A young man recently entered a local business establishment and announced that he and some others were “starting a new church.” That statement might have been shocking a few years ago, but it no longer is. Men have been “starting new” churches for centuries, and many no doubt think they are doing God a “service,” Galatians 1:10, John 16:2.
Many of us can recall when the number of denominations in the world was said to be about 300. Now, various online sites give the number as being in the thousands. Ten years ago, the United Nations Center for Religious Studies stated that “Christianity” included “more than 27,000 denominations.” It is almost impossible to determine the number of “churches” in the world today. There are interesting and revealing stories behind many of these “new” churches. What happened? What convinced men to leave one “church” to begin another? Were there doctrinal differences? Moral issues? Money issues? Personality differences?
There was a time when there was just one “church,” for the Bible plainly reveals that and tells of its origin and doctrines. Jesus told His disciples: “…I will build my church,” Matthew 16:18, and Acts 2:47 says “..the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” His church was new 2,000 years ago, the church of Jesus Christ, the “one body” that Jesus called His church. It was new, but it had been in the mind of God “before the foundation of the world,” Ephesians 1:4, 2 Timothy 1:9. If the saved are added to His church, why do we need a new one – or thousands of new ones – today? It makes sense for us to ask this question:
“Why do we usually look for something new?”
Most of us look for something new when the “old” ceases to be useful, desirable. Perhaps we merely become tired of the “old.” It is true that there are times when “new” is better than “old,” but what can be better than God’s “New” Testament? And how can something man is “starting” be better than what God has planned, organized, authorized and “purchased” with the “precious blood of Christ” (Acts 20:28, 1 Peter 1:18-19)? Is that not the question that should be asked when a person announces “We’re starting a new church”?
In the Bible there were times when men wanted to add a few things to what God had authorized. In Galatians 1:6-9 the inspired Apostle Paul made it clear that those who ignore or modify God’s instructions are not going to be happy with the consequences. Note what that Bible passage says:
“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”
You can’t “start a new church” without abandoning the gospel Jesus authored. A major reason why some seek something “new” is that they don’t like the “old.” What is there about the church Jesus came to “build” that men do not like? Are there some “thou shalt nots” in the “old” that they want to eliminate? (See Jeremiah 36:9-32). Is the church Jesus paid for with His own “precious blood” too old fashioned? Can man come up with a better one?
That young man who publicly announced “We’re starting a new church” may not have realized it, but one or more of the above reasons must have motivated him. Does he want to make his own rules? Does he want to establish his own form of worship? Would he want to include people whose lives are out of harmony with the Bible? Is the Bible too strict about marriage/divorce? About sexual immorality? About homosexuality? Does he believe God’s ways are no longer valid for this modern age?
Man cannot improve on God’s way, and man cannot improve on Christ’s church. That young man may not have intended that, but others have tried to start a church that suits their own preferences and called it by a name that suited them. They formed doctrines that appealed to them, eased up on some behavior in which they wanted to be engaged, and told everyone it was going to be “new and better.”
In that same Galatians passage we quoted earlier, Paul asked this very pointed question:
“Do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ,” Galatians 1:10.
Many sincere people have done what this young man wants to do. They hope their efforts will be pleasing to God and others. I don’t want to be their judge; the Bible will do that. I plead with him and all who want to please God: find out what God said, and then do what He said. That will not only please God but it will accomplish His goals.
