Episode 245: Are You a Godly Team Member?: Jonathan Youssef

[00:00:00] Hello and welcome to Candid where we never settle for less than the truth. I'm your host Jonathan Youssef,

[00:00:14] each week will tackle tough issues, answer your hard questions, and take a candid look at the Christian faith.

[00:00:21] This is a follow-up to last week's reflection, are you walking in the truth?

[00:00:28] If you haven't listened to it, go back and listen to that reflection because these two pair together.

[00:00:36] The name Bill Romanowski may not mean anything to some of you. He's a former NFL player.

[00:00:44] He was a middle linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos, and the Oakland Raiders.

[00:00:53] He's a four time Super Bowl champion. He's a great football player and a fantastic athlete, but he is a terrible teammate.

[00:01:05] He's number one on the list of dirtiest football players ever.

[00:01:10] He's been sued several times by other players. He's kicked players in the head.

[00:01:16] He broke the jaw of another player. And football is a violent sport, so sometimes being brutal is to your advantage, but that was not Romanowski's problem.

[00:01:28] Romanowski was a terrible teammate. In fact, in one practice he ripped off the helmet of his own teammate and punched the man in the eye socket to where the man had to retire from football.

[00:01:41] Many of his teammates have said that he was the worst teammate ever, so despite his unbelievable athleticism, his inability to be a good teammate caused a great deal of strife for the team.

[00:01:56] Romanowski's problem was not that he was ultra competitive. His problem was that he was thinking of himself first.

[00:02:04] He was self-focused, and he put himself over others on the team.

[00:02:11] That is where we are as we look at the book of Third John, where we saw last week where the Apostle John has written this letter to a man called Gaius,

[00:02:23] who is walking in the truth. His love has been reported back to John, the fact that he is showing great hospitality to people that John is sending as itinerant preachers and missionaries to the church there.

[00:02:38] And John is encouraging him to continue on.

[00:02:44] John encourages him not just because there are false teachers and false preachers in the area.

[00:02:50] There are also bad teammates like Romanowski, who are in the church, who are making it difficult for people like Gaius to walk out the truth in love.

[00:03:02] We read about them in verse 9 of Third John.

[00:03:07] He writes, I have written something to the church, but diatrophies, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority.

[00:03:19] Here is a person in the church, possibly in a position of authority, or perhaps he just has a tremendous amount of influence, and he ignores the authority of likely one of the last Apostles in those days.

[00:03:34] John has this authority as an Apostle, as one who has witnessed the ministry of Christ and has seen the resurrected Christ in person, but diatrophies does not submit to authority.

[00:03:49] Rather he submits to his own authority.

[00:03:53] And John says, so if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, gossiping maliciously against us, refusing to welcome the brothers, and even going so far as to stop those who want to show hospitality, putting them out of the church.

[00:04:10] Diatrophies is working against the entire mission of the church.

[00:04:14] He refuses to submit to the authorities, God has put over the church.

[00:04:19] He speaks against church leadership.

[00:04:22] And John says, as if that were not enough, he refuses to welcome the brothers.

[00:04:28] He refuses to welcome those we are sending, who are there to help the mission of the church, who are there to help equip you, encourage you, and build up your faith.

[00:04:40] He refuses to show them hospitality that prevents people like Gaius from showing hospitality to these men by putting them out of the church.

[00:04:51] Diatrophies is a real piece of work.

[00:04:54] He's doing the exact opposite of everything he should be doing.

[00:04:59] He is the exact opposite of Gaius. They clearly contrast each other.

[00:05:04] Gaius is walking in the truth, in love, showing hospitality.

[00:05:09] The truth testifies to him putting what he believes into practice.

[00:05:14] He is a source of joy to the Apostle John. He is a fellow worker for the truth.

[00:05:23] Diatrophies submit to his own authority. He is obviously a source of pain and frustration for the Apostle John.

[00:05:32] He deliberately keeps the gospel from being preached, and from the good messengers coming in.

[00:05:38] He threatens to harass anyone who tries to support them.

[00:05:42] Now why does diatrophies act like this? Well there are some theories.

[00:05:49] Some say that he didn't like the power structure in the church at that time.

[00:05:53] He didn't like that John could rule from somewhere further away in a sort of episcopal bishop structure.

[00:06:01] He thought the local church should have autonomy and be able to have their preacher's preach and not be forced to bring these other people in.

