Three Guys, Three Outlooks is a sermon from 3 John showing us examples of outlooks by three individuals: the servant, the selfish, and the selfless. Which one are you?

Key Verses
3 John 1:1-12

3 John chapter 3. If you are looking for 3 John chapter 3, there is no chapter 3. There is just one chapter and it’s 3 John. You could be looking in vain and you could never find it. But the book of 3 John is where we are going to be at this evening. We’re going to look at the majority of the book this evening. 3 John – we’re looking at the idea here of three guys and three outlooks. Three different people with three different views in ministry and three different ways of communication, you could say.

So, by way of introduction, John writes of these three men in this book. The outlook that these men had can relate to us today. We will examine a servant, a selfish, and a selfless outlook and see how we can grow in God. So, let’s look at 3 John 4, we are going to look at the fourth verse:

3 John 4: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”

I submit to you this evening as we look into this book that God wants us to walk continually in truth. God wants us to walk with Him. And God greatly rejoices when His children – of God – walk in truth when they are faithful to Him.

3 John is one of 5 one-chapter books in the Bible. Four of them are in the New Testament and one is in the Old Testament. Obediah is the only one in the Old Testament and then in the New Testament, you have these three in a row – 2 John, 3 John, and Jude, and then the other one is Philemon.

Even though they are only one chapter, there is plenty of stuff that’s within this book. The shortest book in the Bible would be 2 John and the only difference is 9 words. This book here has 423 words and 2 John which we will look into on Wednesday night is 414 words. So, these are the two shortest books in the Bible and give us a lot of information for us to apply – to you and me – and into our lives tonight and throughout the week.

The Servant’s Outlook

First of all, we are going to be looking at the outlook of a servant that’s in the first eight verses here. So, let’s take a look. Verse one says:

3 John 1:1: “The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.”

“The elder” refers to John. John writes this near the later part of his life. So, who is Gaius? Most likely he was someone who John led to Jesus Christ. Where? We don’t really know. There are a few mentions of the word “Gaius”. There was one in Acts, he was the companion of Paul and there were other instances of that mentioned near the end of some of the books that were written, mostly by Paul. This Gaius could be that or just another Gaius that was alive and John led him to Jesus.

He was a servant. He was the one who had helped John. He was probably a member or leader of a church. We don’t know exactly his status, but he seemed to have a very prominent position where he was at. Maybe he was a deacon or one who was faithful in service.

He could be the one that came from Derbe in Acts 20:4, we don’t know. But his name means lord. So, he writes to Gaius to who he loved in the truth. He was a believer, and he was someone who put their faith and trust in God. And so, as he writes to this gentleman, Gaius, here’s what he says first:

First, he wants to encourage him and then he’s going to show how he was as a servant. So, verses two to four, we look at how John wants to help Gaius and encourage him. Verse two says:

3 John 1:2: “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”

So, “prosper” has this idea to succeed or be helped in reaching goals. And in good health, he refers to physical and spiritual health. Now, health here in this section, we mentioned this in Sunday School this morning on how you read a word, and in Greek, it could be a different word.

Here, “health” can mean something different. The translated word for “health” here means someone who is uncorrupt who is true in doctrine. What we are seeing here is when he’s talking about being in good health you could assume it to be physical, but John was really referring to his spiritual health. Can you be spiritually unhealthy? Yes, you can. How can that happen? By not following the will of God. By falling into sin. You can get unhealthy spiritually.

So, John is saying here, I want you to be prosperous spiritually. Obviously, everyone wants good physical health. That’s a given. But he goes above that and says I want you to be healthy spiritually. And I want you to stay true, I want you to stay with the right doctrine within the right keychain. I don’t want you to go astray.

And then we go back to the physical “even as thy soul prospereth.” So, he says we ought to stay sound in teaching and in doctrine. How so? How does he get to this point? Verse three:

3 John 1:3: “For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth.”

Why would John say to him that he should continue to prosper in good health? Because his testimony was received well. Maybe you were thinking there in your pew tonight, those watching by way of Facebook, people don’t notice me how I work for the church. You know, God notices you. God knows what you’re doing. You may not think that your work is not being expressed, given toward everybody else and that everybody else is not recognizing your praises.

I’m going to tell you something. I’m going to be pretty personal with this one. But I honestly don’t like when someone praises me publicly. And you think that’s weird. I know I am, okay. But it is kind of awkward for me to have someone say something good because I kind of want to stay low-key.

As the assistant pastor, I want to make the pastor’s job as easy as possible. So, when something goes great, he gets the praise. And I’m just there like heh, heh, heh, for him even though I helped contribute to that fact that what was going on ended up being a success.

