Preeminent

By Andrew Williams – October 9, 2021

“I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us.” III John 1:9 NKJV

Good morning fellow disciples.

Can you imagine being the leader or founder of a church, or having oversight over a church, and you are writing to them giving them instructions on how to treat missionaries, and they don’t obey your instructions? This is the situation in the church that John was writing to. Even though Gaius was doing what was right, there was one person by the name of Diotrephes who was not. He did not receive the missionaries and he also stopped persons from being hospitable to them.

You might be wondering why the difference between these two disciples. The verse says it clearly: Diotrephes loves to have the preeminence among the church members.

Preeminent means: having paramount rank, dignity, or importance. So we see that Diotrephes thought of himself more highly than he should. Jesus told His disciples that the one who wanted to be the greatest should be the one who serves the most.

It’s obvious that Diotrephes was not behaving like a true disciple of Christ. A true disciple of Christ would take care of fellow believers and would not stop persons from supporting those who are doing the work of Christ. Do you want to be the preeminent one? I implore you to be preeminent in the way that Christ was, by serving the way that God calls us to serve. If you do otherwise then you truly are not a disciple of Christ.

Prayer: Father God, help us to be humble and help us to serve in ways that are pleasing to You, amen.