Always Room for One More

Read 2 John 1:1—3 John 1:15

2. Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.
3. Some of the traveling teachers recently returned and made me very happy by telling me about your faithfulness and that you are living according to the truth.
4. I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth.
5. Dear friend, you are being faithful to God when you care for the traveling teachers who pass through, even though they are strangers to you.
6. They have told the church here of your loving friendship. Please continue providing for such teachers in a manner that pleases God.
7. For they are traveling for the Lord, and they accept nothing from people who are not believers.
8. So we ourselves should support them so that we can be their partners as they teach the truth. 3 John 1:2-8

Do you remember the first time someone put you up for the night? You were away from home and a friend or relative gave you a place to sleep and the promise of a good breakfast the next morning. The bed felt different. The walls looked different from the ones in your room. You made sure that you knew where the bathroom was, just in case. Was that a sense of adventure . . . or homesickness?

In the apostle John’s day, traveling teachers and missionaries spent many nights away from home. Their travels created a need for hospitality. Gaius, the person to whom John wrote this third letter, was one believer who extended hospitality to these teachers. Unfortunately, however, not all the believers back then did the same. In addition, not all of the traveling teachers preached the truth about Jesus. So John, in his second letter, warns the believers about these false teachers.

John commended Gaius for “being faithful to God when you care for the traveling teachers who pass through, even though they are strangers to you” (3 John 1:5). Traveling preachers would travel from place to place, presenting the good news about Christ to unbelievers and helping new churches get started. These ministers depended on fellow Christians to house and feed them. Believers like Gaius therefore provided a valuable ministry to ministers (3 John 1:5-8).

Today, ministers still have many needs, and like Gaius, you can help meet some of those needs. By helping ministers, you enable them to do what God has called them to do and therefore participate in their work (3 John 1:8). Don’t underestimate the importance of your ministry to ministers. Anything you can do to support them through hospitality, gifts, or even words of encouragement will be welcome.