Now that I’ve laid out my criticisms of the institutional church, I will present how I believe the Bible calls us to collaborate and worship as Christians. Rather than being institutional or liturgical in nature, this vision consists of what I call a “family” model of worship, which reflects the many references in the New Testament to fellow Christians as brethren (i.e., brothers and sisters), our position as adopted children of God the Father (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:5; Ephesians 1:5), and the references to the collective of saints as the “household of faith” (Galatians 6:10) and the “household of God” (Ephesians 2:19).

What is the Church?

After the resurrection of Jesus, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the apostles began to build a new nation of spiritual Israel, composed of both Jews and Gentiles and spanning the entire world of the Roman Empire:

And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. (Galatians 6:16)

For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God. (Romans 2:28-29)

The word “church” in the New Testament is a translation of the Old Testament word “assembly,” meaning the gathered congregation of the people of Israel. Indeed, just as God called Old Covenant Israel “a special treasure… a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5-6), Peter called the Church “a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people” (1 Peter 2:9). The Church thus functions as a New Covenant version of the assembly of ancient Israel, with its elders in each city. It is a spiritual community, not an ecclesiastical hierarchy.

The implications of this are staggering. For starters, a biblical church is not an institution, but rather literally an alternate citizenry from that of the world (Philippians 3:20). For example, in the city of Boston, there are the fleshly people of Boston and the spiritual people of Boston. Ever noticed that the letters of Paul are addressed to the churches of specific cities? All the Christians who live in Boston communally make up the Church of Boston.

Communally, all the Christians in America make up the assembly of America, and the worldwide Church is the assembly of New Israel, whose capital is the New Jerusalem and whose king is Jesus. When we think this way, we can see the major issue with the way modern church is structured: namely, all churches that genuinely preach Christ should be united.

This is not to say that Christians should join hands with everyone who calls himself a Christian or claims to believe in the Bible. But all churches that recognize each other as legitimate should consolidate. There should be only one faithful “church” in each city, with one set of elders and deacons. As Paul explained in Ephesians 4:1-6, there is spiritually only one body of Christians, amongst whom unity is a critical priority.

We can see from this how the purpose of the church has been misconstrued in the history of Christendom. Rome adapted the idea of church institutionally to replace its system of religious worship (temples, sacrifices, priesthoods, etc.). However, today the temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:22). Just as in the Old Covenant there was a heavenly temple of which the earthly temple was a copy (Hebrews 9:23-28), Jesus is now the temple in Heaven, and His body (the entire Church), of which He is the head (Ephesians 4:15-16), is the corresponding spiritual house of God on Earth (1 Peter 2:4-5). We are its living stones (1 Peter 2:5), presenting our bodies as living sacrifices to God (Romans 12:1).

Church Membership

Any test used to admit a member into the one faithful church within a given city needs to be broad enough to cover anyone who loves Jesus and seeks to live out the gospel faithfully. According to Matthew 16:15-18, the Church is founded on the confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (i.e., the Father). The spirit of the antichrist is the denial that Jesus is the Christ and the denial of the Father and Son (1 John 2:22).

Therefore, faithful disciples of religions that deny that Jesus is the Christ, such as Rabbinic Jews, cannot be saved. Faithful disciples of religions that deny that Jesus is the Son of God, such as Muslims, also cannot be saved. Of course, some adherents of false religions, especially ones that claim to hold the New Testament as Scripture, might come to know Jesus through their studies of God’s Word, although with enough time that should result in them leaving their false faiths and pursuing some form of Christianity.

Regarding the foundational confession of Jesus as Christ and Son of God, there is confusion regarding variations within different sects of Christianity itself. Can Protestants be saved? Can Roman Catholics? Can Mormons? Can Jehovah’s Witnesses? Once you start to explore the nature of Jesus, Messianism, and what it means to be God’s Son, you run into disagreements over canon, which nullifies reasoned argument from Scripture, because (for example) a Mormon can just point to the Book of Mormon in order to interpret books that a Protestant might hold as supreme on their own merits.

