“If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching,
do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever
greets him takes part in his wicked works.”
Growing up in an evangelical community, it was understood
that Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses were not
our fellow believers. These groups were commonly referred to as cults, and considered spiritually dangerous. Pairs of these odd-looking “missionaries”
would occasionally make their way through our neighborhood from house to house
ringing doorbells and soliciting opportunities to talk to people about the tenets of their belief system. On
more than one occasion I heard this verse from 2 John applied as a
warning about them: “Do not receive them into your house or give them any
greeting.”
As a result, when I was home alone and saw through the
peephole of our front door two pasty white guys in matching snappy haircuts, bleached
shirts, neatly pressed dress slacks and sensible shoes, I promptly made
myself scarce for fear of violating John’s instruction. Hey, the word “Hello” might
accidentally slip from my lips and cause me to “take part in their wicked works”.
Is that really the sort of thing John had in mind?