Talk:Worship
Under the perfect law of liberty the elder father of each family group was the head of a household and by the nature of that fact he was an elder.
When the Apostles appointed elders they were not granting the office of elder they were appointing elders to the office of a minister after being chosen by the people. [We see this type of choosing in Acts 6:3 When Peter told the disciples to "look ye out among you" to pick seven men to appoint over this business of attending to tables.]
Those ministers were chosen by the people. What has become known today as bishops were chosen by ten ministers. [See tens, commanded.]
Bishops or overseers were to stand and serve those original ministers and in turn ten bishops chose an archbishop.[ These were the "ranks" that did not "exercise authority one over the other" but were the servants of servants. Worshiping God is serving God which includes serving others.[1]]
This system continued for most of the followers of the Messiah even after Constantine's order at Milan to become Christian, where people picked [Ambros|one bishop for a whole city]] and he in turn exercised authority issuing more edicts and calling for the persecution of so called non Christians by issuing edicts and commands through their counsels and calling upon rulers.
He considered a bishop as an "aristocratic figure" and formulated the Church according to the "ways of Rome issuing decrees, edicts, and commands" rather than serving as a subject minister and servant of the people. He was intolerant of other religions and actually argued in the Roman Senate that all other religions should be stamped out.
They eventually appointed those who ruled that new Roman church from the top down with the aid of their crowned Kings, who were often crowned by the very Church who was appointed to keep the people free. These so called Christians, of course, were not a true Christians Church. They were the instituted Church and manufactured christians with more fear of Constantine than love of Jesus. The system that grew out of this departure from "the Way of the Lord" was contrary to the words of Jesus Christ. It was a breach of His trust.
An example of the nature of the Church was still obvious in 600 AD when the Anglo Saxon had formed a government with something called a Tithing man who oversaw ten families, a Hundredsmen who oversaw ten Tithingmen, and an Eoldorman who oversaw ten Hundredsmen. There were a thousand families known as Shire under the oversership of an Eoldorman.
This system contributed to a united society in part because no person was responsible for communicating directly with more than 10 people and each man was free to choose the Tithing man of his choice and each Tithing man in small groups of ten chose their Hundredsman etc.. These small dedicated often related cell groups made for an independent yet unified force to ward off almost any hardship, attack or attempted usurpation.
The Kings were crowned by the vicarious institution of those manufactured christians. The ruling elite replaced the tithing men with constables who kept the people as they kept their stables.
“But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, … Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.” Deuteronomy 17:16. These religious and civil leaders brought with them all the disadvantages that 1 Samuel 8 had warned us of two thousand years before.
“And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you:… he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties;…” 1 Samuel 8:11,12.