I read John 3 and what stood out was names.  Names and all that came with it.

The first name was John.  I felt the authority tied to the name of an apostle of Jesus Christ.

Next came Gaius.  I felt the genuine love and affection he displayed when John spoke to him and about him.

Next is Diotrephes.  I felt the hurt and borderline betrayal John felt in mention his name and his treatment of others.  

And finally, there is Demetrius.  I felt the overwhelming joy and approval in John’s words about this brother.

In this passage I see love in many forms.  John was known as the apostle that Jesus loved.  I see in this letter many examples of love that Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13.  For example:

1. Love is kind.  He praised Demetrius and Gaius with words that would help them stand up under the pressures of leadership and service.

2. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  Even in rebuking Diotrephes, he does not condemn the sinner.  He even ends the letter on a positive note by telling Gaius he longed to see him face to face.

I ask myself what pops into people’s mind when they hear my name?  What are images and thoughts that appear in my wife’s mind, or my supervisor’s mind, or my neighbor’s mind when people ask them about me?

I had a job interview on November 23, and I shared a story of when I received a negative report about my job performance.  It was not a flattering story, nor was it one that shed a good light on the Gospel I represented.  Nevertheless, it was the truth that was supported by documented shortcomings.

A year later my employer took our division out to lunch for a Christmas party, and he gave out awards for the end of the year.  I won the award for Most Improved Team Member.  That was something that let me give testimony about God.  Not just in receiving the award but in sharing the peaks and valleys of the year and a half that led up to this moment, which let me share that disciples aren’t perfect, just forgiven.

Godly sorrow led me to repent.  I felt like all the names John used in this letter were replaced by my own.  If the apostle John wrote this letter about me, he would have seen the good, bad, and the ugly. 

And I would have received a letter from one of Jesus’ first students who would have wanted to see me face to face.