[OBW]

While I think that the parable of the leaven was to warn that added things tend to disappear into and become permanently part of the things they are added to, this topic is much deeper than just something about leaven. It plays into something broader concerning the church in general, and not just in the first century, but also today.

The changes, both positive and negative, that are happening or being proposed as the fight between conservative, liberal, evangelical, emerging (and emergent) thoughts collide, and the larger change from a philosophical base of modernity to one of postmodernity can be staggering. And anyone who simply says that we need to stay the course of conservative Evangelical "modern" thought is a fool. The problem isn't elders or no elders. It is not hierarchy or no hierarchy. It isn't modern or postmodern. It isn't megachurches or home churches. It isn't traditional worship v emerging worship. (That last one is really vague because "emerging" is as varied as the climatological environments present within the whole of Asia.)

Alan: Is this thread intended to simply explore the notion that the structure with elders and deacons might have been in error from the beginning? Or is there some other direction you would like to go?