The letter of Jude doesn’t get much attention. It’s very short, just one chapter, but it gives an interesting insight into the early church. The person mentioned, Diotrephes, has made himself the sole judge of authentic teaching and rejects even those missionaries sent with letters authorizing them to teach and preach, men who have been declared to be preaching truth. We might think that division in the Christian community is something relatively new, but if we read the letters of the New Testament, we see that there were problems there as well. The introduction to the letters of Jude as well as the third letter of John, talks about Diotrephes as someone who was a leader but who had taken upon himself authority that was not appropriate. He is described as hostile and ambitious and doesn’t accept letters or visitors that have the backing of the church leaders. Throughout the centuries, there have been periods of dispute over doctrine and practices, over who has truth behind him or her. I have often thought that it has only been because of the presence of the Holy Spirit that Christianity has survived for two thousand years. If it depended on human leadership, it would have died out a long time ago. Leaders have been both good and bad, saints and sinners and yet Christianity is still flourishing in the world. We are not so different today than in the first century and I, for one, am grateful for the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the past, today, and for years to come.
Edimatech 