Exploring Eldership: Detangling the Ball of Snakes

Leadership in the church is a difficult conversation these days.  Elders?  Deacons?  What do these words mean?  Who should hold the title of pastor?  What role do females play in church leadership?  What model of government?  Are there still Apostles?  "Big A" or "little a" apostle; what in the world does that mean!  How does tradition and shifting vocabulary impact our understanding?  Exploring the biblical idea of eldership seems tied to many of these questions and more.  At times, this conversation feels like a tangled ball of snakes. 

There are many ways to untangle the ball, but most people who try haven't first identified a process.  They just start grabbing at snakes.  Even worse, tradition and history influence the journey and pre-conceived ideas influence the desired final destination.  History and tradition are helpful and even necessary in understanding how things got tangled and what we must to do communicate clearly today.  Understanding our avenues of approach is also critical if we're going to sort out this mess if indeed it is a mess.   Pragmatics?  Which voices are we going to elevate with the most authority?  The loudest, the newest, Scripture?  

Most churches got where they are by following the churches or leaders before them.   They might have and elder-lead church, or not, but they aren't completely sure why.  Or there might have been a shift by following the popular teacher of the day.  "Let's do what he's doing" might have led to a change in church government, or an adjustment to a plurality of elders, or some other variation, but apart from following someone else, the church couldn't fully articulate why.  Or maybe the pressure of the outside world around the church forced change in the church.  In his book, Biblical Eldership: An Urgent Call to Restore Biblical Church Leadership, "Alexander Strauch writes, 

"There are horrendous pressures on churches today to conform to the world-wide, feminist spirit and its ruthless eradication of all male-female distinctions in the church. Part of the church growth movement, in its obsession with bigness and numbers, preaches giving as much power and authority as possible to one person.  Multitudes of churches are oblivious to the moral and spiritual qualifications outlined in the New Testament for church shepherds.  Worldly attitudes of bigness, power, self-promotion, and success in 'the ministry' are deeply ingrained in the minds of too many church leaders" (Lewis & Roth Publishers, 1995, 11-12).  

I admit that I am guilty.  I have been influenced by the popular (and unpopular) voices of the day.  I planted a church and simply adopted the same government, definition of roles and offices, and constitution as the church that sent me to plan a new faith-family.  I've allowed my "camp" to influence how I understand the terms.   Sure, I see eldership in the Bible and I can make a case for a plurality of eldership, but are there other cases to be made?  Do I fully understand my position on eldership?  I'm ready to start untwisting the knot of vipers.  I believe what looks like a ball of snakes is really not something so harmful or poisonous.  The more I read God's Word and watch how he works, the more I'm convinced that getting this sorted out will actually bring about a great deal of peace in my mind, solidify my own biblical convictions, and reveal the correct identity of what, at present, looks like dangerous reptiles.  And maybe there's blessing there that I've missed out on for years because of my failure to dig deeply into this doctrine.   But I won't know until I start working at it.  

My plan is to start with a biblical perspective of words like Elder and Deacon and pastor and church.  I want to gain a better understanding of pastor, shepherd, overseer, bishop, and the other roles we see then and now.  What are the offices of Christ's Church?  And how about the Apostles?   Ephesians 4 has something to say about the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the shepherd-teachers.  If I'm going to get the right foundation, I want to build it on God's Word.  

Once I have a biblical foundation, I want to look at how this moved forward through history.  What did the early Church have to say about it?  What did other godly theologians think?  What happened during the reformation?  How did the great awakenings, the mission movement, and church growth movement influence the thinking on church leadership and government?  How about other cultures?  They have had different influences thrust upon them that might have shaped their thinking differently?  I want to look at this issue through time. 

And finally, I want to understand how to communicate my findings clearly and in a way that does not add more confusion.  How does a local church function in a world where words have meaning and people have assumptions?  And we have to consider translation.  For example, no churches that I am aware of officially call their leaders "overseers" even though that translated word is used in the Bible, among many different translations to describe church leaders.  I want to get this right in my mind and then right in how I lead the local church to function.  

 In the coming weeks and months, I will offer posts in a journey I'm calling "Exploring Eldership.  I don't yet know how many article will find their way into this series, but we'll find out together. I pray it might be helpful for you and ask that you pray for me.  And be on the lookout for the next installment in the series, "Exploring Eldership." 

For the Kingdom!
Bryan Catherman 

Unscripted: "Setting High Standards"

Brett Brandewie, the Youth Pastor from Ingleside Baptist Church, joined us on Slaty Believer Unscripted to discuss the importance of setting a high bar or high standard for short-term mission teams.  Brandewie leads teams around the world and sets very high standards of his teams. 

Listen in here: 

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What is the Purpose of the Church According to Howard Hendricks

In the late 1980s, Howard Hendricks considered Chad Walch's idea about what the church might look like in the early 21st Century.  Walch figured that the church would have just enough Christianity to miss the mark of the Kingdom of God.  It's amazing to see this video 30-years later and see how it turned out.  