As even the Protestant Reformers simply formed institutional churches that were stripped down versions of Roman Catholic churches (fewer liturgical trappings and sacraments), no current Christian denomination or variant based around an institutional hierarchy or system would embrace the level of reform I’m advocating, so a new approach is required.

I propose the following three doctrinal components:

• The Great Axiom: The original manuscripts of the 66 Books of the Protestant Bible are divinely inspired in their original languages. It is assumed that:
  • All narrative elements are literally true.
  • All poetic elements are valid.
  • All prophecies have been or will be fulfilled.
  • All instructions and commandments that still apply are binding.
• Orthodoxy: A Christian must believe that Jesus is the Messiah/Christ and the Son of God.
• Orthopraxy: A Christian must seek to keep God’s commandments (1 John 2:3-6).

With the three components of the doctrinal statement in place, it should be possible for the Church as a whole to resolve every controversy, provided those in charge adhere to the time-honored principle of “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, love.”

Church Officials

According to Ephesians 4:11-13, there were four roles involved in building up the body of Christ in the first-century church:

1. Apostles were witnesses to Christ’s resurrection who took responsibility for carrying forward the mission of Christ (1 Corinthians 9:1). Paul was the last apostle, as he was the last to visually see Christ risen (1 Corinthians 15:8-9).
2. Prophets were given supernatural insight into future events. They thus could do things like predict coming famines (Acts 11:27-28) and warn Paul he would be imprisoned in Jerusalem (Acts 21:10-11). Prophecy ended with the Second Coming in 70 AD (1 Corinthians 13:8-10).
   All necessary input from the apostles and prophets is now recorded in the completed Bible. Hence, they are the foundation of the faith (Ephesians 2:20).
3. Evangelists preached the gospel and brought people to Christ. Jesus was an evangelist (Acts 26:23), and the apostles were evangelists while the church was first being established (Acts 4:2). After the scattering of the Jews under Saul’s persecution, and especially after the spreading of the gospel to the Gentiles, the role of evangelist became that of an itinerant missionary.
   Missionary evangelists both reached new groups of people and strengthened the faith of existing church bodies through visits and letters. In Acts 18, we see that Paul founded the churches in Corinth and Ephesus, and once he left, God sent Apollos to “greatly help those who had believed through grace, for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.” As Paul later said, “I planted; Apollos watered” (1 Corinthians 3:6).
   Evangelists did not strictly divide along these lines (Paul and Barnabas also strengthened in Acts 15:36), but they did specialize, as we see with Paul and Apollos. Once a church had reached the point where elders could be identified and appointed, they required less strengthening from then on, instead being mostly managed by their elders.
4. Elders (AKA pastors/shepherds/bishops) were experienced and mature Christians who lived in one city and took responsibility for helping the established Christians within that city live out the gospel in all its aspects and implications. This meant teaching those who would join the Church how to live in relationship with and obedience to Christ, for their flourishing and joy.
   A special type of elder was the teacher, who studied and exposited the Bible (see 1 Timothy 5:17). However, some elders focused more on oversight or prayer specifically (Acts 6:4). They heeded James’ warning to avoid becoming teachers if they weren’t qualified (James 3:1). Thus, Ephesians 4:11 refers to elders as “pastors and teachers,” capturing the two types of elders.
   As the head apostle, Peter was called to tend Christ’s flock (John 21:15-17). This meant he led his fellow apostles in initially evangelizing the Jewish church, then settling more into a pastoral role once the churches in Judea were largely established. Indeed, those aspiring to be Christian leaders today can start out in an evangelistic role and eventually move into shepherding as they seek to establish themselves in one location and grow in maturity.

