A thousand or so years ago, I was a young child whose mother took her to the dentist every six months. I disliked the dentist very much, and that hasn’t changed as I aged. But I loved the free “Highlights” magazines that the dentist kept stocked in his waiting room. One of my favorite features in this popular children’s magazine was a cartoon called “Goofus and Gallant.” Simply put, Gallant did good things and was always right, while Goofus was, well, a goofus who made very bad decisions. It was a classic good versus evil lesson every month.

Our reading today from the Apostle John harkens back to that familiar trope of good brother versus bad brother, which in all fairness began in the Old Testament with Cain versus Abel. Abel is very good and likable while Cain is selfish and evil. John’s treatment of Gaius, the good brother in Christ, is reminiscent of Abel. Diotrephes, however, is Cain all the way.

The Book of 3 John is one of five books written by the apostle: The Gospel of John, 1, 2, and 3 John, and Revelation. The Third Epistle of John is actually a very personal letter to Gaius, the leader of the churches in Asia Minor. Diotrephes had been resisting John’s leadership. His accusations and actions threatened to undo the good work that Gaius was doing. Diotrephes’ excommunication of some of the church members and refusal to welcome others created a hardship for the church, and John encouraged Gaius to continue to live in the truth and remain faithful to that truth. Their sound doctrine and orthodoxy in creed were the strength of their truth.

3 John (Common English Bible)

To my dear friend Gaius, whom I truly love.

² Dear friend, I’m praying that all is well with you and that you enjoy good health in the same way that you prosper spiritually.

³ I was overjoyed when the brothers and sisters arrived and spoke highly of your faithfulness to the truth, shown by how you live according to the truth. ⁴ I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are living according to the truth. ⁵ Dear friend, you act faithfully in whatever you do for our brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers. ⁶ They spoke highly of your love in front of the church. You all would do well to provide for their journey in a way that honors God, ⁷ because they left on their journey for the sake of Jesus Christ without accepting any support from the Gentiles. ⁸ Therefore, we ought to help people like this so that we can be coworkers with the truth.

What is this truth? Scholars agree that John was referring to the church’s genuine, authentic faith, lived out in such a way that there was no phoniness or deceit. In colloquial terms, they “talked the talk and walked the walk.”

⁹ I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, doesn’t welcome us. ¹⁰ Because of this, if I come, I will bring up what he has done—making unjustified and wicked accusations against us. And as if that were not enough, he not only refuses to welcome the brothers and sisters but stops those who want to do so and even throws them out of the church! ¹¹ Dear friend, don’t imitate what is bad but what is good. Whoever practices what is good belongs to God. Whoever practices what is bad has not seen God.

How about you? Do you walk your talk, or are you living a life of deception? Would John commend you as a child of God who lives according to Christ’s truth, of are you just talking like a goofus?

Do you believe you are a child of God? Then walk like one.

Walk in the Truth by Kathy Schumacher