Jump Start # 668

3 John 9 I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church.

Diotrephes was a real pill. He was a spiritual bully. He was a Christian, but one who simply didn’t get what it was all about. It seems that Diotrephes had his target set on John. He accused John unjustly. Not only bullied but he did so using “wicked words.” He refused to accept some Christians and “puts them out of the church.” The spirit of Diotrephes didn’t die with this man. It can be found in many places today. People that want to “run” the church. Power plays and power struggles and folks not getting their ways, so they use wickedness as a means to get what they want.

Bullies cause fear. This is true if we talk about middle school, power players at work, or the Diotrephes in the church. Bullies intimidate and use fear to control others. They like to make fun of people and be leaders of troublemakers. If you are small, different, kind, good, obedient you become the target of bullies. They think they are cool but they are not. Too many schools are having to deal with bullies. It’s a shame that they have to do this. Parents ought to be doing this, but bullies often become what they are from dysfunctional parents.

I’m going to age myself here, when I was in school, we didn’t have middle school. K-8, same building for me. High school was a different world. The high school I went to had major racial issues in the early 70’s. Fights, intimidation, fear, and bulling was normal. Bullies believe in developing a pecking order that they control. I have encountered bullies in the church. They talk tough and threaten often. They try to scare. The best way to deal with bullies is to stand up. Don’t let them have any ground. It takes a ton of courage to do that. This is exactly what John was doing to Diotrephes. If he came, he was calling him out. This would not be a fist fight. It would be an apostle taking the helm of the ship over and revealing the ungodly deeds of a man who isn’t acting like a Christian.

I have no respect for Christian bullies. I have a dear preaching friend of mine who encountered one recently.  This bully pretended to be another preacher. He’s not. He’s a bully. He uses long emails, threats and fear to try to make younger preachers be controlled by him. In the pretense of standing for the truth he used his bully tactics on my friend. It didn’t work. Spiritual bullies are the worse kind. We expect more, and we should from Christians. Spiritual bullies can use the pulpit to scare an audience into the behavior that they want. Spiritual bullies can find their way into the leadership of the church and use that position and role to control others. Shame on them!

Diotrephes should have been stopped immediately when he started using wicked words. Anyone that has to do that, has no argument and is desperate. This is not the behavior of Christians!

Spiritual bullies can’t handle silence. They long for a dog fight. When emails are not answered and threats are not countered they have nothing. All they can do is spread lies to their fellow bullies. No one of any count listens to them.  When the word of God is opened up to bullies they hush. God’s word used correctly will silence those who are wicked, falsely accusing and are not following the way of Christ.

Diotrephes goes down in history as a real jerk. I know of no one who would name their son after this man. Wanting to be first, he actually became last. He is used throughout history in sermons and classes as an example of pride and failure. He hurt the people of God. He was not like Jesus. The use of email, facebook and blogs have allowed those who are like Diotrephes to have an audience. They complain, ridicule, condemn and denounce good people who are trying to follow Jesus. They are bullies. Ignore them. Don’t read their rubbish. Get about doing the good that you know to do.

Diotrephes serves a purpose. Without his story, we wouldn’t know what to do today. John shows us. John was not getting in the mud with him and becoming a counter bully. Not at all. John stood with Jesus. Some things are wrong and need to be stopped in a Biblical fashion. It is amazing that one man can have such an impact upon a congregation.

Some of our readers know well what I am writing about. You could put names and faces to this story. May God give you the courage to stand with what is right. May you pray for a change of hearts and the spirit of Jesus to prevail. Bullies have problems: socially, emotionally, and especially spiritually. There are proper ways to do things, and force and fear isn’t the means to accomplish these.

Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me, is more than a hymn. It’s the N.T. way. Paul said, “Christ is our life,” and on another occasion, “it is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me.” That’s the way it ought to be. That’s where we need to be.

Roger