Nathan George | Imitation of God

Sunday Morning, August 2, 2026

Given by Nathan George | Pastor of Worship, Christ Covenant Church

Imitation of God
3 John

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Transcript

As you know, we're looking at one-chapter books, and my assignment is 3 John. They say that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. It's a quote often misattributed to Oscar Wilde, and sometimes it's even quoted as a dig for those of us that are not quite so smart. But if we look into the world of instrument making, or any fine art for that matter, copying or imitating the masters is the method to becoming a master yourself. These days, we're told that art must be novel. It must be new. You have to create something original. And that's, of course, hogwash and impossible. In days gone by, artists were considered craftsmen and were expected to build upon what their masters had done before them. Since the late 1600s, one violin maker after another has learned to copy the Stradivarius. Many folks think they have found a goldmine when they look in their grandma's fiddle, and it says Stradivarius Faciebat Cremonensis 1716. I have three or four of those, and they're all worth about 20 bucks. But good luthiers start by making replicas. You joyfully and painstakingly match every single detail: the density and the stiffness of the wood, the direction of the grain, even for the corners, the type of ground and varnish that goes on, the thicknesses and the arching of the top plate and the back plate. It's fascinating. The whole violin world, however, is defined by imitating violins from just one master. Now, it's expanded some over the years, but likewise, the whole of the Christian life is formed by imitating what we know of our Lord from just one book. We begin with a very specific history of the fall and the redemption of mankind. Then after redemption, for those the Lord calls, we join joyfully and sometimes painstakingly engage in all the details that shape our hearts, the way we think, the way we act. We allow every word and every detail from the master to teach us truth and to change our will. Once a master luthier lets you into his shop, then you begin to imitate him. Once redeemed – once Christ opens the door of salvation to you – you then become imitators of the master. 

Well, we learned last week that 2 John calls attention to big ideas, things like truth and love. 3 John, I think, calls us to specifics. 2 John was for the church – the elect lady, as it were. 3 John is for an individual practitioner. Last week, Blair mentioned that reading 2 John is not like reading John's personal mail. Well, this week, it kind of is like reading John's personal mail, because it's to one person, one guy named Gaius. Of course, we can learn a lot from one man's instruction. Would you join me in prayer and then we'll read the book of 3 John. 

Father, I do pray that you would use this instruction penned from John to Gaius to teach us, to encourage us. Use this sweet little note to cause us to once again desire and love to follow after our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Open your Word to us, I pray, in Christ's name. Amen. 

Hear now the reading of God's Word. 

“The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth. Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church. Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true. I had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, every one of them.” (And some translations have “by name.”)

Well, 3 John, I think you can see here pretty readily, is a sweet and personal letter. It's full of rejoicing and encouragement. Yes, there are a few warnings included as well, and then a little more encouragement near the end, and my outline essentially follows that. Verse 1-4, rejoice with others. Verses 5-8, support others. Verses 9-10, warn others. And then I'll use 11-15 as a summary of sorts. 

Just two introductory notes before we really get into the meat of this. You may have noticed that this letter doesn't not contain an overt presentation of the gospel. There's no “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved” – no statements like that. It's not a gospel tract. It was written to Gaius, who was a believer already. And yet there are, I think, pointers to the gospel. Phrases like “whom I love in the truth” and “my children walking in the truth” point to true fellowship in Christ. Also, some of the negative phrases like “whoever does evil has not seen God” point to a life unchanged by the gospel. One life was changed, and one it appears was not, or at least Diotrephes was having a really bad year and needed some correction. So though there is no overt call for conversion, this letter I think does provide for us an opportunity to examine our lives. This is appropriate today as we come to the Lord's table here in just a little bit. And I think it's good that we ask ourselves a question like are we directly opposing the call and authority of the Scriptures like Diotrephes was with John? Does our life point to the fact that we have seen God or not? 