[00:06:09] That's one theory.

[00:06:11] Another one is that it was not a doctrinal issue but rather just personal ambition.

[00:06:17] That diatrophies had something against John and so anyone that John would send diatrophies would say, no I'm against John and I don't want any of his people coming here.

[00:06:31] A third theory is that diatrophies whose name in Greek means Zeus raised was part of a Greek aristocratic class.

[00:06:41] So this is a class issue.

[00:06:43] We don't know exactly what the issue was.

[00:06:46] What we do know is that to John, the root of the issue with diatrophies was not theological, social or ecclesiastical meaning within the church structure.

[00:06:59] But it was a moral issue at its core.

[00:07:02] The root of the problem was sin as he writes, diatrophies who likes to put himself first.

[00:07:11] What does Scripture say about this?

[00:07:14] Well, as we discussed in last week's reflection, James and John have just asked Jesus to bring fire down to burn up the Samaritan village where they have been rejected.

[00:07:25] Remember the sons of thunder?

[00:07:27] Now with their mommy, James and John are asking for a position of authority when the judgment comes.

[00:07:34] Lord, can James and John sit at your left and right hand, asks their mother, the disciples then find out what's been taking place and they get upset, probably because they want those seats of authority.

[00:07:48] So there's this infighting with the disciples and what does Jesus say to them?

[00:07:54] In Mark chapter 10 he says,

[00:07:56] You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their great ones exercise authority over them.

[00:08:06] But it shall not be so among you, but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.

[00:08:20] For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.

[00:08:28] And what did Peter write to the church as it relates to those in authority?

[00:08:33] To shepherds, to elders, and to those in high positions?

[00:08:38] Peter wrote,

[00:08:40] Shepherds the flock of God among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion but willingly as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly, not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

[00:09:00] John himself has probably taught on this issue many times.

[00:09:05] He's probably preached it in every church he visited.

[00:09:09] He's probably shared a firsthand example of,

[00:09:12] You know my mom and my brother James and I misunderstood what the first coming of Christ was all about, and we were looking for power and authority.

[00:09:22] We wanted it for ourselves.

[00:09:25] We didn't know the truth of the gospel yet.

[00:09:28] We didn't know what it would cost Jesus for our salvation.

[00:09:33] This is also probably not the first time John has had to deal with this issue, because authority issues frequently arise.

[00:09:41] However, this issue can cause more damage than others, because it is a rejection of authority and a promotion of the self.

[00:09:50] This is the very sin that captured the hearts of Adam and Eve in the garden.

[00:09:54] The rejection of God as their ultimate authority and the promotion of their self that they would be like God.

[00:10:03] And Diatraphise's case, he's stopping the work of ministry and the preaching and the spread of the gospel.

[00:10:12] Self-love is usually at the root of every church descent.

[00:10:20] What are these verses teaching us?

[00:10:23] We can all sit here and think, I know some people who act like that.

[00:10:28] Maybe not even as bad as that, but they're still bad.

[00:10:32] And I am guiose in this story because I'm always the hero in my story.

[00:10:40] Here's the reality.

[00:10:42] My tendency is maybe not to be as outright and destructive as Diatraphise.

[00:10:48] I still tend to see myself as more right than wrong.

[00:10:53] My heart still bends in on itself.

[00:10:56] My willful desire sometimes wins out.

[00:11:01] Being selfless, kind and hospitable like guiose is not natural.

[00:11:06] It's more natural to be self-focused like Diatraphise because I can sit and read this passage.

[00:11:13] I could pat myself on the back and say, you know, I am kind and I am hospitable.

[00:11:18] But you see, we can even selfishly give of ourselves.

[00:11:23] We can selfishly give of ourselves as if it were by our effort that we curry or gain favor with God.

[00:11:32] That is always the human condition.

[00:11:35] Christianity is the only faith where it is not about trying to climb the ladder up to God through our life.

[00:11:42] God through our good works.

[00:11:46] But this is what we always go back to.

[00:11:49] We always try to go back to making it about our works, what we do and how we act as the goal or as the thing that justifies us before God.

[00:12:02] But you see, that is not our situation.

[00:12:06] It is never ours.

[00:12:09] What justifies us before God is Christ.

[00:12:14] It has nothing to do with what we have done.

[00:12:18] It has to do with what he has done on our behalf.

[00:12:22] We do not save ourselves.

