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The New Testament was never about “going to church” – it is about us, genuine disciples of Jesus, “being the church”, the Body of Christ.
The Apostle Paul’s letters to the Corinthians, in particular, indicate that the assembled churches relied on the spontaneity of the Holy Spirit, rather than on official authorities for the life and direction of their fellowship meetings.
The early church’s vision of Christian community was one of free fellowship, developed through the living interplay of spiritual gifts and ministries, without official authorities or responsible ‘ministers’.
The earliest Christian gatherings for worship looked to the immediate presence of the Holy Spirit for their community and life, rather than to organisational structure and formality. They relied on the Holy Spirit to lead them rather than a priest or minister.
So where did this concept of buildings and denominations and having to go and belong to a denomination creep in?
Basically, it happened when the church of Rome, the Roman Catholic organisation, began after the death of Jesus and the deaths of those first apostles.
In retrospect, it can be seen that over the years since those first Christian gatherings for worship, there has been a gradual demise of the charismatic character of the church and a corresponding rise of organisational structure.
The Roman Emperor Constantine in AD312 marked the beginning of the church’s rise as an earthly power and the end of the charismatic gifts and leading of the Holy Spirit as part of the church’s life and ministry.
It was Constantine who initiated the building of structures to accommodate the religious meetings of Christians. In other words, church buildings.
In addition the worship style, once plain and personal, now became full of the pomp and practice of the Roman Imperial court.
In AD381 one of Constantine’s sons, the new emperor Theodosius 1, made Christianity the exclusive religion of the state. Any who dared to worship, other than in the style of the Roman state/church, risked punishment or death.
As a result, hordes of unconverted pagans filled the churches bringing with them heathen ideas and practices which became incorporated into Roman church life and structure, defiling the purity of the Gospel and the New Testament concept of Christian fellowship and church.
A new universal system of church government began to emerge, and it soon became clear that it reflected the prevailing political pattern of the Roman empire, which in turn quenched the freedom of the Holy Spirit’s presence that had been the most vital part of New Testament Christian worship gatherings and fellowship.
In the New Testament fellowships, the people had been participants in spontaneous worship but now, under the formal Roman church, Christian believers became passive spectators in a highly structured ritual presided over by bishops, ministers, priests, and other ecclesiastical officials.
In 1054 AD, a formal split occurred between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. This division remains in effect today.
The next major division occurred in the 16th century with the Protestant Reformation.
And out of the Protestant Reformation eventually in one way or another over a period of time came the Church of England (Anglicans/Episcopalians), Lutherans, Methodists, and all the other denominations we have today.
And every one of those many denominations have their doctrines, rituals, beliefs, and way of doing things.
Now I am not saying that it is necessarily wrong to go to one of the many denominations that we have today – but don’t for one minute believe that any of them are “the church”.
They are not.
They are denominations, or if you prefer, branches of believers who meet in their designated buildings and under some denominational title such as “Anglican” or “Methodist”, etc.
As I have previously stated: Church is, according to the New Testament, the body of Christian believers who in total are the Body of Christ collectively known as “the church”.
And once again, please understand, any denomination that compromises the teachings of the Bible are simply heretics and blind guides as Jesus called them.
And I repeat, very strongly, if ministers or denominations, go off the rails and contravene or compromise the teachings of the Bible you and I have no place being there under their leadership or belonging to that organisation.
Because the New Testament is very clear that it was never about “going to church” – it is about us, genuine disciples of Jesus, “being the church”, the Body of Christ.
And it is the responsibility of each of us not to submit to, or belong to, any organisation that goes against the Bible, the Word of God.
And each of us individually will answer before God for our decisions and actions.
Two examples I can give of wrong teachings, that many churches have, are Holy Communion and the forgiveness of sins:
I usually refer to Holy Communion as the Lord’s Supper. That is Biblical. “Holy Communion” and Eucharist” are terms that are not in the Bible. The Lord’s Supper is.
But some church organisations have instituted what they call “Holy Communion” or “Eucharist”.
