3 John 1:5 Commentary and Bible Study

Now there are Christians I know who think that missionary outreach from a church is purely a secondary business. It is not their particular interest. Neighbourhood visitation, Sunday school work, the preaching of the Gospel – yes, let us focus on our local church – but are they warmed towards outreach beyond that? It sounds to them like a secondary thing. But it is not a secondary thing in the New Testament. There are several verses here tucked into this epistle that show us the enormous importance of the duty of evangelisation beyond the boundaries of our church. Gaius was a great giver of hospitality. In those days, in that region, missionary work was accomplished very largely through itinerant, travelling preachers who started churches in villages and towns everywhere, and they needed looking after; they needed hospitality.It is an act of faithfulness to God, and it counts so much with him whatever we do to the brethren, and to strangers. Actually the subject has not changed. It is about preachers, the ones you know, and the ones you do not know. ‘There are some of them, Gaius, you know well. You have had them before. They come from your own church, perhaps from Ephesus, commended by the mother church with the apostle John. But there are others who have been commended to you who you have never met before. You are just as hospitable to them. If they are working in the name of Christ and they are properly appointed, commended itinerant preachers.’