Note: Elders ruled at the city level, not the house/gathering level. The qualifications for a church elder were very strict, so it is impossible that there were enough qualified elders to fill an elder board for each one of hundreds of mini-churches within a city. Indeed, in heaven there are only 24 elders (Revelation 4:10). Realistically, this means there are probably 20-30 men qualified in any given city to be an elder, which fits the Old Testament model, where elders would sit at the gate of a city and assist in civic matters and disputes (see Ruth 4:1-12).

As discussed in The Curse of Liturgical Institutionalism, evangelists/missionaries could be financially supported by the people they were winning to Christ or strengthening (1 Corinthians 9:3-18). This was especially important because missionaries were itinerant, and therefore it would have been very difficult for them to support themselves financially while also fulfilling their evangelistic duties, as they would have to establish themselves professionally in every new place they visited. Paul and Barnabas did support themselves, according to 1 Corinthians 9:6, but this was due to the spiritual immaturity and cynicism of the Corinthians.

Elders/pastors/shepherds/bishops are just more experienced Christians teaching less mature Christians how to follow Jesus. They are not institutional officers, and there is no mention in the Bible of financial remuneration for pastors. 1 Corinthians 9:14 says that those who “preach” the gospel should receive financial support for their efforts. However, the word “preach” is not a term used in the Bible for elders. All the biblical evidence seems to suggest that elders were mature Christians who mentored and guided the less experienced, but it was not a full-time job, nor did they move around, and thus they could maintain careers. For their efforts, elders received double honor as pay (1 Timothy 5:17).

I’m sure local churches would give occasional gifts (material or financial) to their elders and deacons out of gratitude and in recognition of their efforts, but these leaders did not live full-time on their flocks. The idea of a pastor shepherding his flock with his livelihood covered, such that he can live his days in leisure studying and teaching, is more reminiscent of Socrates than Peter. Those who lived by the gospel were like soldiers in an army, living and serving wherever they were called while their tours of duty lasted.

Deacons

There was one additional important role in the first-century church that was not part of the flow of planting, watering, and then shepherding churches: deacons.

Deacons ran the widow support fund, AKA the “daily distribution” of Acts 6:1. Paul gives instructions about this fund in 1 Timothy 5:3-16. Owing to differences between the economic laws of first-century Rome and current-day America, this fund doesn’t apply the same way in our current day, but the modern equivalent might be support for single mothers, the poor, orphans, and sojourners. Deacons couldn’t be “greedy for money” (1 Timothy 3:8) because they managed and distributed money to the needy. They probably also coordinated famine relief efforts.

The biblical basis for deacons comes from Acts 2:44-45: “Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.” This is not an endorsement of communism, but rather a recognition of the fact that the church is a family. Christians are to deeply love and care for one another, and that includes helping each other out financially.

This is Christianity’s secret weapon. After all, life is hard. Really hard. Financial hardship is always lurking right around the corner for most of us. If you have enough money in your family, and your family is committed to supporting you, you may have a certain amount of protection from such hardship. But most people don’t.

Now imagine if your “family” was the size of “every Christian in your city,” including lots of well-off “relatives.” Would you ever have to worry about suffering through a tough financial time alone again?

While a super small church could probably handle providing for each other informally, once a church reaches a certain size, such efforts will become disorganized, causing strife, which is what we saw in Acts 6. Hence the appointment of deacons by the apostles.

The role of deacons is therefore to administer the financial resources of the church in service of those in need. As Jesus said, heaven was for those who helped the least of His people (Matthew 25:40). Indeed, the safety net of church provision is heaven on earth.

Church Welfare

Now, the question will immediately come up: how do you prevent abuse of what’s essentially a welfare system? Three ways.

#1: Restrict aid to those inside the church

As Galatians 6:10 indicates, doing good for those of “the household of faith” is more important than for those who are not. This ties into 1 Timothy 5:8: “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

It is not the job of the Christian to solve every financial problem for every person in the world. It is the job of the Christian to help other Christians. We are a spiritual family. We provide first for our biological families, then our spiritual families, and then if we have resources left over, those on the outside.

