary, they produce isolation, fear, arrogance, sorrow and division, both within his flock and between his flock and the rest of the church. He's not acting in love, but stifling it. The stereotypical "jealous boyfriend" is better at being jealous than he is at being a boyfriend. That was Diotrephes.
Are we any better though? Who do we include in our lives? Do we try to arrange things such that we'll be first amongst our circle of friends? Do we chase people away from us by our jealousy or need for control? Is God's love unevenly distributed among those people whose lives ours mingle with?
Jesus said the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Who would then love to be first? Poor Diotrephes probably got humiliated by John in front of his congregation because of trying to be first. Nothing he was trying to prevent from happening was likely as bad as that would have felt for him. He was the last guy in the pecking order in that moment, when everyone realized he'd been using them. Is that what we want?
As we understand God's kingdom more, why on earth would we want to be first? If anything, we'd want to be last! Better to be the poorest guy in the room than the most selfish. Better to be the dumbest guy in the room than the most arrogant. Better to be the weakest guy in the room than the most domineering. (Not that people can't be both, but you get my point.) There's a delight in being harmless and out of the way.
We can ask ourselves, is the servant first, or is he last? Does the servant have the fancy robes and the nice carriage and the summer palace, while his masters wear plain clothes and walk everywhere and sleep in the cramped downstairs? No, the servant is the guy who walks everywhere, sleeps in the downstairs, and wears whatever clothes he has. He's last. If he's trying to be first, he's not a servant anymore. He's competition. He's thinking about being the master instead of serving him and his family.
If we find ourselves loving to be first, we should try to also love to be last. Being last is the quickest way to get ahead in God's kingdom. How much better might Diotrephes have been remembered if he'd allowed himself to be last when John wanted to visit instead of loving to be first?
Comments
Post a Comment