Imitation

3 John 9-14

Adapted from a Steve Shepherd sermon

http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/imitation-steve-shepherd-sermon-on-doing-gods-will-150917.asp

3 John 1:9 NET I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among

them, does not acknowledge us. 10 Therefore, if I come, I will call attention to the deeds he is doing — the bringing of unjustified charges against us with evil words! And not being content with that, he not only refuses to

welcome the brothers himself, but hinders the people who want to do so and throws them out

of the church!

11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is bad but what is good. The one who does good is of God;

the one who does what is bad has not seen God. 12 Demetrius has been testified to by all, even by the truth itself. We also testify to him, and you know that our testimony is true. 13 I have many things to write to you, but I do not

wish to write to you with pen and ink.

14 But I hope to see you right away, and we will speak face to face.

(15) Peace be with you. The friends here greet you. Greet the friends there by name.

President Calvin Coolidge once invited friends from his hometown to dine at the White House. Worried about their table

manners, the guests decided to do everything that Coolidge did. This strategy

succeeded, until coffee was served. The president poured his coffee into the saucer. The guests did the same. Coolidge added

sugar and cream. His guests did, too. Then Coolidge bent over and put his saucer on the

floor for the cat.

"Shadow of the Leader" is a phrase used to describe a common phenomenon in business organizations

where those in positions of leadership and power, through their behavior and actions,

tend to influence the behavior and actions of those below them, thus “casting a shadow”

across the organization.

What leader would you imitate? Let me offer one & see if you would imitate him.

You might or might not agree with his politics, but his decisions & motives at a

very early age surely cannot be questioned.

When in Branson I ran across a letter from a very influential man in America’s history. He wrote about a character who became his role model. The letter was written to Harold Bell

Wright's (author of “The Shepherd Of the Hills”)

daughter-in-law.

THE WHITE HOUSEWASHINGTON

March 13, 1984

Dear Mrs. Wright:It is true that your father-in-law's book,

indeed books, played a definite part in my growing-up years. When I was only ten or eleven years old, I picked up Harold Bell Wright's book, That Printer of Udell's, which I'd seen my mother reading, and read it from cover to cover.

Perhaps I should tell you I became an avid reader at a very early age and had my own card for the Dixon, Illinois Public Library. I made regular use of that card.

That book, That Printer of Udell's had an impact I shall always remember. After reading it and thinking about it for a few days, I went to my mother and told her I wanted to declare my faith and be baptized. We attended the Christian Church in Dixon, and I was baptized several days after finishing the book.

The term, "role model," was not a familiar term in that time and place. But I realize I found a role model in that traveling printer whom Harold Bell Wright had brought to life. He set me on a course I've tried to follow even unto this day. I shall always be grateful.

Sincerely,

Harold Bell Wright's “That Printer of Udell's” was written as a series of sermons. Harold Bell Wright intended to read That Printer of Udell's to his congregation at successive Sunday night

services, but before he did the story was published in The Christian Century, a Disciples

denominational paper

In his autobiography, To My Sons, Wright says that he was so disheartened by the stripped-down version of the story that The Christian

Century produced, that he "hid the poor mutilated corpse in the bottom of the least used

drawer of my desk andturned to other things."

Wright says, "My congregation, of course, was reading this emasculated, refined, sterilized,

denominationally pure and sweet version as it appeared in the church paper. For me to read

the original manuscript to them with any hope of holding their attention was now impossible."

Apparently Wright never read That Printer of Udell's to any congregation.

But as a book it led at least one soul, Ronald Reagan, to become united through baptism

with Jesus’ death, burial & resurrection.

Did you know Ronald Reagan graduated from a Christian College in 1932?

Eureka College is a liberal arts college in Eureka, Illinois related by covenant to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and

founded in 1855.

A Jewish woman was fleeing the German Gestapo in France. She knew she was close to being caught and she wanted to give up. A Christian woman, a widow, told her it was time to flee to a new place. The Jew said,

"It's no use, they will find me anyway. They are so close behind." The Christian widow said, "Yes, they will find someone here, but

it's time for you to leave.

Go. I will take your identification and wait here." The Jewish lady then understood the plan; the Gestapo would come and find this

Christian widow and think she was the fleeing Jew. The Jewish lady asked her why she was doing that. The widow responded, "It's the least I can do; Christ has already

done that and more for me."

