Wikipedia defines Numerology “any belief in the
purported divine, mystical . . . relationship
between a number and some coinciding events.”
Adam needed Eve, so the number “two” became
connected with having a “suitable helper” (Hebrew ezer). And together, the two were able to produce “baby” – and now
we have the significance of three.
God divided Israel into 12 tribes and the
Israelites were divided into groups of 10 for Passover celebrations. There are
144,000 in Revelation 7:4 and in Revelation 7:9 “a great multitude that no one can count.”
We have a tendency in the cell world to be
enamored by the number 12 or 2. Some have deified them as the perfect number causing
growth. One Brazilian pastor even replaced the Cross on the front of the
sanctuary with the High Priest’s breastplate containing 12 stones, the “sacred”
number.
Can we agree that any number, in the proper setting, is the “right”
number, but to give prominence to any
number may be to breed one more passing fad?
ONE, -- When Paul prayed for direction in Acts
16:9, he was alone. There are times when One is the intimate way to meet God.
TWO, --When Jesus sent the disciples and the
seventy to penetrate the lost, He sent them in Twos.
THREE, --He defined His Presence as becoming a
part of Two or Three “gathered in His name.”
TWELVE --His prototype for His new body was the
calling of the Twelve, but He chose Three of them to be closest to Himself.
120 --He entered 120 at Pentecost and they
quickly multiplied to 3,000 who went in small groups from house to house.
Let’s sublimate our passion for numbers with
proper settings!
The setting sets the number. Mentoring often
takes place one on one: that involves Two.
But there is greater power in groups of Three because community now exists. People first experience intimate community in
a triad.
Community begins with Three and ends with
Twelve. Why? Because of this formula: N
x N –N = CL (Number of people, times
number of people, minus number of people, equals communication lines).
After 132 “CL’s” you enter into public gatherings mode where intimacy is
impossible.
I writhe in agony when some pastor brags to me
about his groups who he has allowed to grow to 25 or 45. Through ignorance, he
has destroyed the value of his home cells!
The proper setting for intimacy with God is
“One” person in the closet.
The proper setting for working with unbelievers
is to send “Twos” into households, to live among the family and find the “Man
of Peace.”
The proper setting for mentoring, as Jesus said,
is in “Two or Three” with Him making the Fourth person.
The proper setting for a Cell is a gathering of
three to twelve.
(MORE
ABOUT THIS IN PART TWO}
