Matthew 18:20 contains a wonderful promise: “For where two or three are gathered into My name, there am I in their midst.” However, some have misused this verse to discount the need for local churches established and built up on the proper ground. They claim that the gathering of two or three in the Lord’s name is the unique qualification to be a genuine church. This errant understanding has excused division, opened the door to the proliferation of independent “churches” and free groups, and frustrated the building up of the Body of Christ. The following article by Shepherding Words shows how the building up of the church and the functioning of all the members is brought in by the proper ground.