On Sunday at North Heights, we plan to gather in our fellowship hall to have a potluck meal together after morning worship. The theme is southern comfort food, and it’s gonna be so fun to see what everyone brings. The fried chicken, ham, beans, cornbread, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, green beans, and sliced tomatoes will all be so good. While the food is delicious, the fellowship is most wonderful.

Did you know that I have heard people talk about how good and beneficial fellowship is, quoting from Matthew 18:20 to prove it’s biblical? Or people will quote Matthew 18:20 to prove that if only two or three are gathered for worship, Jesus is there, and He approves. Before we talk about what this verse teaches, let me explain that I believe that fellowship is good and that a certain number of people gathered for worship is not a prerequisite for scriptural worship. I believe the church needs to come together for worship because that is the whole idea behind the meaning of the word church. Christian worship is when the assembly of people (the church) comes together to pay homage to God. Two or three people can do this if there is no church in their area for them to assemble. However, when there is a congregation of God’s people in an area or community who are led and governed by scriptural leadership, we need to meet with those people. If there are two or three Christians or two or three hundred, we must meet. But Matthew 18:20 does not support this teaching at all.

Matthew 18:20 is a verse where Jesus concludes a point he is making about how to get along with a brother or sister who is in sin or has sinned against you. 

Look at the context starting in verse 15:

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

Jesus is teaching that we need to have difficult conversations with each other about sins that are in our lives. If a brother or sister is sinning, point it out to him or her. If they listen to you and turn away from the sin in their lives, then good, great. You have won back your brother. No harm, no foul.

Keep reading verses 16 and 17:

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. 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.

Jesus is teaching that if the person you are talking to about sin does not listen, you bring someone with you to further talk to them about their sins. If that still does not do any good, then tell make it known to the whole church, and then the entire church can avoid that person like the Jews would avoid Gentiles and tax collectors.

Then in verses 18 and 19, Jesus says:

Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.

Jesus is teaching that whatever the disciples decide about someone who has sinned, whether it be to withdraw from them or restore them into the church, it will be ratified in heaven.

Then comes verse 20:

For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

Jesus is teaching that when you have to deal with sin, disagreements, or confrontations of any sort when you come together to work things out in the name of Jesus, He is there to support the situation.

Let’s stop using this verse to apply to the idea that if two or three come together for fellowship or worship, then Jesus is there in agreement. While that may be true, this verse is not to be used to teach this.

Here’s a quick takeaway from all that we have discussed:

  1. Enjoy the fellowship this Sunday and all the good food we will have.
  2. Worship with your church family every time the doors are open.
  3. Be willing to talk to your brothers and sisters and hold each other accountable.
  4. Don’t rip a verse or passage out of its context to make it prove something you believe to be true.
  5. Study God’s word to understand how to interpret it as God intended.

Love you all,

Alex