But I don’t like having someone say, “Hey, look brother Chris…,” No, no, no, no. I’m going to hide or do something like this [duck behind the pulpit]. I don’t like that. I don’t know what it’s going to be like on the wedding day, I don’t know. I’ll be up front, with everybody’s attention there. I just naturally don’t like that. I mean is it good? Yes. And it’s good to be affirmed. If you’ve ever read “The Love Languages” one of the love languages are words of affirmation. I do like that; I like being encouraged but I also don’t like being praised publicly.

And what we are seeing here in this passage is that people are recognizing Gaius’ work and Gaius is not saying, “Hey, look at what I’ve done.” Other people are recognizing it and they are showing and showering praise for this gentleman. So, whatever you’re doing for the work of the Lord, it may not be broadcast at the pulpit. It may not be broadcast at some fellowship or something like that.

But know that God is still going to honor that work. It may be rewarded later on in life, maybe to an answered prayer or blessing. We never know. So, what’s the point? Just stay faithful. Do the thing that you’re doing.

I know for a fact that there have been people in this room who have prayed for me for probably 15 years asking for the fact that may you send some lovely lady to sweep him off his feet. And I know your prayers were finally answered. Okay, I know this. I’ve been told these and a lot is starting to trickle out now, so, thank you. But you know what? I also think that if you cared for me that much, you’d do it for 15 years.

But in all seriousness though, prayer works, and continue to do the little things, the little nuances, they could be as simple as cleaning the church. It could be as simple as adjusting the sound so people can hear it and eventually, I’m going to have to find some time to work it back in the nursery again because I know something has happened there.

But just little things like that make the service go smoothly and it may not be broadcast at the pulpit. It may not be something that is a life-changing thing for people. But you know what? Continue to do what you’re doing. Maybe it’s just playing a sport and people aren’t recognizing your talent. Because as long as you are playing your talent to the Lord, then God’s going to bless that.

Especially you teenagers here who are playing sports like basketball and football and whatever else you might be doing here. They may not praise you’re great, but you know that you put your confidence in God, He’s going to bless you and help those skills evolve. I’ve seen that with one of our teen girls, seeing how she has been staying faithful to the Lord and still trying to hone her craft in basketball. She has gotten quite good in the last year alone. And I just can’t wait to see how God will use her as long as she continues to be dedicated – being a witness on the court but also still trying to win at the same time.

Servants as Fellow Helpers

People notice when someone is faithful and that’s what these people were saying in verse three, that people have been telling John that Gaius has been faithful. And so, John says [paraphrasing] “I want you to prosper, be in good health spiritually, and continue to walk well spiritually. How so? Verse four where we started at:

3 John 1:4: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”

You can apply that to the physical realm with your own children. You can apply that to the spiritual realm as a pastor, assistant pastor, seeing the people in your church serving God and being on fire for him. It’s a good feeling to see. It’s not a good feeling when people don’t come to church or are not able to do things, or they just tear or start causing strife in the church. That doesn’t thrill a pastor’s soul at all.

It never thrills a family’s soul when family members are fighting amongst each other. But if you know your kids are doing well, you feel comforted in that. Sometimes you may wonder, is this kid ever going to turn out right? And then they do. Then you think all that hard work finally paid off because you were diligent, you stayed faithful, you stayed committed. As Christian, we ought to be committed. Why? Because there is “no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”

God, I can imagine, sits up there in Heaven saying, “Wow, this person’s been faithful. Haven’t been well-known and famous but they have been faithful to me and I’m glad that they stayed faithful.” I’m sure that we know the various people who go into churches throughout America, throughout the world who are faithful, and we never heard their names. But when we go to Heaven and they are at the judgment seat of Christ, we’re going to see the reward they are going to get because of their faithfulness.

Maybe it wasn’t broadcast and well-known. I mean only certain people come up to the pulpit and preach. But even then, it’s only some of the job. There are other things that have to happen to continually go. Maybe someone just prays and is on their knees for hours a day. God’s going to see that and reward that. Someone who does the little things. In verse five, John wants to support him, wants to now encourage him. He says this:

3 John 1:5: “Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers;”

What’s he saying there? Be hospitable. Continue to help out others. Continue to love other people, love on other people, be faithfully welcoming other people. Verse six:

3 John 1:6: “Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well:”

When people come in help them. Give hospitality to them. Some people here house some of our speakers that come, house some of our special speakers. They’ve contributed to that. God’s going to see that and God’s going to reward that. Some of you have prepared great delicious meals for other people. I love your wife with the snickerdoodle cookies. They’re awesome. I know she’s probably watching now or watching later. I mean those are great. She will be blessed for those things.

But sometimes it’s just the little things. It’s the little things that really make the difference. As long as you are consistently, continually doing that faithfully, don’t give up. Don’t feel like “people don’t recognize me at all. I’ve done this, I’ve gone here, I’ve scrubbed the floors with a toothbrush and people don’t notice that.”