Hendrick's consideration of this question launched him into a conversation about the purpose of the Church.  He asked three questions. 1. What is the purpose of the Church?  2.  What is the role of the pastor?  3.  What kind of leadership does it take to make an impact on our society?  In the powerful, easy-to-listen-to style of Prof Hendricks, Howard addresses the very things our present church may be loosing.  Opening to Acts 2:42-47, he launches into the answers to the above questions.    

What are the essential components of a New Testament church?  Long before Mark Dever asked this question and identified 9 marks of a church, Hendricks saw that there are four components in Acts 2:42-47.  

If we are going to call ourselves Christians, we must know the Word of God and let it define us.  As Christians, we discover (in the book) that the Church is God's plan A.  There is no plan B.  So what is the purpose of the Church?  Christians must know if we're going to be the Church. 

Mission Trips: "When a Volcano Blows!"

Today's episode of "Salty Believer Unscripted" marks the 312th episode of this podcast.  312?  That seems like an odd number, except that it marks 6 years worth of once-per-week podcasts.  We've not published a podcast every week.  We've actually been going for more than 6 years, but if you listened every week, you'd have six years of podcasts to enjoy.  

In this episode, Jared Jenkins talks about the work they do in Guatemala and what happens when a national disaster strikes when you're boots-on-the-ground. 

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"Prof" Howard Hendricks on Leadership

A few years ago, I posted a recording from Howard Hendricks from a lecture he gave at a Campus Crusade For Christ meeting.  The topic: motivation.  Recently, a reader reached out and informed me that he has two other lectures from that meeting on cassette tape.  I was tickled with joy!  The man is having them converted to a digital format so we can share them.  

In addition to the additional lectures, the reader also forwarded me a couple links to videos.  There is a possibility--although I am not positive--that these videos may have come from the same conference as the motivation lecture.  However, there is good reason to think that Dr. Hendricks gave similar lectures in multiple venues. 

In this video, Prof Hendricks talks about the six characteristics of leadership.  It's a great video and worth the 17 minutes to watch it.  

For the Kingdom! 
Bryan Catherman 

Mission Trips: Boots-On-The-Ground Leader

Brett Ricley, of SaltyBeliever.com, is also a pastor at Redeeming Life Church.  One of his responsibilities is to lead and oversee the logistics of the incoming mission trips with the incoming mission teams.  He shares some insights and tips that should help mission teams and incoming church leaders alike.   Listen to the episode below or find more episodes like this one in our podcast archive.  

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Who Bears the Burden?

I hear it all the time, lately.  "I don't want to burden the church by drawing a salary."   The conversation stream has turned to the idea of not paying pastors a salary and having everyone be bi or co-vocational.  This is not a new idea, but how we talk about the 'burden' might be.  

Is the Church rightly thinking about the burden, or ministry load, or is this line of thinking purely isolated to finances?  I will offer four considerations regarding the burden to pay a pastor a salary.  But first, there are two things I have to put on the table.  

First, I must point out that any pastor or minister who is not earning his or her salary shouldn't be paid; but at the same time, the one who is should be fairly compensated.  Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, instructed the local church to rightly compensate those doing the labor.  He wrote in 1 Timothy 5:17-18, "Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.  For the Scripture says, 'You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,' and 'The laborer deserves his wages.'" 

Second, it's right that a person tends to the needs of his or her family.  God established the family unit and even instructed the man to tend well to the spiritual and physical care of his family.  The verses just before the instruction about paying a pastor teach us who should work and at what point widows should be financially cared for.  1 Timothy 5:8 says, "But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he as denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."  It's more than reasonable that a pastor meets the needs of his family and financially provides for them.  It's a shame that local churches would expect a pastor and his family to live in poverty while he labors on the church's behalf.   

Now, with the previous two thoughts guiding our thinking, we need to consider the actual burden of ministry.  Who bears the burden of ministry, paid or unpaid? 

Is the burden purely financial?  If a church doesn't pay a pastor, should they expect him to continue doing the work he was previously doing?  Should they expect a Bible college and seminary trained pastor?  Or is it okay to go back to having the most respected farmer or businessman lead the church and preach the sermons?  What is the burden of rightly teaching and preaching the Word of God?  What is the burden of ministry?  And if the church isn't going to pay the pastor for this work, is the local church ready to pick up the burden?

Below are some thoughts on the burden of the work of ministry and what should be considered when determining if a pastor should draw a salary.  

1.  What is the necessary burden on the church to know the Bible well and be able to teach it to others?  Is the church ready to take up this burden if the pastor were not there or able to spend as much time on teaching and preaching?  Is the church skilled in this area?  

2.  What is the necessary burden on the church to care for its members?  Is this something the church feels is important?  Is the church ready to pick up the burden of meeting with people in the hospital, praying for the sick, counseling in crisis or pre-martial needs, tendings to marriages and funerals, discussing baptism and the Lord's Supper, etc?

