At many a prayer meeting and worship service, a well-meaning minister or leader has often said something along the lines of ‘Lord God, we thank you that you hear us because where two or three are gathered in your name you are here with us, so let us pray’.
Hearing this, I have often thought to myself, that’s odd, God is always present with us, even when we’re alone. The reality is that the Holy Spirit of God himself, the third person of the Trinity, personally lives within the heart of every true Christian. God is always present with the believer.
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
Psalm 139:7-8
The Psalmist realised just how inescapable God’s loving attention is. However, God’s omnipresence and the ministry of the Holy Spirit are not the focus of this reflection. In the initial scenario I described, the text of Matthew 18:20 is being referenced. However, I think it is clearly being referenced out of context.
One thing I have learned to be a trustworthy saying, and worthy of being accepted, is that context is king. Whenever you are handling a section of the Bible, it is critically important to know what the context of the passage was. Who wrote those words, and to whom were they written? What was happening at the time, and where does this part of the Bible fall in the timeline of Redemptive history?
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
Matthew 18:15-20, emphasis mine
This section, when read in context, is clearly about justice and church discipline. The principle is that multiple lines of independent testimony are necessary for bringing a just judgement against a person (in this case, a fellow believer). He is saying that when multiple lines of testimony are established, the ruling should be recognised as just and authoritative, that is, all should realise that Christ is with them in their judgement.
Compare this to a very similar section in Paul’s writing:
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.
For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 5:1-5, emphasis mine
Both sections are concerning righteous conduct and justice within the church. The key is that when people assemble under the banner of Jesus, seeking to uphold righteousness and see justice done, and there are multiple lines of testimony (so as to avoid fraudulent claims), the authority of the Lord Jesus is present in the sentence pronounced over that person.
Don’t be embarrassed if you misunderstood the context of Matthew 18. I did too, for the longest time! Above all, remember that context is king. The Bible is not a collection of individual verses to be plucked up independently of their context. However, if someone quotes it at a prayer meeting, don’t interrupt them to correct them and point out their ignorance. That would be most unkind, and the reality is, Jesus truly is present then and there, so despite their misuse of the text, what they are saying is true anyway.
I write this with my own hand. See, with what regular-sized letters I write!
Distilled Orthopraxy 