What would happen if we took away everything that modern churches have come to depend upon? Suppose tomorrow morning there were no church buildings, no elaborate sound systems, no giant screens, no worship bands, no expensive programs, and no carefully arranged services designed to attract a crowd. Suppose all that remained was a group of believers sitting beneath a tree with an open Bible, someone willing to teach God's Word, and hearts willing to obey Him.

Would we still know how to be the church?

I sometimes wonder whether losing everything we have built might help us rediscover what the church was supposed to be in the first place. We have become so accustomed to measuring success by attendance, facilities, budgets, and programs that we seldom stop to ask whether those things have anything to do with spiritual maturity.

I am not suggesting that church buildings are sinful or that every modern convenience is wrong. There is nothing inherently ungodly about comfortable seating, musical instruments, or equipment that helps people hear and understand the message. But somewhere along the way, churches can begin confusing the things that support ministry with the ministry itself.

And when that happens, something is terribly wrong.

A Church Without Walls

In Kenya, there is a small group of believers led by Job Mokua Ezekiel. Some of you have read about them on the Mission Field page of The Other Side of Amen. They gather outdoors to worship and study God's Word. When the rain comes, their gathering may have to end early. They do not have the facilities and resources that many American churches take for granted.

Some of these believers do not even have Bibles of their own.

I wish every Christian in America could visit that group just once. I wish pastors accustomed to preaching from impressive stages could sit among those believers and watch them worship without all the things we have come to associate with a successful church.

They might return home with a different understanding of what matters.

These brothers and sisters do not need to be entertained. They need God's Word. They need Bibles they can read for themselves, sound teaching that will help them grow, and encouragement as they follow Jesus Christ.

That is one of the reasons The Other Side of Amen Ministry exists. We want to help put Bibles and biblical teaching materials into the hands of people who need them.

And it raises a question I believe American churches ought to consider.

If a congregation can afford an enormous television screen, expensive lighting, and a fog machine, but cannot find money to help believers who have no Bibles, have we somehow confused our priorities?

Think about what the cost of some of that equipment could accomplish. How many meals could be provided for homeless people? How many Bibles could be purchased? How many struggling families could receive assistance? How much biblical teaching could be placed into the hands of people who have almost nothing?

I am not arguing that every dollar spent on a building should have gone somewhere else. Churches have legitimate expenses and responsibilities. But expenditures reveal priorities, and those priorities deserve honest examination.

Before telling me how many programs your church operates, tell me what your church is doing to reach people who have never heard the gospel. Tell me how many Bibles you have helped provide. Tell me how you are caring for the poor, supporting mission work, and making disciples.

Those answers tell us something that impressive facilities never can.

Return to the Word

The solution to the church's problems is not complicated, although putting it into practice may require genuine repentance.

Return to God's Word.

Preach it faithfully. Teach it carefully. Believe what it says, even when its message is unpopular. Stop avoiding passages that make people uncomfortable. Stop replacing biblical instruction with motivational speeches and religious entertainment.

Jesus did not commission His church to attract the largest possible audience. He commanded His followers to make disciples.

“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:19).

And He commanded that those disciples be taught to observe everything He had instructed.

That means the church is responsible for much more than gathering people together once a week. It must teach believers to understand Scripture, pray, obey Christ, recognize false teaching, care for one another, and grow in spiritual maturity.

Consider the early believers described in Acts 2:42.

“They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

There is the foundation of a healthy church. God's Word, fellowship, prayer, and a shared life centered on Jesus Christ.

They did not need a production team to make their worship meaningful. They needed the Lord, His truth, and one another.

We have spent generations developing better ways to conduct church services. Perhaps it is time to give greater attention to becoming better followers of Jesus Christ.

What Are We Willing to Give Up?

There is another question I would like to ask pastors.

Have you challenged your congregation to make even a small personal sacrifice for the sake of the gospel?

Consider something as ordinary as a seven-dollar cup of coffee. If twenty people gave up one of those coffees each week and contributed the money toward purchasing Bibles, that would amount to $140 a week, or $7,280 over a year.

Think about what that could mean for people who cannot afford a Bible.

And that would come from only twenty people making one small sacrifice each week.

Imagine what could happen if an entire congregation began looking for practical ways to support missions, help people in need, and spread God's Word. Not because someone pressured them into giving, but because they understood that what they possessed could be used to serve Christ.

I am not asking pastors to make their people feel guilty about drinking coffee. I drink plenty of it myself. I am asking whether we have become so comfortable with what we have that we seldom consider what someone else is doing without.

Giving is not a substitute for obedience, and generosity cannot purchase spiritual maturity. But genuine love ought to move us beyond simply talking about the needs of others.

A church that teaches its members to give sacrificially, care for the needy, and support the spread of the gospel is teaching them something about following Christ.

And that is discipleship.

Who Is the Church Really Serving?

Paul reminds us in Colossians 1:18 that Christ is the Head of the church. That is not merely a theological statement to include in a church's statement of faith. It is a truth that ought to govern everything a congregation does.

If Christ is the Head, then His Word must determine what we teach. His commands must shape our priorities. His example of humility and service must influence how we treat others. And His commission to make disciples must remain central to our work.

Perhaps what the modern church needs most is not another conference explaining how to grow, another program designed to attract visitors, or another building project intended to impress the community.

Perhaps it needs to humble itself before God, acknowledge where it has wandered, and return to the simple responsibilities Christ gave His people.

Teach the Word. Make disciples. Pray together. Love one another. Care for those in need. Take the gospel to people who have never heard it.

These are not new ideas. They are what the church was supposed to be doing all along.

And please understand something. I am not suggesting that every church in America has abandoned these responsibilities. There are faithful pastors preaching God's Word, congregations caring for people in need, and believers sacrificially supporting missions. I thank God for them.

But every congregation ought to examine itself honestly, because it is possible to maintain a successful religious organization while gradually losing sight of its biblical purpose.

Perhaps We Need to Begin Again

I keep returning to that picture of believers gathered beneath a tree.

No elaborate building. No impressive stage. No expensive equipment. Perhaps only one Bible being shared among the entire group. Yet there are people eager to hear what God has said and willing to follow Him.

Now imagine bringing that same group into one of our modern churches. Would we recognize their devotion, or would we be more concerned about how poorly equipped their meeting place was?

Perhaps the better question is what they might teach us.

The church does not need to abandon every building or program to return to Christ. But it must be willing to surrender anything that has become more important than obeying Him.

And that begins with humility.

Pastors, open the Word and teach it. Believers, open your Bibles and learn what God expects of you. Churches, examine where your money goes, what your people are being taught, and whether you are genuinely making disciples.

If everything were stripped away tomorrow, and all we had left was a group of believers gathered beneath a tree, would we still have a church?

If Christ were truly our Head, His Word our authority, and obedience our desire, I believe we would.

The church does not need to reinvent itself. It needs to return to the One who established it.