This model serves to draw people in. After all, if you were starving in the street, and a warm house had a sign over it that said, “Come inside and be fed,” wouldn’t you enter?

#2: Enforce church discipline

1 Corinthians 5 describes a scandal in the Corinthian church whereby a highly deviant person was allowed to remain within the congregation. Paul commanded the church to excommunicate him (a sentence he repealed when the man repented, according to 2 Corinthians 2:6-8).

According to 1 Corinthians 5:11, the church was not supposed to even eat with the man while he was under excommunication. Obviously, he was to be denied financial communal provision as well during this time period. Thus, proper behavior is a condition for financial assistance within the church.

This is confirmed by 1 Timothy 5:9-10, where widows could only be enrolled for welfare if they were righteous in behavior. Financial assistance is a privilege in the church, not a right.

#3: Require people to attempt to provide for themselves

As Paul said, “For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). Again, financial provision is a privilege. Those who refuse to support themselves if they are able should be disciplined, with no provision of any kind provided until they repent and change their behavior.

Elders and Deacons as Men Only

The very early church (Acts 1-7) had the apostles as leaders, who fulfilled both evangelistic and shepherding duties in the very beginning, although they later commissioned elders in Jerusalem (Acts 15:4, 22) and sent out evangelists as needed (Galatians 2:9).

Hence, the 12 apostles were proto-elders. They were also all men. The 7 table servants of Acts 6 were also proto-deacons. There is no reference anywhere in the Bible to anyone in either the office of elder or deacon being a woman (except for Phoebe, which I will address shortly).

In 1 Timothy 2, Paul explicitly forbids women from “teaching or having authority over a man,” which is an obvious reference to the two kinds of elders (teachers and more general overseers), as evidenced by the fact that the letter transitions immediately into qualifications for elders in 1 Timothy 3. The elder qualifications of 1 Timothy 3 are explicitly put in male terms (no woman can be a “one-woman man”), as are those of Titus 1.

Deacon qualifications in 1 Timothy 3 are likewise put in male terms, because there was no expectation that they would be women. Regarding Phoebe being referred to as a deaconess in Romans 16:1, the Greek word “diakonos” is a word that more generally means “servant.” That is how it is usually translated in the New Testament. For example, in Matthew 23:11, Jesus said that the one who would be greatest in the church “shall be your servant [diakonos].” This is obviously not a reference to the church office of deacon.

In this way, the word “diakonos” is similar to the Greek word “angelos,” which could refer to either heavenly angels or simply human messengers. In Luke 1:11, we can be certain that the word describes a heavenly being speaking to Zechariah, but in James 2:25, we can be sure it refers to humans. Meanwhile, 2 Peter 2:4 is impossible to translate without bias, because your rendering of “angelos” depends on whether you believe that heavenly angels intermarried with women in Genesis 6:2 or that the “sons of God” were the human descendants of Seth. Context is key.

The context of the New Testament is clearly that men and women could both be servants, but only men could be deacons. Phoebe was a good and faithful servant of the church, but not a deacon.

There are other less formal roles in the church besides the ones I’ve mentioned, such as those who judge disputes (Matthew 18:17, 1 Corinthians 6:5) and those who provide general support and service (such as Phoebe). As the case of Deborah in the Old Testament shows, judging is a position open to women (neither of the Scriptures I just referenced in relation to judging indicate that only elders can do this). However, teaching and exercising authority (elders and deacons) are for men only.

While the example of Deborah as a judge is sometimes used to try to justify male elders, Deborah was the only judge of Israel who was not commanded by God to deliver the Israelites from their oppressors. Instead, she called on the male Barak to lead God’s army (Judges 4:6-7). Not only that, she basically mocked Barak for wanting her to go with him, indicating that his fear of fulfilling the male role he was called to would result in his glory going to a woman (Judges 4:8-9).

