Why? 3 John 1.

If the question, "Who?" comes quickly to mind when reading 2 John, then the question, "Why?", is likely the one that comes to mind when reading 3 John. Why, as in, "Why is this letter in the Bible?" What is it we're supposed to learn from it?

That last question, of course, is something we need to ask whenever we read the text. Sometimes, the answer is not so much a rule we need to follow, or a lesson to learn, but knowledge about God, or ourselves, or community, or some aspect of what it means to live as God's creatures. Being a Jesus-follower is not just following a set of rules. David wrote:

LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens.

Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.

When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,

what are mere mortals that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them? (Psalm 8:1-4 TNIV)

When we read this Psalm, we can join with David in considering and meditating on the vastness, the glory, of God, and on our own insignificance within the universe -- yet exalted because God chooses to concern Himself with us. I can imagine David out in the night tending the sheep, contemplating the enormity of what it meant to be cared about by the Creator. When I'm in a similar situation, I often have similar thoughts. But I don't need to be in that situation, because the words of God through David, are right there for us to ponder and learn from.
Why, then, is this letter in our Bible? If the short and somewhat facetious answer is, "Because God wants it in there.", what is the more serious answer? Well, what do we learn from this letter? Here's a list of some of the observations I made:

1. Gaius is the recipient of the letter, a beloved brother of the writer of the letter, "the Elder."
2. Gaius lives according to the truth -- presumably the truth of faith in Jesus.
3. The Elder (let's call him John from now on), has had word of Gaius' situation.
4. Gaius was a disciple of John's ("my children"), who has continued to live according to the teachings of John.
5. Faithfulness is demonstrated by showing hospitality to other brothers in the faith. (Hospitality was an especially important behavior in their culture.)
6. Keep up the good work, Gaius, in showing hospitality.
7. Diotrephes is causing trouble, and that trouble seems to stem from a conflict with John (he wants to be first).
8. The trouble Diotrephes is causing is more than disagreement. He's interfering with the support of others sent from John, even to the point of inciting others to also withdraw support (hospitality).
9. Actions signify belief. Good actions from godly belief, evil actions from no godly belief.
10. Demetrius is a good guy. Help him out.
11. John hopes to come visit the church and Gaius.

That's a sufficient list for now. There's no doubt that there are lessons in here, and a reinforcement, especially, of the larger teaching in 1 John. We might say that 3 John shows us a practical application of what John means in his teaching letter about walking in the light. Dark and light -- contrast -- Gaius and Diotrephes.

I also think it's significant to see that there was rancor even in the early church, and that ambition was at the heart of it. This isn't any different than what Paul wrote about to the Corinthians ("some follow Apollos, some follow Paul"), except for the specificity of who's involved. We learn, too, that John had hopes of being able to straighten things out, which is encouraging.

Much of the teaching in the Bible is captured in the stories and history of real people. Narrative, not exhortation or discourse, is the norm. In this, 3 John is more typical, not less typical, of most biblical teaching.

Finally, we should make sure that we catch the primary purpose of John in this letter, which drives his comments to Gaius and the contrast with Diotrephes. Here it is, verse 8 says, "Therefore we [not the pagans] ought to support such people" and then John writes in verse 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." In other words, "Take care of Demetrius, Gaius."

Abraham hosts 3 angels. 16th century German icon.