Outside the Camp

I Didn’t Leave the Church—I Left the Religious System

The older I get, the more clearly I see the workings of the Religious System and the fruit it produces. And as I look back over the years, I often find myself saying, “I am outside the camp.”

When I first entered ministry nearly forty years ago, I had no idea that truly following Christ in this generation would eventually place me in a position where I would become a reproach to much of what is commonly called “the church” today.

Please understand me when I say this: I love the Church. I love the real Church, the Body of Christ, and I even love the people who have become deeply embedded in religious systems. I don’t say this from bitterness or resentment. I love people—all people, every race, every culture, every nation, and every background.

The Lord has taught me that love cannot be limited by the boundaries we so often create. The more I have come to know Him, the more I have learned to love His creation.

After traveling to more than eighty nations, I have seen firsthand the incredible beauty found in human diversity. Different cultures, languages, traditions, personalities, and perspectives can reveal something beautiful about the creativity of God.

One would think that the Church would be the greatest expression of that diversity. Sadly, that is often not the case.

Because of religious spirits, Sunday morning can still be one of the most segregated times of the week—not only racially, but politically, financially, doctrinally, culturally, and even nationally.

Yet Jesus calls us to something far greater.

He calls us beyond the walls and boundaries we have constructed. He calls us to move outside the camp, beyond the divisions created by religion, so that we can truly walk with Him in the midst of a dark and broken world.

Scripture says:

“Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach.”

That word reproach carries the idea of being defamed, taunted, rejected, betrayed, or disrespected. And there is a great deal that could be said about what it means to live outside the camp.

But I can tell you from experience: it doesn’t feel good to the flesh.

It is one thing to say that you are willing to suffer for Christ. It is another thing to actually experience rejection, misunderstanding, misrepresentation, and betrayal from people you once respected and trusted.

The difference comes when you finally understand that the reproach you carry is not your own—it is His.

Paul expressed this reality when he wrote:

“I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church.”

By His grace, I have been learning to live those words since I left the Religious System in 2009.

In the early years of my ministry, I lived far too much for the approval of men. I wanted to be accepted. I wanted to be respected. I wanted to be affirmed by the people I respected.

I had no idea that genuinely following Christ would eventually bring backlash from some of the very people whose approval once meant so much to me.

Today, being misquoted, misunderstood, criticized, and judged has become part of my daily journey. Those who truly know me have little doubt that the Lord has me swimming upstream and against the majority.

And honestly, there are days when I would rather disappear.

Sometimes I think about going somewhere quiet, becoming a monk, and simply waiting for Father to take me home. Reproach in any form is not enjoyable—especially as you grow older and begin to value peace more than recognition.

But then I remember something even greater:

He still loves His Church.

And because He loves His Church, I cannot simply walk away from His people.

The people of the Way have, in many ways, lost their way. Yet I still believe there is hope. I still believe God is at work. I still believe He is calling His people back to the simplicity of Christ, back to love, back to relationship, and back to the original foundation of the Good News.

So what you are about to read is not intended to be ammunition for another theological debate.

It is something much more personal.

It is a declaration of the mile marker I have just passed in my journey with Christ.

I am not writing this because I believe I have arrived or because I have everything figured out. I am writing because after forty years of ministry, I can no longer remain silent about what I have seen, what I have experienced, and what I believe the Lord has been teaching me.

So when I say:

“I am outside the camp,”

I want to be absolutely clear about what I mean:

I have not left Christ.
I have not abandoned His Church.
I have not stopped loving His people.

I have stepped outside the Religious System—the modern system that has, in many places, come to misrepresent itself as the Church.

And from outside the camp, I am learning to see the Church—and the One who gave His life for her—with new eyes. Here are some things that the Lord has revealed to me and confirmed by others that are hindrances to returning to the WAY.

1. The Religious System of Men-Human-made traditions, often built on distorted interpretations of Scripture, have produced a false church, a false body, false Christians, and a false sense of family. Anything that calls itself the Church but depends on the support, approval, and systems of men reveals its weakness. Paul said it best: “having a form of godliness but denying its power.” Take away the money and watch it all crumble.When it all comes down make sure you are found outside the camp. Public service announcement: That part is coming.

 

2. Weekly Church Services —A one- to two-hour gathering where people punch the attendance clock often calls itself a worship service, complete with liturgy, an order of service, programs, dress expectations, ceremonies, and one-speaker rhetoric and oratory commonly known as a sermon. I am not saying that no good is accomplished within the system. Rather, I am saying that when the focus remains on a few “professional” gifts while the rest sit as spectators, when the sanctuary follows a Roman or Greek layout, and when the American hurry up time constraint shapes the gathering, there is little room for the edification of the Body or for building the strong, proven relationships needed to walk out New Testament love—the kind of love that can truly impact a self-centered world.

