What does Standing for Truth Cost?

1 The elder:

To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.

2 Dear friend, I pray that you are prospering in every way and are in good health, just as your whole life is going well. 3 For I was very glad when fellow believers came and testified to your fidelity to the truth—how you are walking in truth. 4 I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are walking in truth.

5 Dear friend, you are acting faithfully in whatever you do for the brothers and sisters, especially when they are strangers. 6 They have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God, 7 since they set out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from pagans. 8 Therefore, we ought to support such people so that we can be coworkers with the truth.

9 I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have first place among them, does not receive our authority. 10 This is why, if I come, I will remind him of the works he is doing, slandering us with malicious words. And he is not satisfied with that! He not only refuses to welcome fellow believers, but he even stops those who want to do so and expels them from the church.

11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God. 12 Everyone speaks well of Demetrius—even the truth itself. And we also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.

13 I have many things to write you, but I don’t want to write to you with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.

15 Peace to you. The friends send you greetings. Greet the friends by name.

3 John

Introduction

In the early decades of the twentieth century, an advertisement appeared in a London newspaper. It was brief. Blunt. And it offered almost nothing that any sensible person would desire.

It read, Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.

That was the legend of Ernest Shackleton’s call for his Antarctic expedition. He did not offer comfort. He did not offer safety. He offered hardship, sacrifice, and the slim chance of standing on solid ground at the end of the earth.

And yet, thousands applied.

Why? Because human beings know, deep down, that the things most worth standing for are never cheap.

We live in a culture obsessed with cheap truth. We want truth that fits nicely on a social media profile, truth that requires no sacrifice, truth that costs us absolutely nothing. We sign online petitions, post opinions, and convince ourselves that we are champions of righteousness. But opinion costs nothing. Real allegiance demands a price tag.

Here is the sobering reality of the Christian life, Standing with the sent when it costs proves you stand with the truth.

Not your loud talk. Not your big opinions. Not your passive endorsement. Your concrete, costly partnership.

In his third letter, the apostle John writes to a man named Gaius. And he exposes a massive divide. He puts before us a stark question. What does standing for truth cost?

In this brief, powerful letter, John shows us three inescapable realities. First, Standing for truth costs resources and comfort (3 John 5-8). Second, Standing for truth costs peace with the proud (3 John 9-10). Third, Standing for truth costs your ego (3 John 11-12).

Standing with the sent when it costs proves you stand with the truth.

Before John unpacks the heavy demands of this standing, he opens with an intimate greeting. Let us look at The greeting (3 John 1-4).

The greeting

Verse 1, The elder writes. Not with a title of worldly power like the charlatan apostles of our day and age. This elder writes as a spiritual father to a beloved son. This is John. The apostle. Writing in his old age.

And he says he loves his dear friend Gaius in the truth. John doesn’t have fleeting emotion for Gaius. He doesn’t have a vague tolerance for him either. John has a deep affection for Gaius rooted in God’s objective reality.

Truth is no abstract concept. Truth is the solid, unyielding reality of who God is and what He has declared.

Verse 3, John has heard that Gaius is walking in truth. Belief may be in your heart, but it doesn’t stay invisible. Salvation looks like something. Faith moves the feet. Faith changes how you handle your work. Your marriage. Your family. Gaius was walking in truth. And others could see it.

Verse 4, John’s greater joy is not grounded in Gaius’s health, wealth, or happiness. John’s greater joy is grounded in this, Gaius is walking in truth.

4 times in 4 verses John has spoken about truth. John loves Gaius in the truth. Gaius holds with fidelity to the truth. Gaius is walking in truth. And John is glad to hear that his children are walking in truth. This letter is about truth. Standing for the truth. While others oppose truth. Truth comes at a cost. First, standing for truth costs resources and comfort.

Resources and Comfort

John commends Gaius for living out his faith through tangible action. Verse 5, Dear friend, you are acting faithfully in whatever you do for the brothers and sisters, especially when they are strangers. Faith in action. There were no cosy bed and breakfasts in the ancient world. Public inns were dangerous, immoral, and disreputable. Traveling missionaries could not simply check into a safe hotel. They relied entirely on the open doors and open hearts of local believers for shelter, food, and provisions. Gaius did not offer vague spiritual sympathy. He opened his home.

His quiet, generous witness did not stay hidden. Verse 6, These traveling brothers returned and testified to your love before the church. Their report was clear. Gaius stands with the sent. John encourages him to keep going, saying, You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. Why do gospel workers need support? Because they go where the gospel is not yet known. Your practical support provides their fuel, their food, their shelter.

John gives the theological reason for sacrificial giving. Verse 7, since they set out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from pagans. Therefore, we ought to support such people so that we can be coworkers with the truth. These itinerant preachers refused to take money from unbelievers so the gospel would never be mistaken for a commercial enterprise. They depended on the body of Christ. When you support those who carry the Name, you are not just paying a bill. You are an active coworker with the truth itself. In God’s kingdom, everyone is on mission. You are sent, or you are a sender.

