3rd John — or what happens when 2nd John isn’t heeded

Which Pope Francis helpfully illustrates

A week ago, we looked at 2nd John and its jarring instruction that false teachers who put themselves forward as supposed Christian teachers were not even to be given “a greeting” by churches.

In other words, you do not allow false teachers entrance into your church.  You do not even recognize them as fellow Christians.

Yes, harsh and downright impolite — which is the greatest of sins to us Anglicans.  But past and recent church history prove St. John right.  Time and again, great difficulties and unfaithfulness and harm have come by allowing false teachers to infiltrate the church.

And that happened in St. John’s day.  In 3rd John, we see what happens when the instructions of 2nd John are not adequately heeded.

John begins by praising a certain Gaius for his walking in love and truth.  That genuine love and truth go together is also a theme of 2nd John.  Part of how Gaius and company were living in truth and love was hospitality, especially aiding faithful Christian teachers and evangelists.

Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers, who have borne witness of your love before the church. If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well, because they went forth for His name’s sake, taking nothing from the Gentiles. We therefore ought to receive such, that we may become fellow workers for the truth. (vv. 5-8 NKJ)

It turns out this hospitality toward the faithful was all the more important because the local church had been taken over by a malefactor who was doing the very opposite.

I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church. (vv. 9, 10)

By the way “prating” is one of my favorite words.  I intend to revive its usage.

Anyway, this church leader Diotrephes not only was rejecting faithful Christian teachers, but was pushing out those who were faithful and receiving the faithful.

And that is what not following the instructions of 2nd John leads to. Unwise tolerance and misplaced kindness toward false teachers is repaid with eventual persecution once the snakes gain enough power.  To defend the Faith and the faithful, the church must reject and bar entry to false teachers, whether they come from without or rise up within.  And Diotrephes might have taken over that local church from within although we do not know for sure.

What happened to that church will be all too familiar to many.  Apostates and heretics use the well meaning kindness of the faithful to infiltrate.  Then once they gain enough power, the kindness is usually not reciprocated.  Instead, the faithful are pushed out either directly, as Diotrephes did, or indirectly by apostasy so taking over a church that the faithful are compelled to leave.

Today this is occurring even in the Roman Catholic Church.  First Things just published an excellent brief essay by Archbishop Charles Chaput on Pope Francis’ errant and ridiculous statement that all religions are paths to God.  (Yes, Chaput’s essay is much nicer than my response to Francis’ folly.)

Well, Francis and Chaput have an interesting history.  Chaput was an obvious choice for a Cardinal’s hat.  His faithful and erudite witness has been on my radar for many years.  He was widely recognized as among the foremost orthodox leaders in the American church, and not just by Roman Catholics.  But it is an open secret that Francis passed over Chaput precisely because of his orthodoxy.  Instead, Francis has made the likes of Blaise Cupich and Wilton Gregory Cardinals.

But Francis’ treatment of another faithful American bishop was even worse.  He removed the much beloved Joseph Strickland (pictured in the lead-in photo) as the Bishop of Tyler.  Such is what happens when one allows snakes as the infamous St. Gallen Mafia to infiltrate and gain power.  That cabal could then consolidate power by raising up the likes of Francis and Cupich and casting out faithful men like Strickland.

Perhaps even worse is Francis’ treatment of Latin Mass traditionalists.  These are among the most faithful and committed of Catholics.  But Francis hates them for their faithfulness.  That may seem an over the top statement, but that is the only reasonable deduction from his treatment of them.  He has so suppressed the Traditional Latin Mass that many of these faithful have to travel or move to find a TLM, often in a sede vacante chapel (i. e. where Francis is not recognized as Pope) or a St. Pius X parish.

Francis calls these faithful and their devotion to the Traditional Latin Mass divisive.  He “prates against [the faithful] with malicious words. And not content with that,” he drives them to the margins of the Roman Catholic Church and beyond.  That is what Francis’ version of “mercy” looks like.

Yes, what is happening to the Church of Rome is a current illustration of 3rd John and of what happens when the instructions of 2nd John are not diligently followed.  The mainline Protestant denominations were only quicker to go down this now well worn path — tolerance toward false teachers, toward wolves in sheep’s clothing, is eventually repaid with persecution of the faithful.

Brethren, we must be dogged in following the instructions of 2nd John lest 3rd John happen to yet more and more of the Church.

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A personal note:

I might not be posting much, if at all, for the next week or so.  It’s a combination of being busy (a good busy) with some matters and taking a break when I’m not. Just letting you know so you neither worry about me nor be too annoyed with me.  Thanks for understanding.

This might be a good time to remind that, for better or for worse, I rarely take much of a pause on X.