 

3. Worship of the Bible —Teaching, whether expressed or implied, has often led believers to overemphasize the Bible in a way that replaces the rightful place of the Lord through the Holy Spirit. The Bible has become so central in the modern church that if you ask ChatGPT to create an image of a Christian, it will often show a person holding or reading a Bible. Yet the Bible itself is not holy, nor is it the Word of God to us, unless the Holy Spirit uses it specifically in our lives. We are the only faith that has a living, resurrected God abiding within us. Yet we often think discipling a new believer simply means handing them a Bible. If that is all we offer, what makes us different from a Muslim who reads the Quran?

 

4. Going to Church “the building” —The Church is the people, not a building; no building is holy. Even if we add a church spire, install purple carpet, paint the roof blue, fill the space with hand-carved “spiritual” figurines, paintings, and crosses, and place special seating at the front, it remains nothing more than the four walls of a building. That kind of knowledge and conviction will get you a free pass outside of camp. It is deeply troubling that many missionaries have passed this mindset on to leaders in developing nations, making them feel as though they are not legitimate unless they have a building.

 

5. All Professional Clergy-Pastors and priests often make claims based on positions, offices, or titles, yet Ephesians 4 describes functions given for the building up of the Body of Christ. No believer can “cover” another believer, nor does any believer have the right to dominate another, demand submission, or exercise controlling authority over another believer. In the Kingdom, submission is always voluntary and never rooted in some false authority invented of men and translated into our bibles.

 

6. The Focus of the Church Is to Save the Lost — No, It Isn’t! That focus entered the Church in the late 18th century. The real focus of the New Testament Church ought to be the 51+ “one-anothers” found in scripture. A Church life rooted and grounded in a love that edifies and provides for the well-being of the Body, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is one of the hardest things for me to understand how can we overlook so many references in the New Testament to the love for the brethren? The sad truth is that the business of the Religious System has never had any problem overriding the mind of Christ in a carnal church. Its time to go outside the camp to find Jesus.

 

7. Eternal Damnation in the Fires of Hell —The religious system has often taught that hell is the place where those who fail its definition of salvation will spend eternity. But Jesus taught us something very different about God. He is Love. He even told us to love our enemies.

So how can we believe that Jesus, who is perfect Love, will spend eternity torturing His enemies?

Jesus said that He died for all people and that through the cross, humanity has been reconciled to God. We may not understand how God will ultimately bring this about, but Scripture tells us that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

This is a great mystery.

I am not saying that I believe in Universal Salvation. I am saying that I believe there will be some kind of final redemption—a work of God that is beyond what we currently understand.

The teaching of eternal torment became much more prominent during the Middle Ages, when fear of hell and purgatory became powerful tools for religious control and, at times, fundraising within the Catholic Church. Later, Protestant evangelists and revivalists placed a strong emphasis on accepting salvation in order to escape the eternal fires of hell and gain Heaven.

I don’t question the sincerity of men such as Jonathan Edwards or Charles Finney. They genuinely believed what they were preaching. But over time, fear of hell became deeply woven into the religious system and eventually into what has become the modern church business.

Fear can bring people through the doors. More people can mean bigger churches, larger programs, and larger budgets.

More fear can produce more numbers. More numbers can produce more money.

And when fear becomes a tool for building the institution, something important has been lost.

The Gospel was never meant to be a business built on fear.

Sad…

Which leads us to my next point.

 

8 . Nonstop begging from the Pulpit-

Someone has to pay to keep the show going.

Buildings need to be maintained. Salaries have to be paid. Utilities, programs, insurance, and countless other expenses have to be covered. That is simply the reality of running an organization.

But there is something deeply troubling about the fact that we, as people of faith, often seem to have the least amount of faith when it comes to actually doing the work of God.

Human-made budgets have created human-made titles and reasons for bringing in money: special offerings, tithes, first fruits, pastor appreciation offerings, missions offerings, revival offerings, and many others.

It is no wonder that one of the biggest complaints from people who say they will not “go to church” anymore is the prosperity gospel and the constant asking for money.

We have turned giving into a system. Its time to get outside the camp!

We have forgotten what money was actually for in the New Testament.

Perhaps it is time to go back and ask a simple question:

What was the money of the early believers actually used for?

 

9. Doctrinal Uniformity and Demanded Conformity

No, doctrinal uniformity and demanded conformity do not produce holiness. More often, they produce judgmental legalism and create an environment where fear replaces love. They can also stifle genuine community, damage family relationships, and rob people of the joy that comes from simply knowing and loving one another.

When religious systems depend on control and fear, people learn to conform outwardly while hiding what is really happening inside. That kind of environment can produce pretending rather than transformation—making room for hypocrisy, dishonesty, backbiting, and people who learn how to look spiritual without actually becoming free.

