Another tiny little letter, this time from Saint John to a new Christian called Gaius, and it's interesting to discover that, like Saint Paul, John calls his converts his children. It would seem to have been an early tradition for the Apostles and their successors, the bishops and the priests, to have a parent-children relationship with the young churches. This tradition has continued today, when we call our bishops and priests Father.
"I have no greater cause for thankfulness, than when I hear that my children are following the way of truth." - III John 4
The first part of the letter is an eulogy to Gaius, who has been very charitable to the church he was at that time serving and other correspondents seem to have informed John about it. The rest of the letter seems to be parish politics: John is sending the letter privately to avoid an obnoxious member of the church called Diotrephes, who seems to have the power to exclude both John and Gaius. I wonder who he was: bishop or priest? Anyway, we get a flash of the first letter of Saint John before the end: choose good and God is with you, choose evil and you're taking your character from the devil:
"Beloved, choose the right pattern, not the wrong, to imitate. He who does right is a child of God; the wrong-doer has caught no glimpse of him." - III John 11
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