Quote:
Originally Posted by Leomon
Religion paved the way for human beings to be a means to an end rather than just a means. We have intrinsic moral value due to the fact that we were created by God who loves us.
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And the sacrifice of the Righteous One means that we no longer have to sacrifice, scandalize, and scapegoat each other to appease an angry or capricious God(s).
"Love to the loveless shown, that they might lovely be"... that was a line in a hymn that I remember. It's true: God loved us while we were yet sinners... "Here is love: not that we loved God but that He loved us..."
I can ramble too... but I think my point remains valid. No organizational structure,
New Testament-based or otherwise, is needed for us to love one another. And to the extent we fixate on organizing ourselves, whether according to a first-century model or another, we risk losing our first love.
It seems to me, if the 7 asian assemblies in Rev 2 and 3 are in any way a representative sample (6 of the 7 are told to repent), that Elvis had in fact left the building. This is what the aged disciple John saw, from Patmos. So why try to recover an abandoned structure?
"We want Elvis!! We want Elvis!!"
"Sorry folks... can you hear that airplane in the distance? Elvis has left; please exit the building in an orderly fashion..."