Dear friend (Gaius), you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you. They have told the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. It was for the sake of the Name they they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth (3 John 5-8).
Having just been a week-long recipient of someone’s hospitality and generosity, I’ve been thinking about the affirmations John offers to Gaius and Demetrius in his third letter. Though I certainly had not been sent out “on behalf of the name” in my endeavor to see my brother and his fiancee say “I do,” I received a demonstration of hospitality both from my hostess and from their church’s fellowship committee, who served the food at the reception and cleaned up the hall afterwards.
In this passage, John states for Gaius what his previous pattern of conduct has been–how he acts faithfully in whatever he has done, both for brothers and sisters as well as for strangers, and so he has confirmed his love before the church. And this previous pattern of conduct establishes his present obedience in sending the visiting brothers and sisters on in a manner worthy of God, so that they go out relying only on those within the faith community (not taking anything from the pagans). Finally, this demonstrates the necessity of future obedience for everyone–that we (John includes himself here even) ought to support such people for the sake of becoming fellow-workers in the truth.
For Gaius, hospitality was not a one-time act of good will, but a way of life. John intimately links faithfulness to God with the manner of one’s life. By providing for one another’s needs we both imitate God and attest to his faithfulness before the world. John is affirming Gaius’ continuous practice of welcoming brothers who are strangers and admonishes him to continue to do so. When left alone, we grow weary of doing good and need God’s people around us in order to continue in faithfulness. As the church, we are responsible for the spiritual well-being of our brothers and sisters and are accountable to them for our own faithfulness to God. As a result, the church must be a place, must create a context and foster an environment that develops and sustains Gaius-quality generosity and hospitality.
Like Gaius, we are expected to continue in our past obedience while also expanding our faithfulness and generosity. God uses people like us to conform others’ character to his own.
At the same time, though, John is not demanding perfection of Gaius here, but loyalty; only saving faith manifests a life and heart that imitate the good character of God. While this is not true of anyone at all times, it is consistently true of God’s children. We know such a life is possible because of the accounts John gives of Gaius and, just a few verses later, Demetrius. This requires that we examine our own hearts, being bold in recognition of sin and sensitive to the Holy Spirit as he convicts and transforms us. Loyalty is not summed up only in actions, but in the very attitude of our hearts towards God and his creatures. We can cultivate a loving attitude towards God and others through seeking to serve those we already love in a greater capacity than we presently are. Over time God gives us the ability to love and sacrifice for those we hadn’t previously felt capable of loving.
