There was an attempt at forming a governing body in the first century. Rabble rousing Jews that frequently left Jerusalem, visiting other congregations as if they were envoys of the apostles, tried to impose themselves and their consciences on others. It was because of them that the issue of circumcision of the Gentiles arose.
Now some men came down from Ju·deʹa and began to teach the brothers: “Unless you get circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” (Acts 15:1)
Since we have heard that some went out from among us and caused you trouble with what they have said, trying to subvert you, although we did not give them any instructions, 25 we have come to a unanimous decision to choose men to send to you together with our beloved Barʹna·bas and Paul, (Acts 15:24, 25)
For before certain men from James arrived, he used to eat with people of the nations; but when they arrived, he stopped doing this and separated himself, fearing those of the circumcised class. (Galatians 2:12)
These Judaizers wished to govern over the individual Christians and congregations and saw themselves as being a group with authority over others. And no wonder, for they had left a Jewish system where there were local courts and a supreme court, the Sanhedrin. (Matt 5:22; Acts 6:12)
They wished to implement this in the Christian congregation. They totally missed the point that Christ was now the only ruler over individual Christians. (Matt. 23:8-10; Eph. 4:15,16)
Fortunately the apostles shied away from controlling others.
Not that we are the masters over your faith, but we are fellow workers for your joy, for it is by your faith that you are standing. (2 Corinthians 1:24)
The apostle Paul set the same example:
For you yourselves know how you should imitate us, because we did not behave in a disorderly way among you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s food free. On the contrary, by labor and toil we were working night and day so as not to impose an expensive burden on any one of you. 9 Not that we do not have authority, but we wanted to offer ourselves as an example for you to imitate. (2 Thessalonians 3:7-9)
But these superfine apostles had a real hunger to take the lead and govern others. They continually made trouble for Paul in his ministry:
. . .I wish you would put up with me in a little unreasonableness. But, in fact, you are putting up with me! 2 For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy, for I personally promised you in marriage to one husband that I might present you as a chaste virgin to the Christ. 3 But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent seduced Eve by its cunning, your minds might be corrupted away from the sincerity and the chastity that are due the Christ. 4 For as it is, if someone comes and preaches a Jesus other than the one we preached, or you receive a spirit other than what you received, or good news other than what you accepted, you easily put up with him. 5 For I consider that I have not proved inferior to your superfine apostles in a single thing. 6 But even if I am unskilled in speech, I certainly am not in knowledge; indeed we made it clear to you in every way and in everything. (2 Corinthians 11:1-6)
Commenting on this distressing situation that developed in Corinth the IVP Bible New Testament Commentary Series states:
“it is a reasonable conjecture that Paul’s rivals were Palestinian Jews who, claiming the backing of the Jerusalem church, came to Corinth carrying letters of reference and sporting an impressive array of credentials (such as visions, ecstatic experiences and revelations). They sought to sway their audience through polished delivery and powerful oratory. They combined this with an outward show of the Spirit, appealing to the prominent role of the miraculous in Jesus’ ministry. The intruders’ focus on the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, compelling rhetoric and Jesus the wonderworker may well be what Paul cryptically refers to as “another Jesus/Spirit/gospel.” (The IVP New Testament Commentary Series)
The governing body of Jehovah’s Witnesses today has acted in exactly the same way as that Jewish “pseudo” governing body in the first century, giving the impression that they have special credentials and receive special guidance from the holy spirit. They cannot fathom the idea that with the aid of God’s word the Bible and the guidance of holy spirit, individual groups of Christians will be all right without them. (Matt. 13:30; 28:20)
They insist that God cannot forgive sins unless their arrangements are followed in disciplining the person. According to them, those that do not attend their arranged meetings and assemblies are not approved by God. Unless a Christian participates in the ministry, spreading what they tell you is good news, in the way that they approve, reporting the time spent to them, they would have you believe that God will not recognize or bless it. They would even have you believe that only specially anointed Christians, numbering 144,000, are spiritual Jews, Abraham’s seed and in the new covenant. And any that disagree with their interpretations of scripture or the exercise of their authority, they threaten to hinder and throw out of the congregation.
Despite the clear evidence that Paul had almost no contact with the apostles in Jerusalem for almost 20 years (Gal 1:15-2:10), they suggest he must have been a member of a governing body. (The Watchtower December 1, 1985 pg. 31)
They just cannot imagine he would know what to preach or where to preach without receiving instruction from a centralized governing body like theirs. But for each of his three missionary tours he was sent not by Jerusalem but by the brothers in Antioch and when finished, he reported back to Antioch.
According to the July 15, 2013 Watchtower article entitled: “Feeding the Many Through the Hands of a Few”, the society claims that Jesus fed the many by the hands of the apostles. But by means of Paul’s inspired letters, we have more spiritual food today than that provided by all of the apostles combined. None of his letters needed to be approved by a governing body before being sent to the individual congregations. Furthermore, none of them needed to be adjusted in time as some supposed governing body received clarifications of their beliefs.
What happened to those in the first century that desired to govern the lives of other Christians, making them subject to the Mosaic Law? Despite the decision of the Jerusalem council their attitude persisted.
Guidance came, not in the form of a letter from the governing body, but in additional inspired letters written by the apostles. For example, the apostle Paul sent a powerful message to Jews and Gentiles living in Rome. In his letter to them, he explained that a real Jew “is one on the inside, and his circumcision is that of the heart by spirit.” (Romans 2:28, 29)
Discerning Christians who carefully studied the divinely inspired writings of Paul and others drew accurate conclusions concerning the Law. However, it was not until the year 70 C.E. that the proper view of the Mosaic Law became unmistakably clear to all Jewish Christians. That occurred when God allowed Jerusalem, its temple, and the records pertaining to its priesthood to be destroyed. This made it impossible for anyone to observe all the features of the Law. (The Watchtower March 15, 2003 pg. 25 pars. 15-17)
But the desire of some Christians to govern others and the appeal of a central organizing body continued and eventually resulted in the formation of a Catholic hierarchy. It is this pattern, not the first century one, that has been restored by the Watchtower society.