[00:12:25] We do not choose God.

[00:12:27] God sets his electing love on us and chooses us for while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, Christ died for the ungodly.

[00:12:38] Any human effort that we think we contribute to this is foolishness.

[00:12:45] And when a person understands that it is not by the works of the law that we are justified but by grace, we have been saved through faith, they understand the truth.

[00:12:56] None of this is our own doing. It is all a gift of God.

[00:13:01] No one can boast of the work that has been prepared in advance for us to do when a person understands that they understand the truth.

[00:13:10] So we can ask ourselves the question, what is it that separates guys from diatrophies?

[00:13:18] Is it their actions that separate them? Yes! But it is deeper than that.

[00:13:24] One is walking in the truth and one is not.

[00:13:29] What defines walking in the truth?

[00:13:32] We can use that terminology, right?

[00:13:35] We can read this passage and talk about walking in the truth but we need to know what it is.

[00:13:41] It is presented through actions but it comes from a deeper place.

[00:13:46] John writes,

[00:13:49] We have seen this in the church recently, haven't we?

[00:13:52] Big, forceful personalities.

[00:13:55] People who are not in love with God, they are in love with God.

[00:14:00] They are in love with God.

[00:14:03] They are in love with God.

[00:14:06] They are in love with God.

[00:14:09] They are in love with God.

[00:14:12] We have seen this in the church recently, haven't we?

[00:14:15] Big, forceful personalities.

[00:14:18] People who speak well but where is the fruit?

[00:14:22] And the fruit is not the size of the crowd drawn to hearing the personality.

[00:14:27] It cannot be.

[00:14:29] False prophets draw huge crowds every day.

[00:14:33] I am sure that diatrophies had quite a following.

[00:14:37] He has garnered enough attention to where John has to write specifically about him and threaten to come in person and deal with the situation.

[00:14:44] So I am sure diatrophies had won over a few people.

[00:14:48] If numbers are not fruit, then what is the fruit?

[00:14:53] The fruit is the fruit of the spirit.

[00:14:57] Are they exhibiting love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness?

[00:15:06] Faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

[00:15:12] This is the fruit.

[00:15:14] And the fruit is only born when the roots are good.

[00:15:19] And the roots go deep into the soil.

[00:15:24] If the roots are in Christ, if the roots are in understanding and knowing the character of God,

[00:15:31] and if you are planted deep in good soil, if you understand that you are not justified by the law or by the works,

[00:15:39] if you understand that you are not justified by the law or by works but by grace, then self-love is unattractive.

[00:15:50] It's unattractive to you in your spirit.

[00:15:54] Your flesh and spirit are at odds with each other.

[00:15:58] But you know what is right.

[00:16:00] You don't need to be told what is right.

[00:16:03] You might need to be reminded of it.

[00:16:06] But you know what is right because you know God, because you are from God,

[00:16:12] because you have been saved by grace through faith and you know that did not come from you but by God.

[00:16:21] You know how to walk in the truth.

[00:16:25] This is how Gaius walks out.

[00:16:28] The truth in love.

[00:16:30] It's not superficial, it is not fake.

[00:16:33] It comes from deep down.

[00:16:36] It comes from being rooted in the truth of the gospel in knowing that Christ has called us to walk out the truth in love.

[00:16:46] So where are diatrophies as roots?

[00:16:50] They don't appear to be in Christ and His actions confirm that.

[00:16:56] But let me make a slight shift here and ask you,

[00:17:00] would you get more joy and satisfaction in seeing diatrophies judged, condemned and cast out?

[00:17:10] Of course we don't know diatrophies, so maybe substitute in a person you have an issue with that you struggle to love.

[00:17:18] Would you get more satisfaction in seeing that person judged and condemned and cast out or in seeing them restored?

[00:17:28] Or in this case, corrected as John plans to do.

[00:17:34] What does restoration look like when John comes and rebukes diatrophies?

[00:17:41] What would you hope the result would be?

[00:17:44] We hope that diatrophies confesses and repents and is restored to fellowship.

[00:17:50] We hope that He would see the wickedness in His ways, and He would see that He is working against the gospel.

[00:17:59] He's obviously in the church.

[00:18:01] He must understand something.

[00:18:04] We hope that He will be welcomed back into the community and not shunned because we are saved by grace through faith and not by works.

[00:18:13] That is the truth of the gospel.

