The Beloved Gaius: Hospitality Through the Lenses of 3 John

By Dustin Ford

Hospitality has always been a central theme in Christianity. This hospitality sets the message of Christ apart from any other religion or set of beliefs. It is evident that the sense of hospitality we see within our culture is a far cry from what the Bible would have us to live in. The Beloved Gaius seeks to make us more aware of Biblical hospitality by walking through John’s words in his letter to a man named Gaius. What we see in Gaius is a clear picture of the power and presence that Jesus has given us to walk in.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664238312

Dustin Ford

Dustin is a native of Northeast Louisiana where he has spent the last several years serving the Lord in ministry. He has a passion for expressing the love of God through gospel-centered community and believes that the words of Jesus empower all believers to live out this calling. Dustin lives in the small town of Archibald with his wife Grace and daughter Josey.

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Copyright © 2021 Dustin Ford.

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Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English

Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry

of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

Scripture quotations marked TPT are from The Passion Translation®.

Copyright © 2017, 2018 by Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc. Used by

permission. All rights reserved. ThePassionTranslation.com.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-3830-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-3832-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-3831-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021912809

WestBow Press rev. date: 06/30/2021

CONTENTS

Dedication

Foreword

Introduction

PART 1    BELOVED IDENTITY

Chapter 1    A Faithful Calling

Chapter 2    A Message of Truth

Chapter 3    A Faithful Message

PART 2    A BELOVED MISSION

Chapter 4    Walking Faithfully

Chapter 5    Eternally Needed

Chapter 6    The Goal of The Mission

Chapter 7    Hospitality in Generosity

PART 3   HOSPITALITY IN THE CHURCH

Chapter 8    The Spirit of Religiousness

Chapter 9    An Example to Follow

Chapter 10    Beloved Departure

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the men and women who have shown me Biblical hospitality. I am happy to have relationships with those who have given me the freedom to walk in my identity as the beloved of the Father. The sense of community that you have provided me is a perfect example of what this book invites us into.

FOREWORD

As we think about hospitality as a group of believers, we must recognize that it is important to add our testimony to other believers. It’s important that we use what God has done in our lives for the building up and the exhorting of other people to further their walk with the Lord. (Excerpt, Chapter 9)

As we share in this journey together, we all have a story to tell. The story we shares opens the door for us to see with the perception that the Lord is present and involved in our lives. It’s not that He just loves us because He has to but that He really is especially fond of all of us.

I have had the privilege of watching Dustin grow IN the Lord. We have shared many things: meals, hours of driving, laughs, tears, celebrations, deaths, stress, and much love. We have both had our own personal struggles with religion and relationships, which have spurred many conversations among ourselves. These conversations and struggles caused us to pursue Jesus even more, which illuminated many answers while also leaving us with lingering questions.

We do not pretend to have it all figured out; however, Dustin has done a phenomenal job communicating a tangible approach, which, when followed, will allow us to share in this life together. Our lives should be evolving steadily as we soak in the Father’s love and as we neighbor together in this close, constant contact with our Father in the great participation of Father, Son, and Spirit.

In the beginning, the Living Expression was already there. And the Living Expression was with God, yet fully God. They were together—face-to-face, in the very beginning. And through his creative inspiration, this Living Expression made all things, for nothing has existence apart from him (John 1:1-3 TPT).

Out of this great participation of oneness and face-to-face encounter, we were created. Through that same participation, we are invited to enjoy life with the trinity and the lives of those around us. We all indeed have a personal relationship with the Father, but it is displayed greatly in the oneness we share in our lives. Not only am I pulled into this great participation with Father, Son, and Spirit but so is my brother, Dustin. This means that I cannot experience the trinity completely without having a divine experience with my brother. This is the gospel. This is the life you and I have been invited into (John 10:10). This is the oneness we share until the world’s perception sees Him for who He really is.

And I ask not only for these disciples but also for all those who will one day believe in me through their message. I pray for them all to be joined together as one even as you and I, Father, are joined together as one. I pray for them to become one with us so that the world will recognize that you sent me. (John 17:20-21 TPT)

This is the community the world is longing to see …

Brian Rogers

INTRODUCTION

What does all this mean? That was the question I started to ask myself about three years ago. Why am I here, and what is my purpose? These questions began to stir inside of me, and I felt like I was never able to find the answer to them. I can remember one occasion, specifically, that these questions hit me hard.

At approximately 3:00 on a Monday morning, I found myself sitting in the parking lot of my church at the time. I stared vaguely into the dim glow of a streetlight, which engulfed the entire parking lot in yellow. What am I doing here? That was the question I had. The answer should be obvious. You see, I was serving as youth pastor of the church in whose parking lot I sat.

