While Satan used outside forces against Christianity, he was undermining the church from within by changing its leadership. Paul had foretold this development in his final talk with the elders at Ephesus.
Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which He obtained with His own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. (Acts 20:28-30)
“TO DRAW AWAY THE DISCIPLES”
To understand these changes, we should return to the New Testament to see how Jesus organized the church through His Spirit-guided apostles and evangelists. “They had appointed elders for them in every church” (Acts 14:23). As Paul told Titus, “appoint elders in every town” (Titus 1:5). These “elders” were also called bishops (meaning overseers) and pastors (meaning shepherds). Each congregation’s elders were under Jesus as the one Teacher and Head (Matthew 23:10; Ephesians 4:15), the one Overseer (1 Peter 2:25), and the one Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4).
To ensure their loyalty to Christ, these elders had to match basic descriptions found in 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1 and 1 Peter 5. In the New Testament, they were “God’s stewards” caring for the flock (congregation) where they lived (Titus 1:7; 1 Timothy 3:5; 1 Peter 5:2), and always spoken of in the plural, as a group (1 Timothy 4:14; 5:17 cf. Acts 11:30; 15:6; 20:17; 21:18; James 5:14). The Lord’s arrangement was wise and simple. But gradual changes soon began to appear. In various places, one man took over and called himself “the bishop” to elevate himself above other elders. Prominent leaders like Cyprian of Carthage (200-258) made this one-man rule popular in the main cities. In time, “the bishop” of a large city claimed to rule all the congregations in a region or “diocese.”
This new arrangement suited human nature and streamlined policy making. It was also a reaction and defense against a rash of false leaders who tried to interpret Christ and Christianity to fit their Greek and Roman philosophies. Unfortunately, besides being unscriptural, changes in leadership opened the way for fallible men to gain control over more and more Christians. Good Christians who did not fall in line were cast out of the fellowship (like Diotrephes used to do, 3 John 1:9-10). Eventually, one large city’s bishop claimed to be over another large city’s bishop.
Over many years, struggles for dominance eventually came down to two main contestants, the bishop of Rome and the bishop of Constantinople, the Roman empire’s new capital. Their conflict would also lead to a major split between West and East. For now, we simply note the root that led to later developments. That root was elevating one man above others in leadership.