Think about the last time someone invited you into their home. Not a party where you were one of fifty people wandering around with a paper plate. A real invitation. "Come have dinner with us. Come worship with us." There is something about that kind of welcome that goes deep. It says: you belong here.
But here is the question worth sitting with. What is that welcome built on? What makes it real? Is it warmth? Good cooking? People who like you?
John writes this letter to a woman known for exactly that kind of welcome. Her home was a gathering place. The church met there. She was the kind of person you were glad to know. But John does not write to compliment her. He writes to warn her. Because hospitality without a foundation is not just incomplete. It is dangerous.
The question 2 John forces us to ask is this: what is your welcome built on? John's answer is unmistakable.
[1] The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth, [2] for the sake of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever: [3] Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
2 John 1–3
Known and Loved for the Truth
John repeats the word "truth" four times in three verses. That is not an accident. This lady was known and well loved for truth's sake, and the whole community of believers loved her for the same reason. Paul could say something similar about the church in Rome:
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.
Romans 1:8
What a thing to be said of you. What are you known for? What do people love you for? May God give us the grace to be people known and loved for the truth.
Truth matters because we live in an age that has largely given up on it. Some deny it outright ("There are no ultimate realities"). Others define it by preference ("Your truth is your truth and my truth is my truth"). John declared the existence of an Absolute. God is true. His words and ways are true. Whatever contradicts Him is false, deceptive, and dangerous.
John wrote this letter to warn believers against inadvertently supporting false teachers. Hospitality has limits. What John is referring to is what was near and dear to him: the fundamentals of the faith. As John MacArthur put it, "Truth is the necessary condition of unity and, as a result, the basis of hospitality."
Think about it. This is why I opened my home to church this morning. If a group of Mormons or Catholics knocked on my door and said "We heard you hold church services in your home and we would like to do the same," I would send them packing. I will not open my home for anything and everything. The truth matters. Now, do not get me wrong. If a Mormon or a Catholic came to hear the preaching of God's Word, they would be welcome, same as anyone else. The door is open to anyone who wants to sit under the gospel. What I cannot do is open my home to one of their heretical services. There is a difference between welcoming a person and endorsing what they believe. On the same token, there is a reason why we all gather together. It is the truth. The truth of God's Word. The truth of Jesus Christ.
Here is where it gets practical. Think about who has access to your life right now. Who eats at your table? Who comes through your front door?
For some of us, that circle is drawn so tight it only includes people who believe exactly what we believe, look like us, and live like us. That is not holiness. That is just comfort.
For others, the circle is drawn so wide that truth never comes up. We will have anyone over, go anywhere, say nothing that costs us anything. That is not love. That is just niceness.
What John is pushing toward is harder than either of those. He wants a hospitality rooted in truth, so that it can actually reach people who do not yet have it. Open the door. Welcome them in. But know why the door exists and what this house is built on. Ask yourself: is there someone you have been keeping at arm's length because engaging them would be uncomfortable? Is there someone you have welcomed in, but you have never once told them the truth about Christ?
Truth and Love Together
Look again at verse 3. The succession from grace, to mercy, and then to peace is no accident. This is the order from God's first dealings with us to man's final rest. And it all stands within the sphere of "truth and love," which go hand in hand.
There is a balance here, and it is not easy to keep. The Westboro Baptists are a good example of what happens when the balance breaks. They were opposed to sexual sin, which is right. But in their zeal they forgot love for Christ and love for the sinner. Instead of being a witness for Christ, they became a nuisance. They made a name for themselves, and not a good one. They saw sin and won nobody over to Christ. A person can do that with any number of sins or preferences. Social media makes it worse. Before you argue with anyone about anything, remember that on the other side of that screen is a living, breathing human being who needs the Lord.
On the other side is love without truth. We see it constantly. Maybe you have a family member with a same-sex partner who had a bad run-in with people like the Westboro crowd. The answer is not to run to the other ditch and tell them it is all fine. We cannot be silent. Truth and love have to go hand in hand.
In Luke 15, Jesus sits down to eat with tax collectors and sinners. The Pharisees grumble:
[1] Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. [2] And both the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them."
Luke 15:1–2
Did those sinners need to know about their sins? Yes. Did they need Christ? Yes. But they also needed to eat. Jesus was not approving of their sins by eating with them. He was reaching them. Where are you willing to go to take the truth of Christ? Only to the church? Or will you also go where you might be seen with sinners, meeting them where they are?
So what if someone says "David is conversing with sinners." They said the same of Jesus.
The Cross Is the Greatest Act of Hospitality
The Pharisees meant their words as an accusation: "This man receives sinners and eats with them." It is the greatest thing ever said about Jesus.
He receives sinners. That is not a secondary thing about Christ. That is the whole point of His coming. He did not stay at a distance and send instructions. He came. He sat down at the table. He ate with people who had no business eating with a holy God, and He did it knowing exactly what it would cost Him.
The cross is the ultimate act of hospitality. God, in Christ, opened His home to people who were enemies. He did not wait for us to clean ourselves up. He did not send a list of requirements and say "meet these first, then we will talk." He came to where we were. He bore the full weight of what we deserved, so that the welcome He offers is not a polite gesture. It is a completed transaction. The debt is paid. The door is open.
If you are not in Christ, understand what is being offered to you. Not just a seat at a table, but a place in a family. Not just forgiveness of some things, but reconciliation with the God who made you and knows you completely. You cannot earn that welcome. It was purchased at the cross by the One who receives sinners.
And if you are in Christ: you were not welcomed because you were worthy. Remember that the next time you are tempted to close the door on someone who does not look like they belong.
We do not know anything about the woman John wrote to. But I am glad this aged apostle wrote to her to give us these principles. Truth without love is brutality. Love without truth is hypocrisy. Open the door. Know why it is open.