The Real Deal - Demetrius

Everyone speaks highly of Demetrius, as does the truth itself. We ourselves can say the same for him, and you know we speak the truth.

3 John 1:12

The men who have played for Hall of Fame college basketball coach John Wooden remember him as a great coach and as a teacher of important life lessons. Wooden, who led the UCLA Bruins to ten NCAA championships in twelve years, including seven in a row from 1967 to 1973, repeatedly taught the importance of character. “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation,” he said. “Your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”

Can people say of you that your reputation, your conversation, and your behavior all demonstrate good character? Demetrius, a little-known believer briefly mentioned in John’s third epistle, apparently had a good reputation based on consistently good conduct. John tells us nothing about Demetrius except that people rightly spoke well of him. The apostle contrasts Demetrius with a would-be leader named Diotrephes, whom he describes as a divisive man who made evil and false accusations against John.

God loves to call men like Demetrius into leadership because there is nothing phony about them, and people see them as the real deal. Though men like Diotrephes often attract a short-term following, sooner or later the truth comes out, and men like Demetrius lead a group to a happier and healthier place.

Are you the real deal? Does the character that your wife, children, and close friends see line up with the reputation you enjoy at work or in public? When you nourish your true character, your reputation will take care of itself.