Did Jesus ever teach not to worship in buildings like churches or temples?

Answer 1

No, He never did. Among the various things He taught about worship, this subject was not one of them. What He did highlight was the true nature of Christian worship, without 'vain repetition', 'in spirit and in truth', without hypocrisy etc. Some of these references are below. The true kind of worship can occur anywhere, either in a church or out of one. If a person knows the true and living God, he can worship anywhere anytime.

John 2:1616And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.Luke 19:45-4645And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought;

46Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Thus the church is not to be a place for buying and selling but of worship, including prayer. This deals with what is to be in church, that is, true worship, and not merchandise.

John 4:20-2420Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

21Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

22Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

23But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

24God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

The attitude is important not the place. This means worship can be in a church but it can also be outside of it.

Matthew 6:5-85And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

6But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

7But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

8Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

Prayer, an important part of Christian worship is to be 'from the heart' and not 'vain repetition' such as the repeating of the same thing over and over without either understanding or believing or caring what is said.

John 2:19-2119Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

20Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?

21But he spake of the temple of his body.

Jesus' statement here has been clearly explained as referring to His body which He knew was to be sacrificed in the terrible act of crucifixion. Thus it doesn't refer to destroying the temple or that it should be. Jesus did, however, make a number of references to the future destruction of the temple in AD 70. This again is a reference about what was going to happen and not what should happen. Clearly what Jesus wanted to 'destroy' was false worship, anywhere, either inside or outside of a building.

YesJesus almost never preached while indoors. Almost all of his sermons, parables and teachings were delivered while outside.