119: Deconstructing the Church (Part 4): The Early Church Didn't Have Pastors?

What does the Bible actually say about church leadership? And is the modern pastor even in it?In Part 4 of the Deconstructing the Church series, we do a deep dive into the three leadership roles the early church actually had — apostles, elders, and deacons — and compare them honestly to what we see in most churches today. What we find might surprise you.We cover:- What elders and overseers actually were in scripture — and why they looked nothing like a senior pastor.- Why biblical elders were itinerant leaders over cities, not resident leaders of individual congregations.- How deacons are actually the closest biblical parallel to modern church staff.- Whether pastors should be paid — and a practical, scripture-based framework for what fair compensation actually looks like.- How Ignatius of Antioch started a shift in the second century that changed the church forever.- Why the Reformation didn't go far enough — and what it would look like to actually recover the biblical model.This isn't an attack on pastors. Most of them are servants doing their best. But unbiblical doesn't mean evil — it just means it's not in the blueprint. And we need to know what the blueprint actually is.If you haven't caught Parts 1–3, start there: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKEPmKrIBitw5zOYXgfjSNA20fqllaa3*This video originally aired as a segment on our April 9th livestream.Find out more about the Spiritual Abuse Institute and the Church Disrupted Podcast at https://www.spiritualabuse.institute/.Want to support SAI financially?https://donorbox.org/sai-initial-funding-campaignLearn more about the Safe Church Pledge Here: https://www.spiritualabuse.institute/safechurchpledgePlease Subscribe and Share!Fair Use Disclaimer:This video may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. All clips used are protected by the Fair Use Doctrine within Title 17 of the United States Code. This doctrine safeguards the use of copyrighted material for transformative purposes, such as commentary, criticism, review and news reporting. Under Title 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), any person who makes a false, bad faith, or misleading copyright claim or uses a copyright takedown to infringe on free speech, criticism, or commentary can be held liable for damages to the content creator.Hosseinzadeh v. Klein, 276 F.Supp.3d 34 (S.D.N.Y. 2017); Equals Three, LLC v. Jukin Media, Inc., 139 F. Supp. 3d 1094 (C.D. Cal. 2015).