The Body of Christ is made up of people who come from different backgrounds, different experiences, different levels of understanding, and different stages of spiritual growth. We cannot force such a diverse people into conformity by creating and enforcing religious laws and doctrines.

The unity of the Body was never meant to be based on everyone believing exactly the same things. Our unity is found in love.

They were not known simply for having the right doctrine. They were known as people of the Way.

Think about that.

Unity is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is not our job to control everyone into agreement. Christ is the only One qualified to judge the heart perfectly. Our calling is much simpler: to love one another as Christ loves His Church.

I also want to make something very clear. I do not want you to read these thoughts as though I am presenting another doctrine or claiming to have arrived at some final understanding. I am a man in process—still under construction—in the hands of King Jesus.

I could be wrong.

What I am sharing is simply what I understand today, based on where I am in my journey. Tomorrow, the Lord may show me something I do not yet see today.

I love the Church. Deeply.

But I believe we are not going to move forward if we refuse to honestly confront the problems created by religious control, fear, conformity, and the demand for doctrinal uniformity.

And if, while reading something I have written, you find yourself wanting to say, “That’s not biblical!”—you may be right.

Because my final authority is not your particular interpretation of the Bible, nor the doctrinal system built around it. Scripture has passed through translations, traditions, interpretations, and the hands of men. My final authority is the ONE VOICE of the Holy Spirit—the Living Christ Himself—speaking within His Body.

That voice does not belong exclusively to one denomination, one tradition, or one particular flavor of Christianity.

The question is not simply, “Does this agree with my doctrine?”

The greater question is:

“Does this sound like Jesus?”

And above all:

“Does this produce the love of God?”

This present society is done with our religious legalism and division. We are of no effect in the things that matter.

If we do not honestly confront and deal with the issues raised above, we will continue going in circles, repeating the same patterns and mistakes that have plagued generations before us. At some point, we must be willing to dismantle what needs to be dismantled and deconstruct what has been built on the traditions and systems of men.

I believe that time is coming—and it may be much closer than we realize.

Our greed, self-centeredness, and pursuit of our own interests could eventually bring about a season of tremendous economic hardship, as financial markets falter and access to energy and food becomes increasingly difficult.

But even in the midst of darkness, I see hope.

Some of the greatest opportunities for the true Church to shine may come when society itself is hurting. When people are broken, displaced, afraid, hungry, and pushed to the margins, the love of Christ can become visible through His people in ways that no religious institution can manufacture.

This is where my hope lies.

True, life-changing revival has often emerged in the midst of suffering and persecution. When everything that can be shaken is shaken, what is genuine becomes easier to see. The Church may discover that it does not need the protection, approval, or structures of a religious system to be the Body of Christ.

We must go outside the camp.

Whatever the cost. Whatever the sacrifice.

We must be willing to step outside the religious system created by men and rediscover the simplicity of following Jesus.

I have reached a place in Christ where I am no longer afraid of discovering that I have been wrong. I am willing to be wrong because I am still growing. I would rather continue moving toward Truth than cling to an interpretation simply because I have defended it for years.

The closer I come to Christ—the Truth—the more I recognize that there is less and less of me that needs to remain.

I no longer want the false security of believing that I can fully comprehend the infinite God simply because I have studied the Bible. Scripture points us toward Him, but our understanding of Scripture is never the same thing as possessing the fullness of God.

The Spirit must remain our Guide.

And I am grateful for brothers who are willing to walk this journey with me—brothers who love, forgive, challenge, question, and extend grace when one of us gets it wrong. That kind of relationship provides a safety net that religious certainty never can.

Above everything else, I want to remind the Body of Christ of this:

Christ is the cornerstone of the Kingdom.

God is love. Therefore, His love must be the motivation behind everything we do in His Kingdom. Love-Fueled Motivation

No matter how sincere our intentions may be, if what we are doing has not been birthed by His Spirit, it is still flesh. And whatever originates in the flesh cannot produce the life of the Spirit.

We do not need another system to control people into conformity.

We need Christ.

We do not need greater religious certainty.

We need greater love.

We do not need to protect what men have built.

We need the courage to follow the Spirit wherever He leads.

The Kingdom belongs to Christ, not to us. The Church belongs to Christ, not to a religious system. And our purpose is not to preserve traditions that have lost their connection to the heart of God.

Our purpose is to reveal Jesus.

God is love.

And if we truly belong to Him, then love must become the foundation, motivation, and expression of everything we do.

So let us go outside the camp.

Let us leave behind whatever keeps us from following Him.

Let us risk being misunderstood.

Let us risk being wrong.

Let us risk losing the approval of men.

And let us pursue Christ above everything else.

I posted this quote today on Facebook.

 

 If you are actively loving right you will naturally be teaching right!

Much love from outside the Camp!

Jose L. Bosque

Ja***********@***il.com

www.GodsLeader.com