In the church universal, there were also elders and deacons. Paul and Peter and John, for instance, were universal traveling elders. They received a wage, though Paul writes that he worked at his trade so that he would not have to accept the pay.
There was no chief apostle.
Man-made systems crept in
As with the local church, over time, the universal church allowed the natural side of the human to take over and certain apostles began to have preeminence over the others. In time, the pattern that God had given was rejected for the universal church, and the man-made idea of a chief apostle took over. Eventually, this man-made system became the concept of the Pope.
This order for the Church was ordained to continue until the day when we finally come to the fullness of Christ. |