[Evangelical]

Originally Posted by Ohio

Exactly!

Just last night I had another lengthy discussion about the evils of the clergy-laity system. So I asked him that didn't the Lord establish the apostles, and it was they who set up elders and deacons, and how the Lord gives gifts to the body, i.e. apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers? Totally amazing how LC folks can stomach "full-timers, senior coworkers, service coordinators, and responsible ones," but not the many offices which are actually in the Bible.

If a "denomination" is evil, it is not evil because of a certain name chosen to represent themselves. That's balderdash. Did Jesus ever condemn the Jewish leaders for calling themselves Pharisees, Sadducees, or Sanhedrin? No, He did not. He cared nothing for their names or who they associated with. Rather He rebuked them for their evil heart, their evil deeds, their evil lies, their hypocrisy, etc.

There were offices but they weren't hierarchical.