Second, I think there is a danger in this message – in fact, maybe even in my title, “Imitation of Good.” I took the 'the' out of the beginning of that title because it was too much like the work The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis. I have a gilded copy of that – it's really pretty – up in my office, and there are some beautiful phrases in that work. However, as you may know, the overall message indicates that by imitating Christ, you can prepare yourself for salvation. It kind of gets the cart before the horse, doesn't it? It's a mystic treatise on achieving higher and higher levels of salvation through many different methods. One could hear my outline and think, "Oh, okay. I got it. Okay, I get it. I like this idea of several steps that I can take to be like John. I can rejoice. Yeah, I can do that. I can support. It hurts the wallet a little bit, but yeah, I can do that. I can warn. Yeah, I kind of like calling people out. That works for me. I can be like Gaius. I can be like Jesus, and I'm good.” But that's not the message, and more to the point, that's confusing the point of the gospel – like I said, putting the cart before the horse. Remember, this was written to one who already had a starting point. He had repented. Gaius had seen his need for Christ. He had bowed his knee to his Lord. How do we know this? Because John refers to him as a child of the faith. Faith and belief and repentance is the starting point, and then after redemption comes the desire to walk in rejoicing, encouragement and discernment. “All for Jesus. All for Jesus. All my being’s ransomed powers” – yes, ransomed. Being ransomed comes first, and then we sing, “Let my hands perform his bidding. Let my feet run in his ways.” Or maybe as worldlings, do we fix the eyes of our hearts on many other gems of beauty and thereby imitate the gilded toys of dust? We will imitate something. That's what rational creatures do. But as Christians, we do not imitate to win salvific merit. We imitate Christ because we love him more than we love the passing pleasures of our pet sins that we used to love. We used to love our anger, to put ourselves first, to distract and amuse ourselves. But that has changed. And if you, like Gaius, are a child of the faith, now you rejoice and support and discern the body of Christ. You love the process of becoming more and more like your savior, even if sometimes that hurts a little bit. If, however, you are here this morning and you know that you're not yet a child of the faith, then I pray that this message would simply be an enticement to take a closer look at Jesus Christ. Maybe read another book that John wrote, the Gospel of John, where he's a little more clear on the starting point: the gospel itself. 

Alright, with those things as some caveats and some intros, which is a little long, let's look back to 3 John verses 1-4. We see that the letter is to Gaius. There are several Gaius characters in the Bible. Gaius of Corinth, that's in Romans 16. Gaius of Macedonia, that's Acts 19. Gaius of Derbe, Acts 20. According to some commentaries, some 4th century documents indicate that this Gaius of Derbe is the Gaius that we have here in 3 John, and as you might guess, some scholars question that. Gaius was a very common name after all. But either way, we can see from the context that he was an elder whom John trusted and loved. This phrase “my children” may have even indicated that Gaius was brought to faith under the direct tutelage of John. Maybe so. In any case, John is rejoicing that he's walking in the truth. He expresses his love for Gaius. And then in verse 2, John sends this very common greeting, “I pray that all may go well with you.” Literally, the verb means “have a good journey.” When my son visits from out of town, we often either over the phone as he's headed this way or as he's taking off, we send them off with well wishes – phrases like “drive safely” or “blessings” or “see you soon.” And then sometimes I'll add a few of my own little sarcastic comments, like, "Watch out for idiots, and don't be one,” or “Drive fast; you'll get there faster." Or I sometimes add my very useful, “Be wise, and you won't regret it.” My comments maybe are a little less loving than John's. He prays for good health in both body and soul. Sometimes the word translated “pray” is actually rendered as a wish in several parts of Scripture. And I think the context here – there is a simple warm and friendly greeting. Jon is being normal and familial. He's saying, "Hope all is well. It's awesome to hear you're doing so great." If John was Australian, he might have written, "Good on you, mate." Yeah. But one striking thing about this first paragraph is John's reaction to the good news that Gaius is walking in the truth. There's no hint of jealousy, no hint of one-upmanship between these two church leaders. There's no putting Gaius in his place or “see, I told you so, you shouldn't have trusted that Diotrephes.” None of that. John doesn't remind him of his authority. There's just rejoicing, exceedingly, greatly. John is genuinely happy to hear a disciple is doing so well. And maybe Gaius is even exceeding the apostle in a spiritual gift. In this case, we find out it's hospitality. 

