Snake! Prattle and control...

I wrote unto the church but,
    Diotrephes,
who loves to have the pre-eminence among them,
receives us not. 
Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he does:

Prating against us with malicious words;
    and not content therewith,
Neither does he receive the brethren,
    And,
Forbids them that would (receive the brethren);
    AND,
Casts them out of the church.   3 John 9-10 KJV

Prating is an old fashioned word that we don't hear in ordinary conversation anymore.  Long ago, it was used to describe a hen's clucking when she was laying an egg.  In the verse above, it would best be pictured as someone behind a pulpit who sneers and smirks as he describes someone he hates that has disagreed with him; a preacher working up a rotten egg.

It is difficult to get a sense of John's indignation in this short letter if we don't understand who "the brethren" are.  From the context and from other scriptural references, the brethren were preachers, evangelists, and missionaries who were sent out from the churches.  In the beginning, the Jerusalem church would have been the sending unit ...Peter, Stephen, Philip.  Saul/Paul and Barnabas were sent out by the Antioch fellowship.  Afterwards, Paul was also approved by the Jerusalem church and the many churches around the Mediterranean.

The stupidity of Diotrephes is monumental.  The brethren have been sent out by a church or churches and are personal friends of the Apostle John.  Apostle.  Someone whose name is written upon a huge slab of foundation stone upon which the entire church rests.  Someone perfectly and intimately connected to the Cornerstone, Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:20...Revelation 21:10-14).  Someone who had the authority to write the Bible.  Diotrephes and Calvin are spiritual brothers or cousins.  Blatantly disregarding the authority of the apostles and the churches, Calvin wrote lying doctrines in the name of Jesus; Diotrephes mocked and maligned apostolically approved messengers.  Calvin's teachings are designed to exclude anyone of whom he and his followers disapprove; Diotrephes policed the homes of faithful believers who would obey the command of Jesus (Luke 9:4-5).

Perhaps I am not making myself clear.  The New Testament was approved by the Holy Spirit = God.  Nothing Calvin wrote has that approval.  The New Testament establishes that the foundation of the church is upon the apostles chosen by Jesus.  There are 12 names in that category.  Not one of them is "Calvin" or Diotrephes or any other name of a man or woman who tries to bully individuals, families or churches by lying to themselves about their ability to speak for God.  Prating is not a spiritual gift.

Exclusivists and control freaks in the pulpits are fearful people who imagine themselves the champions of God's cause.  They forget the picture that Jesus has written up in the gospels that points to the character of Satan...one who tries to protect God from sin and sinners (Matthew 16:22-23).  All believers may honestly share the good news that the apostles of Jesus established upon the pre-destined work of Jesus; His death, burial and resurrection that is available to everyone who is a sinner. 

Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross