Transcript

William Carey served the Lord for more than forty years in the country of India. As a young man, when he initially revealed his desire to leave England and go as a missionary to India, his church leaders criticized him and refused to support him. Eventually, four godly men came alongside him, promising to pray for him and financially support him.

William Carey often talked about descending into the gold mine of India. He told these four men, “I will go down into the mine if you will hold the rope.” And his friends entered into what they would call their rope-holding pledge. They kept their pledge to the day they died. They never let go of the rope.[1]

As we set sail today through what is called, the Third Letter of John, we are introduced to a rope-holder named Gaius. John will challenge us with this man’s involvement in supporting missions.

John calls Gaius “beloved” four times in this brief letter; it is a word that can be translated “my dearest friend.” From this letter, we can also discern that Gaius was a respected leader in his local church.

In verse 2, John extends typical greetings of that day for someone’s well-being and good health. Then he refers to something he has recently heard about Gaius:

For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. (verse 3)

The “brothers” here are traveling missionaries who had brought back a report that Gaius was walking in the truth.

John is overjoyed by this report. He even comments in verse 4, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” The use of “my children” here implies that Gaius had been led to faith in Christ through the personal ministry of John.

John then gets down to business in verses 5-6:

Beloved [My dear friend], 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.

Again, these “brothers” were itinerate evangelists—we might call them “missionaries” today.

To Gaius, they were “strangers,” which means he had never seen them before. Yet he took them into his home and met their needs.

John notes that it was Gaius’s practice to “send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God” (verse 6). That means he fully supplied their needs for ministry—food, money, extra clothing, letters of recommendation—whatever they needed.

These men were not tourists traveling around, seeing the sights of the Mediterranean. John clarifies they were on the road “for the sake of the name” (verse 7). That’s a reference to the name above all names—Jesus Christ. These men were traveling full-time, serving, sharing the gospel for the name of Jesus.

Now here is where John begins to talk about rope-holders. In verse 8 he writes, “Therefore we [every believer] ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.”  In other words, “Let’s financially, tangibly support these missionaries and effectively partner with them in their work.”

Beloved, financial support is no less spiritual than prayer support. They are like two wings of an airplane, and every missionary needs both of them to fly.

Besides, John writes earlier in verse 7 that these missionaries were “accepting nothing from the Gentiles,” meaning unbelievers. They were not asking for financial support from unbelieving friends and neighbors.

I agree with their commitment. Support for the work of God ought to come from the people of God. We are the ones to seize that rope and then experience the joy of partnering in God’s global mission of redeeming the lost. Supporters who hold the rope are as critical as those who go down into the gold mines of the world.

Having grown up in a missionary home, I cannot tell you how grateful my parents were for those friends in Minnesota and that church in Wisconsin who held their rope and supported their needs.

Every summer we would travel north to make personal visits to our supporters. It always took us up through Iowa, where we would visit Mr. and Mrs. Peepers. Every time we pulled into their driveway, my mother would remind us not to make fun of their name. We did not want to anyway because we loved what was waiting for us. Without fail, Mrs. Peepers would have ready her homemade, sourdough cinnamon rolls with extra icing. Talk about supporting missionaries!

They were not on any church staff; they were not former missionaries or community leaders. They were just godly farmers who loved the gospel and loved the Lord and happened to love us too. They were rope-holders of the Davey family.

Unfortunately, not everyone is in agreement about supporting the Lord’s work. William Carey faced opposition, and Gaius faced opposition in his church as well, from a man named Diotrephes. John now turns his attention to dealing with this man.

The apostle writes in verse 9, “I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority.”

This man’s leadership position is not specified here, but Diotrephes disrespects the authority of the apostle John, no doubt because it is a challenge to his own sense of self-importance. John notes that Diotrephes “likes to put himself first.”

He has to be first in line at the church picnic; he has to cast the first vote—and his vote is the only vote that counts! Men like Diotrephes have been damaging local churches in every generation.

Diotrephes views his local church as his own little kingdom. He expects Gaius to be his puppet and the other church members to serve him.

Verse 10 lets us know that Diotrephes is slandering John. The apostle writes, “If I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us.”

Evidently, Diotrephes has mounted a campaign to convince his church to believe the worst about John. Sadly, many good pastors have been run out of their churches by men like Diotrephes. Well, John is going to deal with Diotrephes when he arrives.

Now as bad as all that is, and no doubt hurtful to the apostle John, what really upsets John is Diotrephes’ treatment of these traveling missionaries. He writes, “He [Diotrephes] refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church” (verse 10).

Diotrephes is actually kicking people out of the church if they do not stop supporting these missionaries. This man is a tyrant. He had literally kidnapped the mission of this church and was ruling over them with his stingy, unspiritual distaste for these missionaries who were spreading the gospel of Christ. Frankly, you cannot find anything in this letter that suggests Diotrephes was even a true believer.

John concludes his comments in verse 11:

Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.

He is warning the church—then and now— not to follow the leadership of a stingy, self-centered man like Diotrephes.

John then contrasts the evil influence of Diotrephes with the godly influence of another church member, Demetrius. They might have similar sounding names, but their hearts are worlds apart. John writes, “Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself” (verse 12).

Demetrius, like Gaius, was a member of that rope-holding society. These two thought of others, investing personally in the financial needs of missionaries. They did not have to be first; in fact, they wanted others to be first.

Let us live like these men. Let us support those who have given their lives to spread the gospel. Let us hold their rope today.