Last week, Blair took more time on the idea of walking in the truth, so we'll let that be. If that intrigues you, go back and re-listen to Blair's sermon. But this week, I want to press in on this idea of John's rejoicing, because I believe there's a good lesson for us here. Why? Because our hearts, unfortunately, are often tempted to be Diotrephied. See what I did there? Atrophied. Diotrephied. Yeah. Okay. It wasn't too obvious. We can become a bit jealous, protective, or maybe we feel a little bit of guilt when somebody else is doing so well in their spiritual walk. Man, that person's a prayer warrior. Who am I? We have those feelings kind of waft over us off and on. It might be that someone next to you in school gets recognized or someone in your office gets a job promotion and you were the one that showed them how to do that math homework, and you were the one that got that guy the job, and here they are passing you up. That doesn't feel so great. It's maybe hard to fully rejoice with them if they pass you up. Now, those two examples don't have much to do with the church fear. And I'll try not to push this too far, but have you ever felt a little jealousy for your church? Now first, there's something good about loving your local church and being bullish on your local church and thankful for it and even slightly evangelistic about its ministries. That's a really, really good thing. And yet sometimes it can inadvertently become a contest. How many seats get filled? How many services do you run? Or did you hear the church down the road is just awesome at this or that? And all of a sudden we might feel like, "Yeah, but we have this. This is our church." When we visit another church, it's just really hard for me not to evaluate the music. I just have to shut off my – I just got to shut that off. It's just so hard. I distinctly remember a conversation I had with a friend, standing in his farmhouse kitchen and we were listening to a recording of a really amazing guitarist, and I made a comment something like, "Man, I'm just never going to be that good." And my friend, he'd probably heard me say that a couple different times, and he looked at me and said, "You know, Nathan, it's not a contest. He doesn't sound like you, and you don't sound like him. You might just get used to it." It's like, huh? It's not a contest. 

So, it's very good to be thankful for your local body, and yet, we need to guard ourselves from this competition that can expose an underlying discontent or even a temptation to grasp for control like Diotrephes. Gaius was doing really well in hospitality, we see that clearly. And though we don't know exactly why Diotrephes was pulling hard in another direction, some of you may be thinking, well, that's not how church leadership should respond. And you're right. That's true. And yet that is how human hearts often respond and are tempted. And that's exactly what we have going on here in 3 John. While this letter is to and about church leaders, I think all of us can feel that same sort of temptation. For example, if one church does a little bit better than another church after a church squabble, we might be tempted towards self-defense or to press our advantage a little bit, to put ourselves first. Diotrephes was tempted in this way, but John celebrates Gaius's exemplary walk of truth and love and hospitality. When we hear of another person or body walking in the truth, our proper response is to have exceedingly great joy. John was okay with Gaius doing well and maybe even exceeding him. In fact, he loved it. He rejoiced over it. And isn't this exactly what our God is like? Does not God rejoice over you when you walk in the truth? Because the Thessalonians were walking in a manner worthy of their calling, Paul writes this: "For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and our joy." Paul was over the moon that the Thessalonians were doing so well. Pastors love it when the saints are walking in truth and love. If you just do that, you could put Derek out of a job. You won't need the counseling. 

In the parable of the lost coin, Jesus said, "Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I lost. Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Jesus gets to hear the angels sing or shout for joy when a sinner repents. Let's don't be that older son who's a little bit jealous when the younger brother repents and does so well. Zephaniah 3, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you by his love. He will exalt over you with loud singing.” God loves it when you do well. This joy over another saint or another body of saints doing well is rooted in the very nature and character of our God. We want to imitate that, don't we? Yeah. We want every church in Charlotte, every church in our denomination to outdo us in some spiritual gift. And by God's grace, we may have a gift to offer here as well. John rejoiced. God rejoices when we walk in the truth. 

Alright, moving on to verses 5-8. Once again, this section starts with a warm expression of love: “beloved.” Then it begins to shed light on a few specifics. Gaius, as we said, was practicing hospitality and helping gospel workers on their journey. It's not clear if these missionaries were just traveling through or if they were preaching in Gaius's town. But either way, he was faithfully showing brotherly love. Hear that? Brotherly love to strangers. His belief and practice were consistent. Note just a couple things, and you can just look and see as I reference things in these verses. First, these travelers were not just any Christians, but those who would eventually report back to the church. That's in verse 6. Second, they were sent out for the sake of the name. That's in verse 7. Third, they were not peddling the gospel and making money from the Gentiles to whom they preached. That's in verse 7 as well. Fourth, they were workers for the truth, verse 8. In other words, these people had been set apart and sent on a particular mission. John tells Gaius that he's supposed to send them on their way, and it sounds like he did so in a grand way, in a manner worthy of God. 

