*The spirit of Diotrephes* Here is the Apostle John in 3 John 1:9: “I wrote something to the Church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, will not accept our instruction.” Some in the Church say, "Hey, you shouldn't call people out by name.” In fact, I personally have gotten so much flak for this but I always wonder what Bible they are reading. As a shepherd, I like to be blunt; but doing so in love for the Church. I won’t skirt the issue with something like this: "Hey Church, there's a really bad guy out there teaching a false works-based doctrine that’s leading people straight to hell. But I won’t say who, so you’ll just have to figure it out for yourself. Good luck!”; That would be terrible! Out of love, of course we need to warn others to stay clear. I have no problem with name-dropping. In the passage above, John has no issue with calling out Diotrephes, and doing so by name. Jesus did the same thing in Matthew 23. That whole chapter is Jesus publicly calling the Pharisees out with some very harsh words. Paul does the same with Hymenaeus and Alexander when he called them out to the Church. The idea that we should not warn other by using names, is a lie meant to silence Christians and it was perpetrated by false teachers moving through the Church.