For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them. Matthew 18:20
While listening to a Christian radio station some years ago in the southern US, I was shocked to hear a radio preacher criticizing the way that God’s Assemblies apply this great charter verse. His argument was that, because the verse appears in the context of discipline among the Lord’s people, it applies only to discipline and has nothing to do with Christ being the Gathering Centre of His people. He criticized Assemblies for using this verse for claiming to have the Lord Jesus Christ in our midst. Maybe this man was trying to justify the company he gathered with using a different name, I don’t know. I suppose a person can put any kind of a slant on any verse. But this one is so simple and straightforward that people have to twist its words to make it mean something other than what it says. Messing it up takes effort. It also takes pride and disobedience to the Word of God.
The Bible has two different meanings when it speaks of being gathered. One meaning is that of a group of people in a particular place at a particular time – in effect, a meeting. The other meaning is that of a group of people who have been permanently united; and that is the meaning contained in this verse. This gathering is a gathering 24/7, 365 days of the year. This gathering functions continuously in worship, testimony, and service. This gathering alone can claim the Lord’s presence as the Head of the gathering. While it is true that any group of Christians who meet at any particular place and time can claim the Lord’s presence, so too can any individual Christian who is not anywhere near any other Christian. No, this verse is speaking of the Lord’s presence in a much more significant way. That is why, for example, an ad-hoc group of Christians have no authority to perform such Assembly functions as the Breaking of Bread.
I hear some people proudly proclaiming themselves to be a member of the Plymouth Brethren. Do tell! That is a different name than the One of which Matthew 18:20 speaks! To what name are you gathered? The greatest Name on earth and in Heaven is that of the Lord Jesus Christ! Why ever use another? -Jim MacIntosh