In my reading this week, I ran into an interesting tidbit from the Didache, which is a first century manual on church worship and conduct, and it references the second letter of John and indicates that sometimes, believe it or not, Christian hospitality was being abused. Hospitality and support is not for someone who just wants a few months of freeloading. According to John Stott, the Didache indicates this, and this is a slightly longer quote: “Instructions are given that an apostle may not stay beyond one day or, in case of necessity, two. If he stays three days, he is a false prophet.” (That's a fairly narrow window.) “On departing, he may receive enough food to last him his journey, but if he asks for money, he's a false prophet. Again, if a prophet, apparently speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit, says, ‘Give me money or something else,’ he is not to be heeded unless the money is for others in need. It is recognized that true prophets have a right to stay and be supported, but an ordinary Christian traveler must not be entertained free for more than two or three days. If he wants to settle, he must work for his living. If he refuses to do this, he is trading on Christ.” Well, it seems that even in the first century, both fish and guests stink after three days. Even back at the dawn of the good old days, they had all sorts of issues to work through. Now, this is conjecture, I admit, but maybe Diotrephes had been burned once or twice, and he was sick of being taken advantage of. Maybe he thought Gaius was gullible. Nonetheless, John is clearly commending the support and the sending and the provisioning of workers for the truth. There’s a whole lot to tease out on this subject, and Mike Miller would probably do a better job of it than I, but I appreciate the care with which he and his team and committee and the missions committee attempts to vet those we support. That's just really no easy task. Amazingly, according to verse 8, when we do this through Mike and the committee and others, we become fellow workers with them in the field. Your missions giving to Faith Promise is not just about fundraising so we can put a particular number on a piece of paper. It's about substantially and spiritually joining in the work. We can't do everything. 

Now, I admit that I'm a jack of all trades. I like to start things. It's hard for me to finish things. I like doing lots of different things, and it's really hard to be good at anything when you do that. But I do like to do that, and it just doesn't always work out. But in this case, through prayer and support and hospitality, we are spiritually joined together in Christ as workers for the truth around the world. Spiritual unity has no geographical boundary. That's an amazing thing. Jesus promises this unity and fellowship and support and sustaining grace. He says, "As you're going, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you,” and “Behold, I am with you always.” I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Isaiah writes in chapter 40, "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth." And skipping down, “He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Does not the Lord support you for the sake of his own name?” Support and encouragement, just like rejoicing, seems to be rooted in the very character and nature of our God. And John rejoices to know that this is being played out in a very practical way in the life of his friend Gaius. 

However, this rejoicing and this supporting should not happen in just sort of a willy-nilly sort of way. It can't be indiscriminate. “Anything Goes” might be a fun song from the 20s, but it's decidedly not Christian. Terrible philosophy. So, finally, we come to John's conflict. John is willing to warn his friend, verses 9 and 10. And so, here we get into a little bit of the dirt. John is naming names: Diotrephes, he likes to be first. He has an issue with authority. He's talking evil nonsense, and he's showing a lack of love. Well, these are serious charges. But notice there's actually no charge of heresy here. At least on the surface, this is not a doctrinal dispute. Clearly there's sin involved. That's true. But it also seems that Gaius and Diotrephes are probably part of the same body, both leaders in the same church. It might distress you if you had correspondence like this between two pastors or elders in your church. Interestingly, in verse 9, John says he wrote something to the church. Do you see that? “I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority.” Maybe Diotrephes got that letter, and he got to it before the clerk of session, and he trashed it. So, this time rather than writing to the church, John writes to a friend. Diotrephes is acting as a church leader, and he refuses to welcome the brothers. More than this, if someone tries to be hospitable, he puts them out of the church. Can you imagine? You're hospitable, you're excommunicated. Out you go. That's a strange thing to be excommunicated for. But Diotrephes had maybe, I don't know, was he taken advantage of? Maybe he was from an influential family and just expected to be in charge, and he was resentful of Gaius doing so well. We don't know. That's all conjecture from various scholars and various commentaries. But one thing we do know is that the leadership of the church was splintered, at least on these practical concerns. However, I think what's instructive for us is the way John deals with the situation, the way John cares for his friend and for the flock. His first letter was rebuffed, so he writes to encourage his friend who is still acting in love and selflessness. And here John exemplifies the willingness to call a spade a spade. 

Generally speaking, it's very wise to avoid naming names in sermons, in many conversations, and even in some correspondence. But here, it seems the issue was public enough to deal with it head-on. As you know from being here and listening, Pastor Kevin rarely calls out particular names, but once in a while when he deems it important, he will connect a particular error with a writer, a speaker or a movement. John, and by extension all pastors, must warn and shepherd and guard the flock both from doctrinal error, and in this case from sinful behaviors, sinful patterns. It can be an uncomfortable position, but a teacher must guide towards truth and love. A parent must prepare their child to understand the world. And as we will learn next week, a brother or sister in Christ should save others by snatching them out of the fire. There are moments to deal with things head on. Not easy, sometimes necessary. 