And under either of those two names they state that a minister or priest must consecrate the bread and the wine.
It may surprise you, if you have never been to a Pentecostal organisation, that ordinary Christian believers mostly lead the Lord’s Supper.
Yes, ordinary Christian believers without any formal training or title of minister.
And they usually do so by way of a short Scripture reading – often from the Gospels about Jesus sharing the bread and wine or from 1 Corinthians 11: 23-31
Or they share some appropriate story by way of introducing the Lord’s Supper.
Stories such as this one that has always stuck in my memory:
“On the 7th December 1988, 30 year old Susanna Petrosyan and her 3 year old daughter were buried alive in the Armenian earthquake.
‘Mommy, I need to drink,’ sobbed Mrs. Petrosyan’s daughter, Gayaney. ‘Please give me something.’
‘I thought my child was going to die of thirst,’ Mrs. Petrosyan, 26, recalled. ‘I had no water, no fruit juice, no liquids. It was then I remembered that I had my own blood.’
Although she was trapped in darkness, she could slide on her back from side to side. Her groping fingers, numb from the cold, found a shattered glass.
She sliced open her left index finger with a shard and gave it to her daughter to suckle.
The drops of blood weren’t enough. ‘Please, Mommy, some more. Cut another finger,’ Mrs. Petrosyan remembers her daughter saying.
The woman made more cuts in her flesh, feeling nothing because of the bitter cold. She put her hand to her child’s mouth, squeezing her fingers to make more blood come.
‘I knew I was going to die,’ Mrs. Petrosyan said. ‘But I wanted my daughter to live.’
The quake killed an estimated 55,000 people and injured thousands more in the southern Soviet republic.”
What an example of selfless love.
Also, an example of blood being poured out to save another.
A very adapt Lord’s Supper introduction – no “consecration” by a priest or minister required.
The New Testament distinctly tells us in Acts 2:42 that “All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper – literally in Greek “the breaking of bread”), and to prayer.”
No minister “consecration” required.
Same goes for Paul’s teaching on the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians chapter 11.
Any genuine Christian believer can initiate and share the Lord’s Supper in fellowship with other Christians.
On the matter of forgiveness of sins, the New Testament is equally clear – no minister, priest, or pastor can forgive sins. We can, and should forgive one another – but only Jesus can forgive us our sins.
“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5)
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
Yet Catholic organisations, and indeed some Anglican/Episcopalian teaching is that the priest forgives our sins. That is heresy – it is simply not Scriptural.
I wish to leave you with one final chestnut that is often used by denomination organisations as a hammer over people – and that is the verse from Hebrews 10:25
“And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near.”
In the context of that chapter – the whole section from verse 19 to the end of the chapter is about persevering in our faith as Christians.
And a very needed part of our persevering as Christian believers is fellowshipping with one another.
But clearly understand that this isn’t about Christians “going to church” – it is about genuine believers in Jesus “being the church”.
And a big part of that is done through encouraging one another and fellowshipping with one another.
Having meals at one another’s homes, sharing over the Bible, praying together, praising God together, bearing one another’s burdens together, and breaking bread, sharing the Lord’s Supper together.
To Summarise:
Church is, according to the New Testament, the body of Christian believers who in total are the Body of Christ collectively known as “the church”.
The concept of Christian believers meeting together in homes for worship and fellowship is Biblical and is how Christian worship and fellowship started in the New Testament. It is the original pattern of the church.
Any Christian believer can instigate and conduct the Lord’s Supper.
Only God can forgive sins – regardless of what any theological college may teach.
Any denomination, or local gathering in a building, that teaches anything that is contrary or compromising to the Word of God (the Bible) must be avoided and it is our individual responsibility to do. God will judge us on our individual actions.
If God has called something sin in the Bible, then it is sin. Regardless of what any person or church officials or synods may say.
Every Christian believer has a responsibility to know the Bible, to pray and to listen to the Holy Spirit.
And if the Holy Spirit tells us to leave some meeting place, or some denomination, due to heresies (teaching contrary to, or compromising to, the Bible) we must obey.
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