Thus, the story of Deborah actually proves that women are not eligible for the same leadership roles as men.

Parachurch Ministries

In addition to elders that rule at the city level and evangelists that travel from city to city, there should be parachurch ministries that provide resources or tools that support evangelists, pastors, and/or everyday Christians. Examples:

• Theologians producing books or lectures on Bible interpretation, doctrine, and apologetics
• Artists producing Christian music
• Experts providing wisdom on topics such as marriage, parenthood, finances, conflict mediation, and dealing with compulsive sin
• IT platforms for church functions
• Accounting, legal, and HR applications or services
• Curricula for elders to use in core areas of Christian living, questions to use for Bible discussion, music for worship (including sheet music / singalong tracks), guidance on safety for house churches, babysitting services, etc.
• Ministries that coordinate missionary activities

Church Discipline

Violations of orthodoxy or orthopraxy should be investigated by church leaders in line with the teachings of Matthew 18:15-20, 1 Corinthians 5, and 1 Corinthians 6:1-11, with discipline implemented accordingly. As with the excommunicated Corinthian, the point should be to restore the disciplined church member to healthy living in a spirit of gentleness, not to punish or abuse.

It is almost guaranteed that enforcing discipline will lead to church splits, but so long as all Christians who adhere faithfully to the basic doctrinal tenets continue to occupy the same church, Jesus’ bride remains intact.

Church Worship

While large gatherings of Christians would still be possible for holidays and special events, perhaps even involving professional speakers and musicians, this would not be a weekly event. Rather, as Acts 2:46 indicates, churches would gather both in homes (Romans 16:3-5; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 4:15; Philemon 1:1-2) and in larger groups wherever they could conveniently assemble (see Acts 20:7-12), such as rented spaces or occasionally non-residential buildings whose ownership or use has been gifted to the church. While elders would shepherd the entire church within a city, gathering and worship could be done in smaller units most of the time, especially as a church in a city grows in size.

Churches would meet as often as they wished, perhaps even daily. When they meet, they would engage in Bible study, worship, prayer, and sharing of struggles. This would be rather like church small groups, but with music and, if desired, the breaking of bread and the drinking of wine. 1 Corinthians 14:26 suggests that every participant should be active in a church gathering, not just the pastors. Thus, everyone should prepare something and take turns going through it.

Also, the entire church would be the worship team:

Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:18-19)

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16)

If anyone is skilled in music, they could provide the instrumental accompaniment or lead the singing. If a new believer wishes to be baptized, anyone in the church can do it. And if a church feels called to perform evangelistic work, they should do so.

As far as money goes, God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). All gifts intended for the ministry of the deacons or the funding of evangelists would be given freely – there would be no tithing. Churches would avoid unnecessary expenses like mortgages on large church buildings designed for Sunday services, salaries and benefits for non-evangelists, and anything non-essential (like pretty much everything that goes into the Sunday service). The focus would be on spreading the Word and helping the needy.

In Ephesians 4:11-16, Paul connects the importance of deep Bible knowledge to (a) avoiding instability and being tricked by con artists and (b) love and unity in the body of Christ. While not every Christian needs PhD-level knowledge of the Bible, consistent study of Scripture, not just learning theological systemization, is essential to both a healthy church and a thriving individual spiritual life. Thus, serious study of the entire Bible, not just the highlights (2 Timothy 3:16-17), would be a major focus of communal worship.

While new believers would initially grow through learning foundational truths about the gospel, their spiritual maturity would develop through relationships. More mature Christians would therefore seek to establish bonds of trust with less mature Christians, providing guidance and support as they navigate difficulties and struggles.

This all would constitute groups of Christians “doing life together,” and as such Christians would seek to live quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and reverence (1 Timothy 2:2), God would work through them to spread the gospel throughout the world.

Amen! May it be so.