Well, you know what? They do. Why? Because no one hardly comes into this church and says, “Man, those floors are dirty. That wall is stained.” No. Why? Because there are people that go behind the scenes and make sure that stays good. You may know who they are, you may not. But just the little things there help that to take place.

Even things like having a clock on the wall. Or having the screens up here. These were donated, a $3,000 effort. The church didn’t pay a single dime for it. And it happened during this pandemic age when we were a little more conscious of touching the same surfaces and objects. But now we’ve got the screens where we can see the Word of God and see the songs and be able to sing them out and to be able to still have church as we normally do, even without the hymn book in our hands. Now you can see it visually.

Little things like that, God is going to reward that and bless that. Don’t feel ashamed if you are not recognized because you are and you will be. Verse seven:

3 John 1:7: “Because that for his name’s sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles.”

They weren’t in the ministry for monetary gain. They weren’t in the ministry just to be recognized, “Hey, give to me because I’m a great person.” No. They didn’t take anything. They knew what their goal was and they stuck to it.

3 John 1:8: “We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth.”

We ought to constantly be in the mindset of reaching people. In retail, in a grocery store, or anyone who has worked in retail, what’s the number one goal? Make sure the customer is happy. Now, do you encounter those rude people? That goes without saying. I could tell you story upon story. We’d be here until 9:00 p.m. and we don’t want to do that.

I did have somebody – I’ll say this – I had someone come to me one night and it was late at night. And she came to me and she literally, if this is where this person was at, she was literally pressed up against me, her face was about this far [inches] away from me telling me that this person was being mean to her.

I’m here [cringing] and thinking, “I’m about to shove you but if I do that then it becomes assault.” I’m like, yeah, good, and you could tell she had something to smoke or something like that. So, you’re trying not to make a facial expression the entire time. But this person is literally right on top of you. That’s just one example.

But yeah, you still have to make sure that person is happy. You have to try and get out, above, your way to make sure that the next time they come and shop that they are not like, “Oh, I’m not going to spend my money here.” If they don’t spend their money there eventually that goes on other people, then that business closes down.

It’s the same thing with church. If we don’t constantly invest in other people, we don’t’ reach out to other people, we don’t reach out to guests, we don’t reach out to the person who is sitting by themselves, eventually, they will slowly trickle out and won’t come back.

I’m not saying let’s go reach people so they can give money to the church. Well, God should work in their heart to [make that] occur and take place. But if we don’t take part in being there for them and being that encouraging person to them, then they will eventually phase out. The work we’re able to do is to make sure that person is enabled to fully develop in the ministry here.

The average expectancy of people being in a church, a family, is about seven years. I like to preach statistics and that’s one of them. We’ve already broken that statistic with Pastor McClure and me being here over 30 years. But normally, the average amount of someone being in a church ministry is about seven years. When you think about it it’s not that long. Seven years ago was 2015. It’s not a long time.

I remember 2015 very vividly too. Just seems like yesterday. For some of you, it may seem like 10 seconds ago, however you want to dictate time. But there are some people who have been here longer than that. I know some people have to move away or stuff like that.

But why do people sometimes leave churches? I think one of the reasons why is the fact that they don’t feel appreciated, they don’t feel valued. No one seems to reach out to them. They seem to stay close to themselves. Can some people be that way? Sure. But ultimately, we, as a church ought to be reaching out to them, helping to encourage them, and trying to build them up. So, we see an outlook of a servant here.

The Selfish Outlook

But in verses 9 through 11, we are going to see a selfish outlook. Verse nine says this:

3 John 1:9: “I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.”

Who is this man Diotrephes? His name means nourished. He loves to be nourished. He loves to be the center of attention and preeminence here. He didn’t want John to come to the church.

Who would not want the Apostle John to come to church? Would you like the Apostle John to come here to church tonight? You know what I would do if Apostle John came to church right now? [Walking away from the pulpit] “Preach! Your turn!” Why? Because he is a guy who I would want to sit down and listen to. Obviously, he has been dead for a while, at least 2,000 years.

But this guy Diotrephes didn’t want the Apostle John to come to the church. Why? Because he thought he would be overtaken as the number one guy. Are there people in churches today who like to have everybody shower attention upon them? Unfortunately, there are. You’d think, no, the church is a selfless place. No. There have been times that there have been people who wanted to make everything about them. Is that the biblical model? Not according to the scriptures. Let’s see what he did, verse 10:

3 John 1:10: “Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.”

“I will remember his deeds” – of kicking us out of the church, being number one, making sure that no one oversees him as the number one guy. This guy wasn’t even a pastor of the church. Wonder how he feels about the pastor? Who knows? “Prating against us” – this has the idea of overflowing with talk, a babbler or a trifler, berating mischievously, or utter nonsense. This is the only time this word “prating” is used in this section here.

