Jesus said that He is in the midst of two or three who are gathered in His Name. For all the talk about “gathering together” it really isn’t that difficult, if you just eliminate from your mind the old institutional obsession with large numbers. Jesus is not so interested in numbers. He is very non-specific – He says, two or three. Could be as little as two. Could be as many as three. Just two or three. Very small. Very insignificant in terms of what we have come to expect a “gathering” is supposed to look like. Jesus says He is in the midst of as few as two or three who are gathered together in His Name. I just think that is very liberating. Very freeing, that we do not have to gather dozens or hundreds or thousands of people together and put them in a box. You can call the box a church or a house church or a group or a conference or a meeting or a gathering, but whatever you call it, that “box” often gets in the way of the simplicity of Christ.
Related Posts:
OTC #05: Forsaking the Assembly, Part 1
Gathering: But Not For the Better!- OTC #8: No Fellowship? Here's 7 Ways to Deal With It
When You Pray- OTC #04: Remember Your First Love
- OTC #06: Forsaking the Assembly, Part 2
- OTC #11: The Prophetic Significance of the Wilderness
- OTC #9: The Spiritual Importance of the Wilderness, Part 1
Yes, Brother Chip, I have seen the truth of this saying of Jesus repeated frequently. How often, in my own experience, just myself and one other person have kept with the Spirit of Christ; while when there are more gathered together things then become chaotic and disintegrate. I have found that Jesus “maintains” and “upkeeps” the fellowship of two or three; whereas when there are more, MAN MAINTAINS and tries to keep up the fellowship so as to please himself that he is “doing Church” after the (perceived) instruction of Jesus. This is why (so I have seen) these “Churches” eventually dwindle in numbers till they become non-existent. Let us fellowship as His disciples, and forget about whether “others” are necessary to make our union complete.
Ooh Chip! Thank you very much !
I would sometimes take you in my arms to express my thanks!
This teaching has done me so much good… and it really give me a balm to my heart… it is so good, so liberating, it is so well explained. The diction is clear also, and on a slow enough pace to allow for understanding and reflection. The message is clear, concise, it is made simple, exposed in simple words, so that we can all understand it and without drowning us in a host of sophisticated words and complicated reflections…
It’s so wonderful that it made me cry… {Luckily, I had bought handkerchiefs … ?}. And I have further understood what you are saying on this subject.
So I am going to try to post my comment again… (I had taken notes)
Ooh Chip! Thank you very much ! {I cannot express the depth of my gratitude}.
This teaching has done me so much good, and it has put my heart in my heart.
It is so good, so liberating, so well explained; The diction is clear and it is said on a rytme slow enough to allow to understand and reflect…
The message is made simple, clear, and is exposed in simple words and so we can understand without drowning ourselves in a host of sophisticated words and complicated reflections.
I sometimes wanted to jump for joy and would have liked…; And also it’s so wonderful that it made me cry…
And I have further understood what you explained on this topic
A few of us has step out of the Institutional system of “going to church” and “doing church ” for a few years now. We read Frank Viola books on Organic church and decided that was the way to go. But since then we have learnt more especially from your teaching as well. We don’t even want to put a label on our gatherings anymore. I feel since then , it has been so liberating to talk to friends about my Christian faith and believe. I don’t feel I need to invite them to “church” anymore. It is God that does the increase in an individual! I am only his hands and feet. What you said in the podcasts just confirms everything that we are doing .