Think of a supply line in time of war. The soldier on the front line cannot advance a single metre without the crew back at the base fuelling the trucks, packing the rations, and securing the ammunition. The frontline worker and the supply provider have different jobs but are on the same mission.

Here we see the clear evidence of Gaius’s faithful support for gospel workers. His commitment to the truth was not demonstrated through loud words or big opinions, but through costly, concrete provision. Commitment to truth is shown by costly support of gospel workers.

Truth comes at a cost. First, standing for truth costs resources and comfort. Second, standing for truth costs peace with the proud.

Peace with the Proud

Verse 9, 9 I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have first place among them, does not receive our authority. 10 This is why, if I come, I will remind him of the works he is doing, slandering us with malicious words. Diotrephes is no cartoon villain. He is a prominent local church leader who has convinced himself that he is protecting his flock. He fears losing control. He wants pre-eminence in the meeting, in the leadership, and in the community. When apostolic authority threatens his personal influence, he attacks. He whispers. He slanders. He uses malicious words to assassinate John’s character because he cannot dismantle John’s doctrine.

And John continues, And he is not satisfied with that! He not only refuses to welcome fellow believers. Unchecked pride is never static. It demands action. Diotrephes slams the door on travelling gospel workers. These men arrive weary and hungry, carrying the truth of Jesus Christ into a hostile world. But Diotrephes views them as a threat to his territory. He turns them away into the cold. Not because they teach heresy. Not because they lack character. Simply because they do not bow to him.

And John presses on, but he even stops those who want to do so and expels them from the church. Pride does not tolerate quiet disagreement. It demands total compliance. If a faithful believer attempts to show hospitality to a sent preacher, Diotrephes uses his local power as a weapon. He issues threats. He forces excommunication. He fractures church fellowship to preserve his personal kingdom.

Think of a security guard at a site gate who begins deciding which delivery trucks enter based on whether the drivers show him enough deference. The guard was put there to serve, not to rule. But over time, he forgets his place. He rejects drivers because they did not ask for his personal permission. That is Diotrephes. He mistook local oversight for personal ownership.

John brings Diotrephes’s self-serving opposition into the light. Selfish ambition in leadership always sabotages gospel expansion. Standing for the truth means you will lose peace with the proud. Commitment to truth is shown by costly support of gospel workers, even when opposed.

Standing for the truth costs resources and comfort. And, if standing for truth costs peace with the proud on the outside, it demands an even sharper look within. Standing for truth costs your ego.

Your Ego

Verse 11, Dear friend. John addresses Gaius with fatherly affection, calling him back to the fundamental orientation of the Christian life. The command is simple. It is stark. Do not imitate what is evil. In a context where Diotrephes is posturing, excommunicating faithful believers, and demanding pre-eminence, the temptation to fight fire with fire is real. The temptation to copy the bully’s tactics to protect yourself is real. But John issues a direct prohibition. Do not copy the arrogant. But do do what is good.

Why? John gives the theological rationale in the second half of verse 11. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God. Goodness is not a self-generated human virtue. Good originates with God. True goodness flows from God’s nature, and those who belong to Him will inevitably reflect His character. Conduct reveals spiritual lineage. Behaviour exposes the heart. To continually practice evil, to walk in self-serving pride like Diotrephes, is to prove that you remain blind to God.

Then John points to a living, breath-and-blood example. Verse 12, Everyone speaks well of Demetrius—even the truth itself. And we also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true. Here stands Demetrius. His character is proven. He carries a threefold witness. The community affirms him. His lifestyle aligns so seamlessly with God’s Word that the truth itself testifies for him. And the apostle John personally adds his apostolic seal of approval.

I put up a bookshelf in my son’s room last week. I used a spirit level. Got the bubble to sit dead in the center. It doesn’t matter if my wife said that it looked crooked. The tool itself verifies the line. Demetrius’s character was like that bubble. Place the straight edge of God’s truth against his life, and the alignment was indisputable.

John’s main charge in this section is clear. Imitate Demetrius’s good example. Look past the noise of the proud and fix your eyes on proven, quiet, gospel-hearted integrity. If Diotrephes represents the destructive pull of self-exaltation, Demetrius demonstrates the humble path of truth. And this point drives John’s overarching argument straight home. Your commitment to truth is shown by costly support of gospel workers, even when opposed. Supporting the sent will cost your pride. It requires stepping out from under the shadow of overbearing leaders and laying down your own ego to stand with the faithful.

How then does John close this warm yet searching letter? He moves to his final personal intentions and greetings.

