Diotrephes exemplifies this vice in 3 John 1:9—he loves being first, refuses to acknowledge John's authority, and spreads malicious gossip. This compound verb (φίλος + πρῶτος = loving + first) diagnoses the disease: not leadership itself but love of preeminence, the need to dominate and control. Such individuals cannot bear shared authority or deference to others. The multilingual evidence (Spanish 'que-ama-ser-primero,' German 'den-Vorrang-liebend') preserves the active participial sense: this is ongoing striving, continuous jockeying for position that poisons community life.