So, the theologian term is hapax legomenon. You’re thinking, “I’m never going to remember that.” I barely remembered that tonight. But it’s the only time this word is used and basically, this is a nonsensible guy. He just talks and talks and talks to make sure he is heard over everybody else. And he talks with malicious words, with hurtful, ill-willed, bad-nature words.

He’s like, “Hey you, I don’t like your hairstyle, it’s too long.” Or “I don’t like your hair color, it’s green.” Or “I don’t like how you dress.” – whatever. “It’s too purple, it’s too green.” And he would find ways to hurt people who were trying to overtake his position to basically make sure that they would be subjected under him. That is not how a church person should be.

And here’s the thing, not only was he “prating against us with malicious words” against the apostle, he was “not content” – that was not all he wanted to do. If someone came into the church ministry, he would say, no, no, no. This guy is more famous than me. Boom let’s kick you out and anyone who would try to help him out, well, we’ll send you out too.

Is that the way church people ought to act? No, it isn’t. Are there examples of people who have done that in the course of history? Yes, there are. “Let me find out.” I’m not going to tell you, but I’ve seen some examples of that. Of course, these people are no longer here. I have seen some examples of that. Trying to sway people. You know what we call those people? They are good for nothing. You know what they try to do? They cause church splits. If a church has ever done a church split it is never the same.

And there are people out there in this world today who try to split churches. That’s their goal? Yeah. Guess who is trying to use them. The devil. The devil does not want to see a unified church. The devil wants to see a split church. And he will use people who are going to sound good but really, their intentions are to turn people against people. And that’s not biblical.

3 John 1:11: “Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.”

He says to follow good and not follow Diotrephes. Don’t be the guy who just wants to be well known and be the famous guy and that’s it. Be a Gaius and also, you could be a Demetrius.

The Selfless Outlook

Who’s Demetrius? We find him in verse 12. A selfish person ruins the church ministry. A servant serves. But now we are going to look at a selfless person, verse 12:

3 John 1:12: “Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record; and ye know that our record is true.”

Demetrius has this idea of belonging or belonging to corn is what it is translated at. So, he has a good report. The word “report” there, the Greek word is martureo which we would gather as the word “mature”. So, this guy had a good report, he was mature. He was above all men. He had a good report and people knew that he was faithful.

We only get one verse about him. But obviously, he was well known. He was godly. People heard about Demetrius, they verified with John. John can say truly this guy is a servant of God. John had a character of truth. People would believe it if John said it. If a person was good, then it was good.

Final Thoughts

So, what is the conclusion? What is the conclusion of the whole matter? Well, what outlook do we possess? Are we one of a servant? Are we one that is selfish? Or are we one who is selfless? You can examine that within your own hearts. We should be ones who want to see people in the church and show them the truth, not judging or kicking them out of the church. We should be faithful and know that God always enjoys those who walk in truth.

1 John 1:4 “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”

God wants us to follow Him and wants us to be faithful to Him. God doesn’t want us to try to take over and be that number one person in the church. The pastor is the leader, yeah, but have you ever seen our pastor say, “Hey, look at me. I’m better than you all that’s why I’m elevated. You’re peasants sitting down there.” No, you haven’t seen that, and you never will. Why? Because he knows he is serving God and he’s doing his part in the ministry.

There are some people out there today, in pulpits today, who are just like Diotrephes. That’s sad. They want to have preeminence. They want to have recognition, the fame. That’s not the biblical method. So, what outlook do you have? Do you have a servant’s outlook? Do you have a selfish outlook? Or a selfless outlook?

If you have a selfish outlook examine your heart. See how you could change that. If you have a selfless or a servant’s heart, be encouraged. Know that someone recognizes your work. It may not be broadcast at the pulpit. It may not be broadcast at a meeting. But God knows it and He takes record of it.

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Father, we pray. Thank you for the time we’ve had this evening. Father, I pray that you would just help us here that we examine ourselves and we can see exactly what you would have us hear in the messages this evening. Father, I know there are things that are in our lives that cause us to do various things and tasks. I pray that you’d just help us to be able to examine it and be able to see where we’re at with our walk with you. I know this is s a Sunday night audience. But Father, I do pray that you would just help us to make sure that we ourselves are people who are servants, that people know who we are when we speak their name, they say, “That person is a faithful person to God. That person serves. That person is on fire, has sold out for God.” Hopefully, the report is never, “Oh, stay away from that person. You don’t know that person, you don’t know what that person’s like.” May we not have that outlook. Father, I pray and ask to move in this invitation time. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

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