Tradition stacks archbishop over bishop and a clergy over the laity. Paul is simpler: two offices, bishop and deacon; bishop, elder, overseer, and pastor are one man and one work; the qualifications are for entering the office, not a standing audit; and ordination is the recognition of a proven man, never a sacrament.

Tradition makes the deacon a board member with a vote. Scripture makes him a servant. The word appears only in Philippians and 1 Timothy, and Paul defines the man, not a board — a proven, faithful servant-minister of the local assembly, not a teacher, not a ruler, and never one of the gifts given to the Body of Christ.

Religious vocabulary borrowed from the wrong program imports the wrong doctrine along with it. This article examines how words like worship, disciple, born again, tithing, and church carry their original program into the Body of Christ when applied incorrectly, and why Paul commanded holding fast the form of sound words.

A spiritual church gathering is not measured by music style, service length, or emotional experience. This article examines what Paul says a gathering of the Body of Christ should actually accomplish, and why Old Testament expectations about the presence of God in a place belong to a different program entirely.