Why We Believe It's Important for Everyone to Participate

Many years ago we attended some leadership meetings at the church we were attending.  My husband and I attended these meetings but one meeting was particularly insightful and it was the one meeting my husband missed because of his job. So I attended alone.  I told my husband, "You missed the best one yet," and so I thought I’d share it the way I remember it. The lesson was on Diotrephes and Captain James Cook.  Two examples all Christians should not follow:

3 John 9-11King James Version (KJV)

^“9 I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.

¹⁰ Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.

¹¹ Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.”

Diotrephes was a man who loved exercising his superiority over others.  He spread malicious gossip about his brethren who didn’t recognize or perceive his "awesome" leadership.  Not only that, he cast out those in the church who did not obey his direct orders to shun the brethren, whom he himself deemed not worthy to receive.   

It is easy to look at someone like Diotrephes and assume that we ourselves could never behave in such a way. The truth is, this all too common in the church and perhaps not always to the degree of Diotrephes. As a young pastor’s wife, I remember this precious woman who came to our church and after some months, I thought it was my job to “fix” her. I thought it was my job to play Holy Ghost and try to convict her of her many faults because I supposedly had it all together. I am the pastor’s wife after all. Instead, I drove this precious lady right out of the church. I had a hard time forgiving myself for acting so foolishly instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to move in her life in His time. My job was just to love her not stand in the way of God to move in her through his word as she heard it over time.  The word of God is profitable for correction, reproof and doctrine. I think about her and I only hope and pray, I didn’t drive her away from the faith too. It is a scary thought.

The truth is, given the right set of circumstances, and if we don’t guard our hearts, we too are capable of becoming like Diotrephes.  We gain some perceived power or respect from others and we can become puffed up.  Don’t fall for the "great man of God trap" of thinking there is the one sole awesome leader who has all the gifts. We all have different gifts that were meant to be used to edify His church. We are all meant to contribute to the church. There are many members but one body and we are all important. 1 Cor. 12 and Romans 12:4-8

Another example was Captain James Cook. If I remember the story correctly, he along with his crew of men landed on this remote island.  The indigenous people watched as this awesome ship landed on their island. It was unlike anything they had seen before.  They watched in awe as Captain Cook walked off his ship. They said to themselves, "This man must be a god."

They began to worship him and treat him as a king. He got the best of everything they had. They built a throne and lifted him on it. He enjoyed the adulation and milked it for all it was worth. He stayed on the island longer than he intended until he had just enough supplies to get back home. On the day he left the island with his ship and crew, a terrible storm hit. The storm overpowered the ship and they returned to the island shipwrecked. As he reached the shore the indigenous people met him and his crew and slew him. They said to themselves "This man has lied to us; he is no god."

The moral of the story is: never allow anyone to put you up on a pedestal. The higher you are the harder you will fall...and you will fall.  We do have the power to weaken others' perception of ourselves by confessing our sins to one another, along with our faults and weaknesses. Every one of us struggles with sin on a daily basis. Scripture tells us that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1:8. I am not saying we should confess our deepest darkest secrets to everyone around us, but we can confess our weaknesses occasionally. We all have them.

Another way to defuse any sense of superiority among us is to follow 1Cor. 14:26:


^“26 How is it then, brethren? When ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying."


The church is edified most when there are no "one man band" performances. When everyone participates no one person is lifted up and Christ takes his rightful place among us.