The widow was caught and imprisoned in the Jewish lady's place, allowing time for her to

escape. Within six months the widow died in the concentration camp.

The Jewish lady never forgot. She too became a follower of Jesus Christ and lived

her life serving others. She met God through the greatest love a person can give,

personal self-sacrifice.

Who would you be if you couldn’t be you? Or is there someone that you’ve always wanted

to be like?I think we all would change something about

us, that is, about our appearance or our personality if we could.

Hopefully, all of us who are in Christ would want to become more like our Savior. Maybe not in

our younger days, but as we age and mature in Christ we surely want to be more like Him!

I think we all realize, of course, there are some people we wouldn’t want to be like. But we all

imitate or reflect someone in life. We all take on the characteristics of another person. We all

learn from one another.

John tells us about two different people in the church; one to follow and one, we should not

follow.

1- What not to imitate

2- What to imitate

WHAT NOT TO IMITATE9 I wrote something to the church, but

Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not acknowledge us. 10

Therefore, if I come, I will call attention to the deeds he is doing — the bringing of

unjustified charges against us with evil words!

And not being content with that, he not only refuses to welcome the brothers himself, but

hinders the people who want to do so and throws them out of the church! 11 Dear

friend, do not imitate what is bad but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does what is bad has not seen God.

Obviously, we want to imitate good and not evil. This doesn’t hold true for everyone, but it

should for us.

A preacher announced there were 726 different sins in the Bible. Shortly after that he got

bombarded with requests from people for that list because they thought they were missing out on something! Some evil things are pleasurable

and many people want in on them!

According to our text, we don’t want to imitate evil men either. Who might that be? A man in the

church by the name of Diotrephes. Let’s note what is not good about him and what we

shouldn’t imitate.

Diotrephes, who loves to be first. I assume Diotrephes was the kind of person who wanted to be first about everything or be number one.

Late in his life, Sir Winston Churchill took a cruise on an Italian ship. A journalist from a Rome newspaper encountered the former prime minister to ask him why he chose to

travel on an Italian line when the stately Queen’s line under the British flag was

available.

Churchill gave the question his consideration and then gravely replied:

“There are three things I like about Italian ships. First, their cuisine, which is

unsurpassed. Second, their service, which is quite superb.” And then Sir Winston added,

“And then there is none of this nonsense about women and children first.”

In 1949, Norman McGowan was the personal valet to Winston Chuchill. McGowan said, “It was Sir Winston Churchill’s standing order that when he returned by train from a trip

that his dog Rufus should be brought to the station to meet him. Rufus would be let off his leash to dash to his master and be the

first to greet him.

“One day I happened to be standing close by. Rufus ignored his master and came

leaping all over me instead. “Of course, Sir Winston loved Rufus too much to blame him. Instead, he turned to me with a hurt look and said quietly, “In the future, Norman, I would prefer you to stay in the train until I’ve said

hello.”

It sounds like Sir Winston Churchill liked being first in all things. If this is true about him I’m not sure I would have wanted to be

around him very much.Self-centeredness is not a good trait.

Wanting your own way all the time is not a good thing. Diotrephes was apparently a very self-centered man or church leader.

There have been church leaders and preachers like that over the years.

One church board member said, “I AM the church board.” And he was one of about five

board members but I guess he thought he “ran the show.” He tried to but it didn’t

always work.Any time, any one person in the church be it preacher, elder, deacon, or teacher tries to

run the show and get their own way, they are wrong! All things are supposed to be done for the whole church and to please Christ

who is the head of the body!

1 Corinthians 14:26 NET What should you do then, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each one has a song, has a lesson,

has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all these things be done for

the strengthening of the church.Romans 14:19 NET So then, let us pursue what

makes for peace and for building up one another.

We’re not here to please ourselves but to please the Lord in all things and edify or build up one another in the church. If what you do, doesn’t

edify or build up people then stop doing it!

What else did Diotrephes do that we should not do? John said that Diotrephes…does not

acknowledge us. I guess he wouldn’t have anything to do with certain people in the church.

One time a church member said, in regard to a new family in the church, “They are not our kind of people.” Well, what kind were they?

I realize that not everyone clicks with everyone else in the church. There are some people that you have a better relationship with than others, however, we should never shun another brother

or sister in the church. As best we can, we should always speak to one another and

demonstrate kindness to all.

What else did Diotrephes do that we don’t want to do?

