Day 68 - Where two or three gather together ...

I don’t think that the word is printed within any version of the Bible, but it’s important anyway – ‘anthropocentric’. It describes the issue of humans treating themselves as if the universe revolves around them. Regarding the Bible, it includes the very common approach that results in people only finding within the writings what they want to find, which often results in partial or even misguided interpretation. Much damage is done this way.

Drawing your attention to a short piece of Jesus’s ministry in Luke Chapter 17, verses 20 & 21; we could choose to ignore it as too hard to understand. We could choose to think that it refers to someone other than ourselves. Or - we might just think carefully about what it may mean to us. What Jesus is doing here is responding to that all too prevalent query that is launched at Him, then and now. “Give us evidence that God’s power is real”. Pharisees 2,000 years ago are quite a lot like the worldly-wise ever since.

Churches, denominations, organisations and such like often don’t shed a lot of light because there’s an assumption that their understanding is THE understanding. You’ll note how much and how often the concept of ‘church’ is overprinted on the teaching of Jesus. The Bible that you read is a translation of an editing of a memory – but it does contain teachings and we do have access to Chrit’s Spirit to teach us still.

However, what we must not do is to tell Christ what He must mean so that it agrees with what we want.

We Dissenters are especially privileged by our background when we recognise it. We are rooted in a sort of movement that denies that anyone, but God, can instruct us properly and that we need each other to, prayerfully, fathom out what God is wanting from us in order that we might be at peace. All too often though churchy people batter God with lists of what they insist must be God’s will.

Looking at what Jesus replied to the Pharisees contemporary with Himself as Jesus, there is an important clue. He says that God’s Kingdom is not what we anticipate based upon anthropocentric interpretation. That would probably be a huge, popular, wealthy set-up with lots of levels of important people with fancy titles. Jesus says that His Kingdom is already present. It is within us. That is exactly where ‘important’ people fail to look.

Two points. One. Prayer may be simply spending time looking for The Kingdom just where Jesus says that it is. Have a look at Matthew 6:1-14 for fuller guidance.

Two. Guidance might need collaboration. Look further, Matthew 18:20 recounts Jesus advising that He will always be there when one two or three sincere people are mutually helping each other to find Him.

The Bible has lots of good advice in it, especially when we are open to being guided. Furthermore, when you find yourself in the company of those two or three authentic pilgrims seeking God, you will be in a Church. It’ll be a proper Congregational one too.

John Cartwright