An Attitude of Caring

An Attitude of Caring

1 John 3.16-20

16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

3 John 1.5-8

5Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you. 6They have told the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. 7It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. 8We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth.

The second and third letters John wrote were addressed to a traveling teacher named Gaius. While we do not know much about Gaius, we know that he was a friend of John’s who spent his ministry traveling among the churches, teaching them. These itinerant teachers were somewhat similar to a professor or author on a lecture circuit. The churches they visited would usually provide them a place to stay while they were there. This was a generous form of hospitality. In some ways, this tradition is carried on with the concept of a parsonage.

One of the points of John’s letter to Gaius was to encourage him for all his work. He also mentions a man named Diotrephes, who was refusing to show hospitality to “the brothers.” The contrast John draws here is significant because it reflects a major attribute of the Christian church: hospitality. The churches who were hospitable to Gaius were following the words of John’s first letter to “love not with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” John warns the first century believers that “the love of God” is not in him who “has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him.” Therefore, Christians are to love others and to “lay down [their] lives for [their] brothers.”

John’s instructions are no less applicable now than they were 2,000 years ago. It is the duty of the Church to show hospitality to other believers and to the unsaved. Many churches are already outpouring their blessings in rich generosity. I read the other day of a local church who opened its doors to the homeless during a snow storm. That is exactly the sort of hospitality to which Christ commands us.

It is often said that the lost remain lost because they see the Church as hypocritical and unconcerned about them. In this, I am afraid, they sometimes speak the truth. This is why it is so critical that we, too, show the hospitality so common in the First Century Church. As believers in Christ, let us show the love of Christ to all liberally. May we outpour all the things God has blessed us with to others we see in need. I am confident and encouraged that we can and that we are doing this. Let us continue to give more. Amen.

With love in Christ,



Austin Aldrich