10 Therefore, if I come, I will call attention to the deeds he is doing — the bringing of unjustified

charges against us with evil words! And not being content with that, he not only refuses to welcome the brothers himself, but hinders the people who want to do so and throws them out

of the church!

He sounds like a bad dude! And he was. He was a big gossip, which is a no, no. A malicious gossip, wanting to hurt

others.

One preacher wrote about the church he served, “Tongues have always been a

problem in our church, but it isn’t speaking in tongues.”

It was malicious gossip.

Diotrephes wanted to control the church. He wanted some people in and some people

out. He was something of a dictator.There was a new preacher in a Baptist

church. One of the board members pulled him aside immediately and basically said to

him, “You do what I want in this church. I control it.” That new young preacher went into the pulpit and immediately called for a

congregational meeting.

He told the people what that man said to him about controlling the church. The congregation took an immediate vote and booted the man from the church board and also, the church!

I get the idea from John that we don’t want to imitate anything about Diotrephes. It’s like some

other scriptures.

Proverbs 3:31 NET Do not envy a violent man, and do not choose to imitate any of his ways;

Proverbs 4:14 NET Do not enter the path of the wicked or walk in the way of those who are evil.

Proverbs 14:7 NET Leave the presence of a foolish person, or you will not understand wise

counsel. What not to imitate.

You don’t imitate violent, wicked, evil or foolish people.

WHAT TO IMITATE11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is bad but

what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does what is bad has not seen

God. 12 Demetrius has been testified to by all, even by the truth itself. We also testify to him,

and you know that our testimony is true.

We are to imitate good, good in people and all good! The good man in this text is Demetrius. 12 Demetrius has been testified to by all, even

by the truth itself. We also testify to him, and you know that our testimony is true.

Do you know of someone who is well spoken of by people? That person obviously has some

very good qualities in their life. Find these qualities & imitate them!

Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865)

served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his

assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through its greatest internal

crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery.

Before his election in 1860 as the first Republican president, Lincoln had been a

country lawyer, an Illinois state legislator, a member of the United States House of

Representatives, and twice an unsuccessful candidate for election to the U.S. Senate.

He introduced measures that resulted in the abolition of slavery, issuing his

Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and promoting the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Six days

after the large-scale surrender of Confederate forces under General Robert E.

Lee, Lincoln became the first American president to be assassinated.

Lincoln is quoted as saying:- I have never studied the art of paying

compliments to women; but I must say that if all that has been said by orators and poets since the creation of the world in praise of

women were applied to the women of America, it would not do them justice for

their conduct during this war. I will close by saying, God bless the women of America!

- If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you surely will.

- In regard to this Great Book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to man.

All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book.

- America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it

will be because we destroyed ourselves.

- I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to

meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.

- I don’t know who my grandfather was; I am much more concerned to know what his

grandson will be. - If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d

spend six hours sharpening my ax.

- The time comes upon every public man when it is best for him to keep his lips

closed.- Most folks are about as happy as they make

their minds up to be.- Don’t worry when you are not recognized,

but strive to be worthy of recognition.If Lincoln did say all these words and many more, then I would say he was a man worth

imitating in life!

Any time we see a good person, saying good words and doing good in life, they are worth

imitating. And we all need to look for that good in others, instead of the negative.

1 Corinthians 11:1 NET Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

All of us may well have some Christ-like qualities in our lives and they should be imitated

by others.

Hebrews 6:11 NET But we passionately want each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of your hope until the end, 12

so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance

inherit the promises.

Hebrews 13:7 NET Remember your leaders, who spoke God's message to you; reflect on the

outcome of their lives and imitate their faith.

John closes this letter with these words.13 I have many things to write to you, but I do

not wish to write to you with pen and ink. 14 But I hope to see you right away, and we will speak face to face. (15) Peace be with you. The friends

here greet you. Greet the friends there by name.

Just as in his 2nd letter he has more to tell Gaius, but in person so they could discuss things. The

literal translation of face to face is “mouth to mouth.” That gives me the idea of discussing

something, talking things through?

Romans 12:9 NET Love must be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil, cling to what is

good.Hate, Abhor what is evil, Hold firmly to, cling to what is good. Every human person will follow

one or the other. And because of Christ, because we are in Christ we must cling to the good in others. And this good must be seen in

us in order for others to follow and imitate. That’s the imitation of life for us in Christ.