At Christian gatherings, you’ll often hear a leader say, “Jesus is present because he promised that ‘whenever two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them.’” Now, there’s nothing wrong with reminding people of Jesus’s presence. The problem comes when we quote Scripture thinking it means something it doesn’t. Jesus wasn’t talking about church gatherings. He was talking about church discipline (yay, everyone’s favorite topic!). Or more specifically, being uniquely present during painful and difficult conversations when followers of Jesus are discerning what to do (yes, relevant to us all). Once you’re familiar with the original context, you’ll never hear these words the same way again!

• What was your biggest takeaway from the teaching? 
• How would you describe the difference between “attempting to win someone back” and “trying to prove someone wrong” in a confrontational conversation? 
• What do you find compelling in Jesus’s model for navigating conflict? 
• What do you find challenging in it? 
• When have you seen conflict in the Christian community handled well? What did the people specifically do to handle it well? 
• How will you live out the truths of this teaching going forward? 

• Release to Receive (Sermon) by Brad Gray 
• The Most Misused Verses in the Bible by Eric J. Bargerhuff 
• “Where Two or Three are Gathered”… in Context (Article) by Lois Tverberg 
• Jesus and the Forgiveness Standard (GCBI 108.06) by Dr. Randall Smith 

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