Read 2 John 7-11.
Focus on 2 John 10-11.
Knowledge
Answer the following
questions from the text:
v. 10 What should we see if a person brings with him or her?
If someone doesn’t bring it, what is the first thing we
ought not to do?
What is the second thing we ought not to do?
v.11 What kind of deeds does this person have?
What happens if we do greet such a person?
Understanding & Wisdom
John has been providing us instructions throughout this tiny
letter how we are to love one another—and how we are not to.
So he explained in verse 6 that loving one another means
conducting ourselves according to the commandments of God. Agape love simply
cannot be divorced from God’s truth, otherwise it ceases to be agape love.
This is important to remember because, according to verse 7,
many deceivers have gone into the world. Such people will prevent true love,
because they bring lies and untruths and false teaching with them. Lies and
truth cannot coexist, and where there is no truth, there is no real love.
Therefore, John’s first instruction for dealing with such
deceivers is to watch ourselves. We need to stay aware and observant, lest we
lose the good.
John’s second instruction for dealing with deceivers is to
abide in the teaching of Christ. We need to continue remain within the
boundaries of the teaching about Christ as well as the teaching from Christ.
Which brings us to John’s third instruction for dealing with
deceivers: avoid them.
Context
Because this last instruct from John has been misapplied and
abused, let me make it clear again who is—and is not—being spoken of.
1. This is not
referring to non-Christians in general. John is not advocating that we shut ourselves away from the world and
associate exclusively with Christians.
2. This is not
referring to Christians with whom we disagree. There are many disputable
matters, as Paul refers to them, gray areas where there is no clear right and
wrong. Indeed, there are areas where what is right for you may be wrong for me
and vice versa. Moreover, we are not going to see eye to eye with every
Christian on every matter. So these disputes are not what John is addressing
here, otherwise we couldn’t fellowship with other believers.
3. This is not
referring just to Christians with an erroneous belief. Again, if it did, we
wouldn’t be able to associate with ourselves, much less with any other
Christian. For we all carry areas of wrong beliefs, no matter how hard we might
try to understand rightly. It is simply part of being a fallen human and a
growing Christian.
Rather, the person in view here is the deceiver who
advocates false teaching. He or she claims to be Christian, when in reality
they oppose the real Christ, and the teaching they are advocating is not the
teaching of Christ. Rather, they have slipped outside those boundaries to promote
false teaching and heresy.
Moreover, the phrases in verse 10, “comes to you” and
“receive into your house” points to the letter’s historical context of
traveling teachers and preachers. At the end of the first century, before the
New Testament was compiled and canonized, the churches relied heavily upon
traveling teachers and prophets to provide additional instructions, much as
Paul provided on his missionary journeys. Because their traveling prevented
them from earning money through a normal job, church members would house, feed,
and provide for the needs of these itinerate preachers. Of course, both
Christians and non-Christians soon figured this out and decided this was an easy
and comfortable way to live. Thus many charlatans arose.
This all reveals that John is specifically referencing
deceivers who not only claim to be Christians but also are or claim to be leaders and teachers in the church. Like
false prophets of the Old Testament, these people claimed to speak for God or
at least speak with a certain amount of authority from God. Yet their teaching
directly opposed the clear, fundamental truths of God.
So as we deal with this final instruction, please keep in
mind John’s advice is for handling leaders
within the body of Christ who claim to be Christian but whose teaching is false and shows them to be
opposed to Christ.
Question to ponder: In
view of this, what kinds of people could potentially fall into this group? That
is, who qualifies as a Christian leader?
Method #3: Avoid
This brings us back to verse 10, where John provides our
third instruction for dealing with these people. There it says that if this
type of false-teaching leader comes to us, we aren’t to receive them into our
house.
Again, the historical practice of receiving someone into a
house is a little more complex than we tend to think of it today. To receive
someone into a house, especially in Middle Eastern culture, was more than
simply offering a room to stay. You were taking responsibility for that person
to the point of treating that person as a family member during their stay, giving
financial support, providing for their needs, and offering protection against
outsiders if necessary.
In addition to this cultural context, the verb receive, according to Bauer’s Lexicon,
can include the recognition of another’s authority (page 584). To receive them
could also be an acknowledgement of their position and power, and therefore
their right to a certain amount of control.
Now in 21st-century United
States, our circumstances are different from 1st-century
Roman Empire. We generally don’t deal with
itinerate preachers these days. Housing of pastors, teachers, and even
missionaries on leave is handled much differently. Nonetheless, there are plenty
ways we can “receive into our home” these leader-deceivers and their false
teachings, such as using various media materials they produce.
Question to ponder: What
are some of the other ways we can receive into our home these leader-deceivers?
The second half of the command in verse 10 is to not “even
speak a greeting to him.” This greeting is rooted in the concept of happiness
and well-being. So even though this is a formalized welcome, much like wishing
someone a “good day,” it is still the speaking of a wish that the other is well
and will be well, and it indicates you’re on good terms with that person (Bauer’s
Lexicon, pages 1074-1075).
So in short, we’re to shun these leader-deceivers. We’re not
to support them financially. We’re not to affirm them verbally. We’re not to
protect or provide for them. We’re not to associate with them. We’re not even
to engage in friendly conversation or wish them well. We’re to sever all
contact, if possible, with them. All this from the apostle who instructed us
just a few verses earlier to love one another.
Question to ponder: Why
is this shunning not a violation of the command to love one another?
Evil Deeds
All this leads to verse 11, and the reason we’re to avoid
and shun such people: Even simply offering a greeting makes us a participant in
their evil deeds. That is, we have in common, share in, declare a mutual
interest in, and indicate a close association with such a person. We create, as
the verb says here, koinonia (fellowship) with them. This makes us equally
responsible for those deeds.
What kinds of deeds are we becoming responsible for? Here
they are called “evil,” a characteristic which is emphasized in the Greek by
how the adjective is set apart: we participate in his deeds—his evil ones. This makes it very clear that
partial support of such a person is not possible. We can’t claim to be
supporting just the “good” part of the person’s ministry. Supporting any part
of a false teacher’s ministry or any association with a deceiver is a
participation in the evil. Period.
And what kind of evil is being spoken of here? This evil is
that which “causes labor, pain, sorrow, malignant evil.” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary, page 212) It can
refer to an unhealthy physical condition, the qualitatively worthless, and the
morally destructive (Bauer’s Lexicon, pages 851-852). In short, the deceiver’s
deeds are unhealthy, worthless, and destructive, only leading to trouble, pain,
and sorrow.
Question to ponder: How
does giving a greeting, much less receiving into our homes, such a person cause
us to participate in his or her evil deeds?
Therefore, as much as our culture and even some churches
might say otherwise, we must love within the bounds of Truth, which means there
is a time and place for shunning certain people. To do otherwise is to foster
evil, which is neither love nor truth.
Make it personal
One truth learned:
One area of conviction:
One way to correct:
Written prayer:
