Read 3 John 1:1–11. Write a brief comparison between the actions of Gaius and Diotrephes. Read the institute student manual Points to Ponder section, “Disobedience to Priesthood Authority” (p. 441). List some of the results that come to those who criticize the leaders of the Church. Read Alma 39:11. What influence could Gaius’s and Diotrephes’s examples have on others?
Gaius was beloved by John for the following reasons. Gaius was the kind of person who testified of the truth to others, he would faithfully do what was asked of him from the church members as well as strangers. He was inviting and always willing to serve in the church at different capacities. John also described a man by the name of Diotrephes. Diotrephes was the exact opposite of Gaius. He was not as inviting or loving towards the members or others. He would use words which were malicious and were not of the Lord. He took it upon himself to cast some members out of the church. Harold B. Lee described that those who criticize the leaders of the church show signs of spiritual sickness which can bring on spiritual death. The other points in which Brigham Young mentioned while listening to some men trying to depose the Prophet Joseph Smith, that by doing that they take the risk of cutting the thread that binds all them from sinking down to hell. As human beings, we can all be easily influenced. In Alma 39:11, the prophet Alma taught that we must not be led away by foolish things because the devil is central to all those things. That is why examples like Gaius and Diotrephes can either be good or bad examples to follow, and it is up to us to distinguish them and follow the correct examples.
Gaius was beloved by John for the following reasons. Gaius was the kind of person who testified of the truth to others, he would faithfully do what was asked of him from the church members as well as strangers. He was inviting and always willing to serve in the church at different capacities. John also described a man by the name of Diotrephes. Diotrephes was the exact opposite of Gaius. He was not as inviting or loving towards the members or others. He would use words which were malicious and were not of the Lord. He took it upon himself to cast some members out of the church. Harold B. Lee described that those who criticize the leaders of the church show signs of spiritual sickness which can bring on spiritual death. The other points in which Brigham Young mentioned while listening to some men trying to depose the Prophet Joseph Smith, that by doing that they take the risk of cutting the thread that binds all them from sinking down to hell. As human beings, we can all be easily influenced. In Alma 39:11, the prophet Alma taught that we must not be led away by foolish things because the devil is central to all those things. That is why examples like Gaius and Diotrephes can either be good or bad examples to follow, and it is up to us to distinguish them and follow the correct examples.