Three Men in 3 John #3: Demetrius

Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. 3 John v11

This verse is where we left off yesterday. We’d met Diotrephes, a man who’d become too big for his boots. He was a role model of how not to do things. He was taking the wrong path. Evil feels like a strong word, but if what you’re doing is not good, then it is evil. John sees it as black and white as that. You’re either for God or against God: there is no grey area. And this is about what you do, about faith in action. Do good or do evil, that’s the choice we face every minute of every day: taking the path that leads to life or the path that leads to death, being identified as someone who is from God or someone who has not seen God.

The third man mentioned in 3 John is a positive role model.

Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true. 3 John v12

Although it’s not clear whether Gaius, the recipient of this letter, knows Demetrius or not, these words can be read as a recommendation. Maybe Demetrius is the one bringing the letter from John to Gaius. John wants to assure Gaius that Demetrius is a good man and can be trusted. To be well spoken of by everyone – isn’t that what we all aspire to? Not necessarily to be liked or popular, or to be admired for our wealth and success, but to be respected for our integrity and goodness. I don’t want anyone to have a bad word to say about me because there is nothing bad to say: I try to live everyday by that goal.

Even God Himself, who knows each one of us through and through, commends Demetrius as a good man.

It takes a different way of looking at people to see others in this light. We should never be blinded by their worldly success or popularity or power. What really matters is what’s going on on the inside that flows out into words and attitudes, into how we treat others and the world, into how we put love into action. This is what matters. This is what it is to be commended as a good person. Not ‘goody two shoes’ kind of good, but good right through like a stick of rock.

Anyone who does what is good is from God.

That’s right.

Anyone.