I was awaiting the arrival of a group of teenagers and church leaders all of whom I would be escorting to summer camp that day. The vans were scheduled to leave at 5:00 that morning. However, since I am notorious for waking up late and could not sleep anyway, I decided to go in two hours early.

I think about how much of myself had been revealed to that streetlight. I had often left service excited and overjoyed for the many things the Lord was doing there, but I had also left discouraged and drained. Emptiness was a feeling that I had grown so used to in recent months.

I knew that in just a few short hours, I would have to put on a front and welcome church members to a weeklong getaway. My message to them would be that Christ has called them into a greater purpose; however, I felt so often like I couldn’t believe that about my own life.

So, I asked myself, what am I doing here? What is my purpose in this very moment, and how do I give some sort of meaning to all of this? I want to be helpful. I want to be what Christ has called me to be, and most of all, I want to be anything but the poser that I knew I had become.

The fight that I was in is the same fight that most Christians experience. If we are honest, I bet most of us often feel like a poser. We feel like there is a part of us that we must keep hidden or else the world would explode. If we expose ourselves, we risk looking like a human being instead of the religious robot that we have told ourselves to become.

This gospel of pretty packaging that we have manufactured keeps us from experiencing the true love of God. Nothing will cause burnout in a Christian faster than living a life where everything revolves around how good you look on Sunday. This is a world that the Bible knows nothing of and one that you were never intended to live in.

Part of my biggest struggle was trying to be like the super Christians that I had become so familiar with. I wanted my face to be on the walls of heaven. I wanted to ensure that I would go down in history as a hero of the faith. Setting this expectation for yourself is dangerous. That level of pride may seem extreme, but it is that same pride that we all exercise whenever we refuse to give up our mask to Jesus.

I thought that wanting to do big things and be a hero for Jesus was all out of a good heart. It may have been, but the bigger issue was that my identity was found in my work for Christ, not what He has called me to be. This led me to experience the burnout that comes with consumer Christianity. Christ in you is the greatest superpower you can possess.

If the halls of heaven are lined with the great actors and musicians of our day, then I will never be there. But if the Bible is true, and Christ is who He says He is, then I am already at the glory seat with my Father, resting in the beloved identity that He has given me. When the day comes that we see who the real heroes are. I think that we will be surprised to find that it was not the greatest speakers or richest humans that made a difference, but it was those who laid their lives down for a life with Jesus.

Why 3 John?

If there was ever a person who understood his beloved identity, it was the Apostle John. In fact, John refers to himself in this way.

One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side. (John 13:23 ESV).

What this tells us about John is not that he is conceited, but he understands the love of Jesus for him. Of all the people that came to see Jesus, it is John that stayed the course. Not because he has something to prove, but because he really gets what Jesus is trying to teach them all.

Since John is the disciple that seems to understand the heart of Jesus more than anyone, we need to pay attention to the people that he applauds. This is where I want to begin zooming in our focus. John writes his letter to a fellow believer named Gaius, who shares many attributes with him. Gaius is a man who is faithfully living out the apostles’ teachings in a way that is evident for all to see. John is writing to Gaius to applaud him for the hospitality that he has shown to many traveling missionaries.

Third John is one of the shortest books in the Bible, but it packs a punch. John touches on so many areas that are essential for us to understand today. The recipient, Gaius, is someone that we do not know a whole lot about. There are a few men in the New Testament named Gaius, but since the name was so familiar in those days, there is no reason to believe that he is any one of those. We do not know how old he is, what kind of background he has, or anything about his home life. The only thing that we know about Gaius is what John tells us about him, which is not very much, but the little information we do have about Gaius speaks volumes about his character.

Gaius is one of those guys that you don’t think much about. I’m just assuming that if you had to pick a super Christian softball team, Gaius would not be your first pick. You may pick Paul, maybe Peter, and of course, John. But you wouldn’t pick Gaius, at least not at first. The only reason you might pick him at all would be because John told you to. He just isn’t extremely popular. But when you see how he plays and when you understand his tactics, he is going to get your attention. Many people in the church are like this. People behind the scenes seeking to serve and connect with others. They don’t get much glory but without them, we would be in a mess.

One of the most vital parts of Christianity has always been the spread of missionaries. This was certainly an extremely important part of the early church, and they were deeply passionate about it. This is also where Gaius shinned in showing much hospitality in housing these missionaries. As we walk through 3 John, we will see the vital role that Gaius plays in this. The most important thing for us to understand right now is that Gaius saw what the Lord was doing, and he got on board with it.

Surely you can see how Gaius is someone that we should look up