3 John 1:1-8 (ESV)

[1]  The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.

[2] Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. [3] For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. [4] I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

[5] Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, [6] who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. [7] For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. [8] Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.

In 2 John the readers are told to walk in truth and love. In 3 John they are told to walk in truth and show hospitality. They are also to oppose those who reject truth and fail to show hospitality and love. As I read John’s words I cannot help but think of Jesus. He was called a Friend of Sinners. He was gentle with the poor, the blind, and the broken. He had a harsh side to him, but his harshness was reserved for those who thought they were righteous, and who therefore assumed they were better than others.

John is clear, love and hospitality cannot be separated from truth. I have observed enough self-righteous hypocrisy to last a lifetime. But if I am honest, I have expressed self-righteous hypocrisy too often myself. I have to admit that there have been times, there are times, when internally I feel as though I am somehow better than the drunk, the sex-trafficker, the thief. I have to admit that there are some people I avoid simply because they are different (read “less clean”) than I am. God, forgive me.

I cannot see Jesus sayng, “This is Samaria. It is unclean. Let’s go around it.” What I see Jesus doing is walking through Samaria, stopping at a well, and talking to a woman that even the Samaritans would have considered unclean. I cannot see Jesus saying, “Here come the Lepers. We need to make sure we don’t touch them. They are unclean.” What I see Jesus doing is healing them. I cannot see Jesus saying, “This man is blind. He or his family must have sinned. Make sure you don’t get to close to him.” What I see Jesus doing is touching the man and healing him. It makes me wonder how often my actions toward others have contradicted the faith I claim to believe.

Truth is important, but it can never be divorced from love and hospitality. May God forgive us for how often we have failed to love in truth. May God forgive us for how often we have tried to proclaim truth without love. May God forgive us for seeing the dirt rather than seeing the person created in the very image of God himself. May God forgive us, and may he change how we see people. May his truth and love be clearly seen in me.