In Christ’s church, status is irrelevant. All are invited to be part of his household — young, old, slave or free.
A Multi-Generational Church
In the hundreds of years after the birth of the Church, men (like Constantine), changed the order by introducing hierarchies. Sadly many of these developments undermined the original vision for the church, specifically the grass rootedness.
The Bible portrays a different approach to church structure. One where all generations play an equal part. Read, for instance, the story of the jailer in Acts 16. When he came to faith his entire household were baptised. All the people in his family were welcomed into the household of God.
One figure that highlights the status-less nature of the body of Christ is Stephanus. First mentioned in 1 Corinthians 1:16. Easy to miss: the verse is almost a side-note. At the end of the letter, he and his servants (Fortunatus and Achaicus) are commended for the work they’d done in the Corinthian church.