May 15, 2013
Diotrephes was one of those folks who just
loved the limelight. It was all a matter
of pride, and Pride leads to conflict[1]; pride
was killing his church.
According to John, Diotrephes' biggest snares
were his tongue and his "ownership" of the church. He was prating, gossiping against the
leadership of John. This word "prating"
seems so innocent, when we call it "jus' talk." I once served a church in a community where
the locals had a common saying – Well, we’re bad to talk about each other,
but when you need something – we’re here for each other. Christians do not gossip about each other! We cannot help forming opinions about things,
but to spew everything out that is inside, just because you like to hear your
own opinions, is prating, and John called that evil!
Diotrephes seemed to think that he owned the
church, and would not warm-up to other leaders (John, in particular). Love is not rude. Diotrephes was rude, and that is not
characteristic of someone who loves God, and would live the Christian
walk. What is needed in a case like this
is confession and a new start.
So…do you have a little Diotrephes tendency?
· Are there
folks at church you’d like to see join another church…maybe across town?
· Are there
some leaders who just “tick you off”?
· Have you
been tempted to criticize or gossip about that leader who just doesn’t come up
to your expectations?
·
Are you the
leader…and you feel that way about some of the followers?
Here’s what Jesus told his disciples about
the way to deal with pride:
So Jesus called them together and said, “You
know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt
their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be
your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone
else. Mark
10:42 - 44 (NLT)
That’s a good target to shoot at today!
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