Jesus also warned us in very specific ways. He said in Mark 12, "Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces. They like to look good and be important. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. And then there is the warning given directly to the shepherds in Ezekiel 34. It reads like this, “Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. ‘As I live,’ declares the Lord God, ‘surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep. But the shepherds have fed themselves and not fed my sheep.’” And skipping ahead, he says, “Therefore, I am against the shepherds.” Christ warns us in John 10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." The willingness to warn and safeguard the children of faith is rooted in the very character and nature of our God. Likewise, though it is especially true of shepherds, pastors and elders, all Christians must be willing to warn and encourage discernment. How we do this – well, that could be a whole sermon unto itself. But let it suffice to be reminded of Galatians 6:1, “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.” Even Paul, who as you know if you've spent any time in the New Testament – even Paul, so bold in writing – he says, "I'm humble face to face." There may be a time to name names, but there is never a time to lose the humility it takes to watch over your own life and doctrine. It's always good to double-check your own heart. Maybe Diotrephes was legitimately hurt at some point. Maybe you have been legitimately hurt at some point. And so, when you're in the midst of a tussle with a spouse, a friend, a child, a church, it's good to ask yourself, “Am I digging in my heels like Diotrephes? Is my heart becoming atrophied? Am I becoming obstinate, controlling, and inflexible? What could I do to live at peace with my brethren insofar as it depends upon me?” 

In summary, then, we are to rejoice when others are doing well in the faith. We are to support and encourage the saints who are working for the truth. And at times, we're called to warn and correct, and at all times to look over our own life and doctrine. Likewise, the Lord rejoices when we walk in truth and love. He loves to support his children. It brings him pleasure, and he is faithful to shepherd and guard his own. 

A lot more could be said about John's closing remarks than I will say here, but we see that he commends Demetrius. So, he's naming names still, but this time in commendation. And also, like in 2 John, he indicates that he would rather be face to face, and the letter closes with saying “greet everybody.” Greet everybody by name. There's a lot of familiar warmth in this letter. But to bring it to a close, I'd like to briefly look at verse 11: “Beloved, do not imitate evil, but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.” Beloved: this is John's friend, and he's united with him in faith. John tells him, "Don't imitate the evil you see in your town right now. Don't stare at that. See God. Imitate good. And for that to happen, you must see God. You must look to Jesus Christ, for in him dwells all the fullness of deity. He is the image of the Father.” Since my eyes were fixed on Jesus, I've lost sight of all beside. 

Have the things of the world begun to feel a little less fulfilling? Have the distractions of your device begun to hurt both your wrist and your soul? Are you tired of staring at something other than the fullness of deity? Or have you begun to imitate the gilded toys of dust? First, if you have never done so, turn your eyes upon Jesus. And then once turned, fix your eyes upon Jesus and imitate him, because your heart has been changed and you love what you see. And practically speaking, what we see, we then want to extend to others. It turns out that Gaius would be a good one to imitate. Diotrephes, well, not so much. Let's hope he was brought to repentance and did ultimately see God. But finding good men and women who have grown up in the Lord to emulate is a good practice, to see how they love others, to see how they walk with others, to see how they live out repentance and focus less and less upon the offerings of the world, how they love to support, how they attempt to snatch others out of the fire. You can learn from biographies and mentoring and small groups or just by watching and listening and talking. Through all this and more, we can learn to rejoice with those who rejoice, support those working for the truth, and to discern the body – that is, we imitate our Lord, our good shepherd. And amazingly, God rejoices over us. He supports us in all this. He guards us. He sustains us through his Word and Spirit. Praise the Lord, for he is our good shepherd. Amen? Let's pray. 

Lord God, we are amazed by your amazing grace, your saving grace, and we are thankful that you would rejoice over us. We're grateful for your continued blessing, encouragement, sustaining grace. We are thankful that as our good shepherd, you guard us, you protect us, you preserve us. At the same time, now as we begin to shift our attention, our minds, our hearts to this, your table, we are mindful of our need. Lord, I pray that you would use your Word to prick our hearts. Remind us of this, that we are hungry, that we need to be fed. We're in need of spiritual nourishment, and we ask that you might feed us heavenly food. Give us sincere hearts, ready and willing to receive from your hand. This we ask in the precious and powerful name of Jesus Christ. Amen and amen.