📖WEB · 3 John 1:8
What does 3 John 1:8 mean?
"We therefore ought to receive such, that we may be fellow workers for the truth."
— 3 John 1:8 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Beloved, you do a faithful work in whatever you accomplish for those who are brothers and strangers.
They have testified about your love before the assembly. You will do well to send them forward on their journey in a way worthy of God,
because for the sake of the Name they went out, taking nothing from the Gentiles.
We therefore ought to receive such, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.
I wrote to the assembly, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, doesn’t accept what we say.
Therefore if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words. Not content with this, neither does he himself receive the brothers, and those who would, he forbids and throws out of the assembly.
Beloved, don’t imitate that which is evil, but that which is good. He who does good is of God. He who does evil hasn’t seen God.
Explanation
3 John is a short personal letter written by "the elder" — traditionally understood to be the apostle John in his old age — to a beloved friend named Gaius. Written near the end of the first century, the letter addresses a specific pastoral concern: the treatment of traveling Christian teachers and missionaries. In the verses leading up to this one, John commends Gaius for showing hospitality to itinerant brothers, even though they were strangers to him, and notes that these traveling workers went out "for the sake of the Name," refusing to accept support from unbelievers (verses 5-7). Verse 8 is John's conclusion drawn from that observation: since these missionaries depend entirely on the generosity of fellow believers rather than pagan patrons, the church has an obligation to support them.
In plain language, the verse says that Christians ought to welcome and support traveling teachers and ministers of the gospel, because doing so makes the host a partner in the work of spreading the truth. The phrase "such" refers back to those faithful missionaries just described — people laboring for the sake of Christ's name. John's point is that hospitality is not a passive or optional courtesy; it is an active form of participation in gospel ministry. By feeding, housing, and provisioning these workers, believers like Gaius were not merely being kind — they were becoming genuine partners, "fellow workers," in the spread of the truth, even though they themselves were not the ones traveling and preaching.
Theologically, this verse teaches that the body of Christ operates as an interconnected partnership. Not everyone is called to go out
Compare translations
Go deeper with ScriptureCompanion AI
Ask questions about any verse, follow reading plans, write personal prayers, and track your daily habit — all grounded in verified scripture text.