Matthew 18:20 – For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
We meet God not just as we sit alone in quiet corners but in and through the people with whom we live, work, and interact as we go through our daily routine.
Relationships present us with both a remarkable privilege and an awesome responsibility. As other people’s lives touch ours, they help to form our faith and make us who we are. As we touch others, we reflect God’s love to them.
Relationships with other believers have extraordinary power in our lives because Christ is present in them. Jesus knew how important people are in conveying God’s grace and presence. “Where two or three people are gathered in my name,” he said, “I am there among them” (Matthew 18:20).
Within our churches, small groups, families, and friendships, we learn from one another. We find encouragement. We challenge one another to follow God more faithfully. Other Christians enable us to walk as we should when we might otherwise have strayed or wandered. God uses relationships to form us, and relationships form us so that God can use us.
Christ distributes courage through community; He dissipates doubts through fellowship. He distributes pieces of the jigsaw puzzle to many. When we mix, mingle, confess and pray–Christ speaks!
When we brush up against the church, we do just that. Paul said, “The church is His body; it’s made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with Himself.”
The adhesiveness of the disciples instructs us. They stuck together. Even with ransacked hopes, they clustered in conversant community. Isn’t this a picture of the church–sharing stories, exchanging ideas, mulling over possibilities, lifting spirits?
