WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED TOGETHER (PART II)

“God’s Process for Church Discipline”

By Akin Ojumu

Scripture is not a mystic book containing hidden spiritual knowledge, divine secrets, esoteric wisdom, or guides to inner awakening that’s beyond natural human understanding. There are no cryptic codes buried deep within the Bible that only select gurus with special grace or powerful anointing can decode. 

To understand, know, and profit from the riches of the knowledge of Scripture, you have to draw them out. The way you extract the riches of knowledge of Scripture is to apply yourself to diligent study. Through the hard and tedious process of diligently studying the Bible, the Holy Spirit gives illumination which enables the reader to interpret what they are reading accurately. It’s when Scripture is precisely interpreted that the person is then able to correctly understand and apply the illuminated meaning. 

Now, I should point out that there’s nothing mystical about this process of learning the Bible. It’s exactly the same way we learn any secular book or subject. All it requires is the discipline and time to engage the mind, intellect, and reasoning. God hasn’t given humans a 3-pound brain just to fill up the empty space in the cranium. The brain is meant to be used to understand God’s Word the same way it’s used to understand other things.

When it comes to interpreting Bible texts, the “what you see depends on where you are standing” mantra doesn’t apply. It’s important to understand that Bible passages do not have multiple interpretations subject to the interpreter’s state of mind, socio-cultural background, or preferences. 

What a Bible text meant to the original recipients is what it means to today. How a particular Bible passage was understood by those to whom it was written is how it is to be understood at any other time the passage is read. The responsibility of the reader of Scripture is to make sure they interpret it accurately and precisely by applying the principle of hermeneutics and exegesis.

While Bible texts have only one interpretation, however, the text may contain multiple implications and applications. Again, it’s crucial to know this to avoid the abuse and misuse of Scriptures.

Interpretation is the process of determining what a passage of Scripture means, or, more precisely, what it would have meant to the original audience. To interpret properly, one must consider the cultural, historical, and literary context as well as the grammatical structures and the meaning of the words in their original language using commentaries and language tools if one is not proficient in Hebrew or Greek (Source: Got Questions).

Implication of a Bible text is the indirect suggestion or logical consequence that follows from its interpretation. Here, consideration is given to the general principles and core values that flow out the biblical text which are not culture bound but timeless and therefore can be applied to our contemporary context (Source: Tyndale University).

Application is the process of putting the meaning of Scripture into action in the reader’s specific context. When we apply a correctly interpreted Bible text, we put the knowledge, rules, or findings from the text into practical use or action.

Having said all that, let’s now apply that understanding to the passage of Scripture that’s the subject of this commentary series. This is the text where the Lord Jesus was letting His disciples know that He’ll be present where two or three are gathered together in His Name.

Matthew 18:20

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

As stated last time, the popular understanding of this verse is that God’s Holy presence is only effectuated only when more than two people gather together to worship Him. This verse is one of those go-to Bible texts used by pastors whenever they want to discourage their members from missing Church services or prayer meetings. It’s the text they use to reassure those in attendance at poorly attended meetings that God is committed to answer their prayers because He is in the midst of any gathering where two or more people come to pray.

Now, the logical extension of such an understanding of the verse is that God is not present in a situation where a single individual is worshiping God all alone in the corner of their bedroom. 

At least we can all agree that can’t be the case. The idea that God is not present when a lone individual stands or knees to pray in their bedroom is ludicrous. God is omnipresent. He is everywhere. It certainly doesn’t require a quorum of two or three to bring His presence down.

Jeremiah 23:24

“Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.”

Psalm 139:7-12

“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! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me...”

Which then begs the question. Since God is not the Author of confusion and there are no contradictions in the Bible, what does the Lord Jesus mean when He says, “where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them?”

To answer that question, we have to examine the context in which the Lord Jesus made those remarks. If we back up a few verses, we’ll see what led to the statement about God being in the midst of where two or three are gathered. What the Lord Jesus was dealing with here was actually the process of Church discipline. In this portion of Matthew chapter 18, the Lord Jesus instructs us on the proper approach to discipling and restoring a Christian who has committed a sin.

Matthew 18:15-19

“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.”

First off, let me say it up straight. The above passage is a clear denunciation of the erroneous doctrine of sinless perfection subscribed to by certain denominations, such as the Deeper Life Church. It doesn’t matter how holy a sect claims to be, no Christian will be able to achieve a state of complete freedom from sin in this earthly life. If it’s possible for a Christian to never sin while in the flesh, the Lord Jesus wouldn’t have established a discipline and restoration process for sinning believers in the Church.

More importantly, what’s described in Matthew 18:15-19 is the protocol established by God for dealing with a transgressing believer. It’s a legal procedure that dates back to the Old Testament Law of Moses.

Deuteronomy 19:15-21

“A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. If a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. And the rest shall hear and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. Your eye shall not pity. It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”

In the New Testament Church, when a Christian discovers that a fellow Christian has fallen into some sort of sin, the duty of the Christian is to go directly to the sinning believer and confront them with their sin. What the Bible has not prescribed is for the Christian to go straight to the rumor mill and gossip about the sins of the Christian, not even under the guise of praying for the Christian. What’s also not recommended is for a Christian to take to social media to expose the alleged sin of a fellow Christian.

Matthew 18:15

“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.”

If after confronting the sinning believer with their sin, they repented, the believer is restored, end of story. But in the case where the wayward Christian denies the allegation and fails to repent, the next step is for the Christian to go back to the sinning Christian with two or three witnesses to see if they will confess, repent, and get restored.

Matthew 18:16

“But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED.”

The need for two or three witnesses in this case is so that the allegation against the sinning believer can be corroborated. This is similar to what happens in secular legal proceedings whereby eyewitness testimonies are used to determine the guilt or innocence of the defendant in the court of law.

We’ll take a pause here for now. In the next iteration of the commentary, we’ll examine the steps to take should the sinning believer remains adamant and indignant.