“Though I have much to right to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come to you and talk face to face so that our joy may be complete.”
– 2 John 1:12
What a verse, to hear John say under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that it is good for the completion of joy to be face to face with brothers and sisters in Christ, not to settle for using paper and ink in John’s words and to think about that reality today. How much we communicate over text or email or social media and this way or that way instead of communicating face to face. Coming together and talking with one another. It is not good. There is incomplete joy when we settle for communication that is not face to face.
2 John 1:12 Leads Us to Pray for Afghanistan
This has huge ramifications for our lives, our relationships, and all the more so when we think about the metaverse and we think about ever-increasing opportunities for communication through other mediums, to never let those replace coming to one another and talking face to face in ways that increase our joy. And even as I think about how we are praying for the church in Afghanistan and the spread of the gospel in Afghanistan this month, to realize that yes, there are so many avenues for the spread of the gospel through technology that we need to explore.
At the same time, yes, there are so many avenues through technology that we need to explore for the spread of the gospel in places like Afghanistan. At the same time, there is no replacement for going to people, sitting down with them, and talking face to face about the greatest news in the world. There is great need for workers in the harvest field who will do that, who will leave where they live in the United States or anywhere else and go to people, face to face who have never heard the gospel and to share it with them.
2 John 1:12 Helps Us Properly Value Face to Face Communication
So God we pray that you would help us to properly value and pursue face to face communication. I think of so many unhelpful ways we communicate over text or email or social media, things that need to be communicated face to face, sitting down with other people, looking at them in the eye, feeling their emotions as we are speaking to them instead of hiding behind a keyboard. God, we praise you for this spirit inspired word in 2 John 1:12 that there is joy that’s found in talking face to face and we pray that in an ever-increasing electronic age, you would help us not to miss this joy.
This Verse Leads Us to Pray for the Spread of the Gospel
And God, we do pray that you would bless media of all kinds for the spread of the gospel, the good news of your grace and your love among people who have never heard it, and at the same time, God we pray that you would continue to raise up men and women, individuals and families, from places where the gospel has gone to go face to face, to people who have never heard it before and to share it with them in all kinds of ways, at all kinds of costs. God, we pray for the spread of the gospel in Afghanistan, face to face, and in many other unreached countries, among many other unreached people groups in the world. All for our joy and for your glory, we pray according to your word in 2 John 1:12. In Jesus’ name, amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
