MIMICS

 

IMITATORS OF GOOD

Pastor Terry L. Reese, Valley GBC of Armagh, PA (3/22/25)

3John 1:11: Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.

 

In the brief Epistle of 3^rd John, we are entreated to two sorts of example—Diotrephes (bad), and Gaius & Demetrius (good). Gaius is commended for walking in the truth (vv. 3-4), for his hospitality, and for his support of the Brethren (vv. 5-8). Demetrius is also commended by the Apostle, for being a man of good report and testimony (v. 12).

 

Diotrephes (vv. 9-10), however, is condemned by John for his pride, self-exaltation, refusal to extend hospitality to the Brethren, and for his high-handed treatment of others in the church—even rejecting counsel from John the Apostle! Diotrephes was not under John’s censure for some formal doctrinal aberration, but rather, for living a LIFE that was in contradiction to the basic principles of the Gospel!

 

In 3 John 1:11 we are called to “mimic” (derived from the Greek mimeomai) that which is good and reject imitating that which is evil.

 

Mimeomai is also employed in 2 Thess. 3:7 & 9, when Paul advises the Thessalonian believers to imitate his own example. This was a daring thing for the Apostle to say—but yet, leaders are called to set such an example for their people (1Tim. 3:1-7), and Paul’s walk was such that he was able to boldly say such a thing! Paul uses kindred terminology (mimētēs; “imitator”) in 1Cor. 11:1: “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.”

 

Returning to 3 John 1:11: “Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good.”

 

In the general sense, the counsel admonishes us not to follow anything that is hateful to the Holy and Righteous God of Grace, Love, Mercy, and Truth. Contextually, in the particular sense, we are called to disdain the egotistical, unloving, disorderly example of Diotrephes. Rather, let us strive to be merciful, loving, and kind—imitating that which is GOOD!

 

Again, 3 John 1:11: “The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.” John's three epistles have various tests by which we can identify a Christian: obedience (1John 2:3-4), sound doctrine (1John 4:2-3), rejection of the world & sin (1John 2:15, 3:6), and love for the Brethren (1John 4:7). The licentious, the unmerciful, and the unkind have not seen God; they have no personal knowledge of Him whose Name is mercy, and whose Nature is love (1John 3:10). Let us ultimately be imitators of God (Eph. 5:1), in whose Image we were Created, and of Christ, the true Model for Humanity (1Pet. 2:21-22)!