TWO OR THREE

You’ve heard of or read the verse that reads: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt 18:20). I have heard this verse of Scripture miss-quoted and miss translated my whole life. The typical translation sounds like this; “I know there is only a couple of us here, but the Bible says where two or three are gathered together, God is here.” For years many has justified their not attending church by trying to site this passage as their excuse. Truth is the verse has nothing to do with “attending church.” The focus is on a fellow Christian sinning against another Christian and refusing to repent. The instructions are given in Matthew 18:15-20 to address the sins of a fellow believer. The final step is to take the offending believer before the whole church to repent and if he will not, then the leadership is to separate the offending believer from the church. Like a disease, you must cut the disease out of the body in order to save the body. You do not save the disease and lose the body. And when the action is taken by the church leadership and the church body to separate the offending believer, Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered (pass judgment) in my name (representing me) there will I be in the midst of them (I will stand behind their judgment against the defiant offending member.” The passage is about authority, not church attendance.