Churches today would have you believe that coming to one of them is a necessary element of coming to Jesus. They see the church and Jesus as inseparable – that you cannot follow Jesus without going to church. So forcefully have they pressed this point that most non-churchgoers assume that following Jesus and going to church are synonymous – yet this is not so. In fact, you can read the Bible for yourself and see that Jesus frequently said, “Follow Me,” but you won’t be able to find him saying, “Go to church.” It’s not there. You’ll find “Seek the kingdom,” but you won’t find “Seek the church.”
The Church Has Outlived Its Usefulness
But isn’t church in the Bible? Sure it is. Noah’s ark and animal sacrifice are also in the Bible, but they became obsolete after a time. So did church.
Church was a practice Jesus’ apostles created and used to pass on Jesus’ teaching. Over time, the apostles died…usually one by one and usually by martyrdom. What kept the churches going was the writings that the apostles left behind. The collected writings of the apostles were called the New Testament and included with the writings of the Jewish prophets which were then called the Old Testament to form what we today call the Bible.
Since that time, publishing the Bible has become far more economical and literacy rates have risen dramatically. Our world is one in which we can read the Bible for ourselves and do not need to go someplace to have it read to us. You can even download it to your phone, for crying out loud. As for being the exclusive place to go to find out what the Bible says, the church is more out of date than a buggy whip.
Buggy whips became obsolete for the very simple reason that horses are responsive to a whip, but the engines that replaced horses weren’t. Can the things of God become obsolete? They can if God designed them to be replaced by something better (Hebrews 8:13). There was no use for Noah’s ark once the flood subsided and dry land appeared. That ark was just a massive barge; it had no navigational system because all it needed to do was float. Since God promised to never send a flood of that magnitude again, that ark was obsolete and Noah escorted his family off of it. Because it was not designed to travel from one port to another, Noah’s ark would not be useful for some sort of future pleasure cruise. Things made obsolete are for discarding, not maintaining. The church served its purpose. It’s long past time to leave it behind in pursuit of the kingdom of God.
The Bible Is Ancient, but Relevant As Ever
Nothing like a buggy whip or Noah’s ark, the Bible is timeless. This was dramatically proven when in the 1st century AD Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled prophecies that had been made centuries and even millennia before. In other words, the messianic prophecies Jesus was fulfilling were already ancient promises in his time.
As the Bible itself says, there is truly nothing new under the sun. Everything that seems new is just another version of something that has been experienced before. There have been, and still are, significant numbers of people who have testified to the timelessness of the Bible in every generation since the time of Jesus – including our own. Truth never becomes obsolete.
Jesus and the Bible Are Inseparable
While Jesus can easily be separated from the church, He is inseparable from the Bible. The 27 1st-century texts that comprise the New Testament are the primary historical sources we have for his life. His life is not merely a matter of religion; it is a matter of history. Whatever one thinks about Jesus, his existence is as historical as the existence of any other ancient man – and in most cases, more so.
The repeated claim of the New Testament texts is that Jesus was the fulfillment of Old Testament expectations of a Messiah for Israel and the world. Therefore, Jesus is wedded to the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. Truly, one cannot consider Jesus without considering the Bible, and, conversely, one cannot consider the Bible without considering Jesus. The same cannot be said for today’s churches; they are a separate issue. What service they offer to Jesus and the Bible is usually lip service.
Family Has Never Stopped Being Central to Human Flourishing
Ever since God paired Adam and Eve, family has been God’s design for the health and well-being of the human race. As the family goes, so goes the nation. Destroy the family and you destabilize the nation; strengthen the family, and you stabilize the nation.
Moses’ tabernacle, Solomon’s temple, and the New Testament church were all temporary structures designed by God to serve His purposes in His phased redemption of humanity from sin and death. Like scaffolding used in the reconstruction of a building, they all passed away once their purpose was achieved. Family, however, will remain central to human society as long as there is a human race on earth.
Conclusion
If your thinking about Jesus and the Bible cannot be separated from your thinking about church, then it’s churchianity you’re seeking – not Christianity. On the other hand, if it’s true Christianity you want, then read the Bible for yourself, learn about Jesus Christ, and you’ll find a genuine faith without the baggage of church. This will be a faith you can teach your family, and that your children can pass on to their children.
The chapters in this book may be read in whatever order you want. I urge you to start with the chapter titles that interest you most.
The Duty of a Man 