[00:18:15] And if we are walking in the truth and love, then that should be our hope as well.

[00:18:21] Now it may have gone like that or it may not have gone like that but our hope is in the gospel

[00:18:29] and its transformative power in our lives and in the lives of those around us.

[00:18:36] And I would imagine that if diatrophies had been restored,

[00:18:40] Gaius probably would have been the first person there to welcome Him back into the community

[00:18:46] because Gaius understands the gospel and is walking in the truth.

[00:18:54] Now I have heard story after story of men and women who have struggled with all kinds of sins,

[00:19:01] unfaithfulness, bitterness, unforgiveness on and on and on.

[00:19:06] And big sins that would have caused issues within the church and the church has to put some under discipline.

[00:19:13] Some have been put out of membership as Paul tells the Corinthian church to do in first Corinthians.

[00:19:18] Put out the immoral brother.

[00:19:21] But you see the sad reality is having heard and seen a lot of these stories

[00:19:28] is that heartbreakingly some of these people continue down that path of rejection and sin

[00:19:37] and they don't care.

[00:19:39] They depart from the church but some come back in humility and repentance

[00:19:48] and are restored and welcome back to the table of fellowship.

[00:19:53] They are welcome back to celebrate the Lord's supper together with the people of God

[00:19:58] and what a beautiful stories they are because they are gospel stories.

[00:20:03] They are all our stories to greater or lesser extent because we are called to be restoration people.

[00:20:13] We are called to be forgiving people.

[00:20:18] We are called to be patient people because that is what our Lord is with us.

[00:20:27] Well John concludes his short letter with this greeting in verse 13.

[00:20:34] I had much to write to you but I would rather not write with pen and ink.

[00:20:39] I hope to see you soon.

[00:20:42] We will talk face to face, peace be to you.

[00:20:46] Imagine how much that would have meant to guise in a world of confusion and chaos that surrounds him with all of this.

[00:20:54] A longing of the Apostle not just to write but to be together face to face.

[00:21:01] There is something special about physical communion with people.

[00:21:05] Seeing facial expressions and not trying to read between the lines on an email or a text exchange,

[00:21:12] being able to ask a clarifying question and get to the heart issues of what's happening.

[00:21:18] We miss out on all of those things when everything is digital and I understand the irony of listening to a podcast.

[00:21:25] We miss out on walking out the truth in love when things are impersonal.

[00:21:31] We miss out on peace when we are away from one another and perhaps you can testify to that when we were forced to be separated from each other.

[00:21:39] And you came to the realization that we are relational people.

[00:21:43] That is how God created us, the Trinity is relational. He created us in his image and so we need to be together.

[00:21:52] Then John sends this greeting.

[00:21:54] Greet each individual by name, a personal touch that conveys individuality and value to every congregation member so they wouldn't feel forgotten or left out but greet each one by name.

[00:22:11] Again an image bearing this right to giving honor to whom it's due.

[00:22:20] Because the reality is that when preachers teach these things it can feel a little impersonal because we're speaking to a wide gathering but when we speak face to face,

[00:22:31] it's so intimate and personal and it tends to have a deeper impact.

[00:22:37] John says, we will confront diatrophies in person.

[00:22:42] John will personally come because diatrophies is not responding to the other letters and it requires an in person meeting.

[00:22:52] As we close I want to remind you that diatrophies and guiots are a poignant reminder of the stark contrast between self-promotion and genuine service within the Christian faith.

[00:23:07] In this letter John brings to light the essence of walking in truth a heart rooted deeply in the gospel of grace reflecting Christ's selfless service.

[00:23:21] We're invited to examine our walk with God through the lens of these contrasting figures.

[00:23:28] Are we imitating the selfless example of guiots or the divisive spirit of diatrophies?

[00:23:36] This reflection calls us back to the foundational Christian principle that greatness in the kingdom of God is measured not by dominion or authority but by love, service, sacrifice.

[00:23:52] Echoing Jesus's call to be servants of all.

[00:23:57] In a world where the clamor for recognition and power often drowns out the quiet call to service, may we find the grace to walk in truth and love and bodying the gospel in every aspect of our lives, eagerly awaiting the joy of fellowship and unity that the Apostle John so deeply longs for.

[00:24:26] Candid is a podcast from leading the way with Dr. Michael Yusef don't forget to connect with our social media pages on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and subscribe to Candid Conversations on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.

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[00:24:56] Thank you.