Paul, writing on behalf of not only himself but all the apostles, declared that to be yoked together with unbelievers was to receive the grace of God in vain. The remedy, he said, was to come out from among the unclean to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. Perfecting holiness requires us to live in community. Living in community requires oversight. For that purpose, he taught how to recognize overseers. Peter wrote that the ones who were true elders should take the oversight.
Take the oversight. Assume it. Create a New Covenant community. For men, they should learn to be a sons, first. Then, they should learn to be brothers. At some point, they may be required to learn how to be husbands; and, then, fathers. Eventually, every Christian man who learns to be good neighbor (having the supporting testimony of those who know him) should become an elder taking oversight of the flock of the Lord.
I wouldn't be surprised to find out, some day, that the monasteries and abbeys and friaries of the Orthodox churches are - though they seem nothing more than vestigial remnants of religious tradition - communities that reflect something of the first expression of Christianity.