The farewell

13 I have many things to write you, but I don’t want to write to you with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. 15 Peace to you. The friends send you greetings. Greet the friends by name. John ends his letter with a warm, intimate sign-off that highlights the irreplaceable value of personal Christian fellowship. While pen and ink served as a necessary tool, his heart longed for face-to-face communion. Reminding us that true gospel partnership is grounded in real, relational connection and shared peace among believers.

Yet, John’s yearning for presence over paper points us to an even greater reality. Ink on paper could never fully bridged the gap between God and humanity. God did not merely send us a written decree from afar. He sent His Son in the flesh so that we might know Him face to face, bringing us true peace and adopting us as His friends.

Connect to the gospel

Commitment to truth is shown by costly support of gospel workers, even when opposed.

Gaius lived in light of gospel truth. Without the gospel, this is nothing more than a heavy, moralistic weight. Without the cross, hospitality is reduced to a burdensome law. We cannot rightly apply this word apart from Jesus Christ.

Look at what happened at Calvary. Jesus, the ultimate Sent One, emptied Himself. He left the glory of heaven and came into a world that rejected Him. He faced proud, self-seeking men. He was slandered. He was opposed. He was nailed to a Roman cross. He died for our selfish, self-exalting hearts. But God raised Him from the dead! Jesus lives!

The death and resurrection of Jesus transforms this ethical call into empowered, Spirit-driven participation in Christ’s mission. Grace changes everything. Faith is not an invisible, intellectual opinion. Faith looks like something. It is demonstrably lived out in daily life.

When you see the cross, Diotrephes’s self-seeking ambition is exposed for what it truly is. A blatant denial of Christ’s self-emptying example. Diotrephes wanted first place. Jesus took the lowest place.

Because Christ welcomed us when we were enemies, we now joyfully open our hearts, our homes, our wallets to support those who go out for the sake of the Name. Supporting gospel workers is not a tedious duty. It is a Spirit-driven, joyful response to the grace we received at the cross. Sacrificial love is the outworking of the very same welcome God offered us.

Look at the cross and behold the wonder of His grace! Standing with the sent when it costs proves you stand with the truth.

So, how does this truth press into our daily lives? Let us turn to the application.

Application for believers

Test your heart by checking your budget. Salvation looks like something. It is not an invisible, comfortable sentiment. Salvation stands with the sent, and standing with the sent costs.

Being a co-worker with the truth is not a passive prayer-card commitment. It is a radical reallocation of your resources. It requires saying no to lesser goods. No to a personal luxury, no to a self-indulgence, no to a temporal ease. So you can stand with the sent who stand with the truth. You’ve heard that faith moves mountains. This passage teaches that genuine faith moves your bank account. Faith opens your wallet.

How do you begin? Pray about your giving. Pray with our missionaries in mind. The Funnels. The Mollers. The Webbs. Paul Richardson. Pray with our mission in mind. To reach Benoni with the gospel, and equip all for life. Pray on your knees, with your bank statement open before the Lord. Ask Him where you are buying comfort instead of advancing truth. Pray about your giving today.

Application for unbelievers

Hear me clearly, you cannot stand with the sent unless you stand in the truth. You cannot simply support missions as a nice, noble cause to feel spiritual. That is self-deception. To truly stand for the truth, you must first stand in the truth.

The ultimate Sent One is Jesus. He left the glory of heaven and came into our world. He was opposed, slandered, rejected, and crucified for sinners. He took the lowest place while we craved pre-eminence.

The only way to partner with Him is to stop running. Admit you have lived for yourself. Demanded control, loved first place, lived like Diotrephes. Turn from your pride and receive His costly forgiveness today. Come stand in the truth.

Conclusion

Remember Ernest Shackleton’s advertisement? Men wanted for hazardous journey. He did not offer comfort. He offered hardship, sacrifice, and a slim chance of standing on solid ground at the end. Why did thousands apply? Because the things most worth standing for are never cheap.

Cheap truth costs us nothing. But real allegiance demands a price tag.

Standing with the sent when it costs proves you stand with the truth.

So, what does standing for truth cost?

First, standing for truth costs resources and comfort (3 John 5-8). Test your heart by checking your budget. Open your wallet to fuel the frontline workers who go out for the sake of the Name.

Second, standing for truth costs peace with the proud (3 John 9-10). Refuse to bow to Diotrephes-like ambition, even when standing up brings slander, pushback, or local opposition.

Third, standing for truth costs your ego (3 John 11-12). Lay down your self-exaltation, do what is good, and align your character with the straight line of God’s Word.

Demonstrate your allegiance to the truth by sacrificially using your resources, enduring opposition, and laying down your pride to support gospel workers. Turn from your self-exalting pride and trust in Jesus, the ultimate Sent One, to receive His costly forgiveness so you can stand in the truth.

Standing with the sent when it costs proves you stand with the truth.

Amen.