3.  What is the necessary burden on the church for community outreach, disciple-making, discipleship, and mission work at home and abroad?  Is the pastor leading this vision and training, or is the church ready to take on these needs as the body of Christ?  Is the church trained and equipped in evangelism, outreach, small group leadership and Bible study, church planting, apologetics, and social justice?  

4.  What is the necessary burden for spiritual leadership and vision?  Is the church unified and ready to lead the church without a paid pastor in this role?  Is the church unified around a common vision?  Do they love each other enough that others will know they are Jesus' disciples?  Are they dwelling in unity?  Is the church ready to guide others in this direction?  

Somehow, the church has developed a mindset that the pastor should be paid to do the work of ministry.  Scripture doesn't say such things.  Paul said the pastor, especially the one teaching and preaching, deserves the double honor.  Right teaching and preaching should result in the saints doing the work of ministry.  Ephesians 4:11-16 says the pastor's job is to equip the saints to do the work.  Training and equipping is what should be expected of the pastor, and the one who trains and equips well should be paid so he can attend to this task without having to worry about how he'll tend to the financial needs of his family.  

The burden will be carried by the church, whether financially or in other ways or both.  Simply not paying a pastor doesn't absolve the church from the burden of equipping disciples to be God's ambassadors for his Kingdom.     

Mission Trips on Salty Believer Unscripted

We are starting a new Salty Believer Unscripted series on the topic of the short mission trip.  It's our hope to look at mission trips from a wide variety of perspectives, to include that of the leader and planner, to the one participating, to the receiving church, and even from a local verses international view.  Listen to the introduction below and be sure to subscribe to you don't miss future episodes of Salty Believer Unscripted. 

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Bible Promises To Life By by Dave Earley

Bible Promises to Live By by Dave Early is an easy-reading, highly encouraging journey through 21 promises the God gives us in his Word.  Each chapter is 5-8 pages and loaded with Scripture, making the work good for devotional reading.  Take a chapter a day and read the book in a month or a chapter a week and read the book through a season.  

Before I go any further, I should say that Dave is a friend.  He started as my professor but then became a mentor after I worked and trained with him while he was church-planting in Las Vegas.  I have greatly enjoyed Dave's many other books and this one was no different.  

In general, Dave writes in three categories.  He writes textbooks like Spiritual Formation Is. . . : How to Grow in Jesus with Passion and Confidence.  He writes popular-level informative books like Prayer: The Timeless Secret of High Impact Leaders (one of my favorites).  And then there are the "21" books, that is, books that look at the prayers of the Bible or truths about heaven, for example.  These books look at a good list (usually 21) but it's not an exhaustive list.   Bible Promises to Live By is one of the latter category.  

Each chapter has a teaching on a specific promise found in Scripture that includes illustrations and stories.  The format makes it easy to read as you start the day, but before you've got enough coffee going for more complicated thinking.  In addition, Dave writes in such a way that promotes additional thought throughout the day and an easy way to explain the promise to others in need.  Every chapter also includes a final encouragement, which is a succinct thought to drive the ideas of the chapter into a life application.  

If I would have been involved in the editing or publishing of this book, I would have suggested Dave use a different opening illustration in the introduction.   It's a good illustration of a checkbook, but it's dated.  Many younger readers have never used checks and have a limited understanding of how a checkbook works and was a financial reality for many year years.  Today, however, when we think of check we often think of the sign that says, "Sorry, we don't accept checks."   I noticed some of the stories and illustrations from Dave's life happened in the 90s.  They were still relevant and relatable (like getting the flu) but I found myself curious if this book was written in the 90s and shelved until now.   This is minor and doesn't change the point of the book.  

If you're looking for encouragement or a good devotional reading, I highly recommend Bible Promises to Live By by Dave Early.  

Also, it's our hope to get Dave on Salty Believer Unscripted to talk about his book, among other things, so subscribe to the podcast and be on the lookout for more on that soon.    

For the Kingdom!

Anyone who knows me, knows I love the statement, "For the Kingdom!"  I used it often.  But why?  What's behind such a statement?  

There's a biblical picture about the kingdom that's significant; therefore, "For the Kingdom" is something I started putting in my email signature and social media posts to remind myself to keep my focus in the right place for the right King.  

As we look to Scripture, we see that David thought that God needed a house.  Everyone else had come into the promised land and they were building houses, but God was still in the tabernacle (or a tent).  So David thought he'd build God a house.  It's a good thought, but God through that was funny because God is not interested in living in a man-made building.  Then God commanded Nathan to tell David of a covenant (or promise) that God was making with David. (See 2 Samuel 7)  

God promised David that God would establish a throne forever, saying, "Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me.  Your throne shall be established forever" (2 Samuel 7:16).  Jesus would be of this line of kings, and since Jesus is living, never-to-die and he's God, he's the last and perfect King that all the other kings were intended to hint at.  And his Kingdom is established because he is on the throne forever.   

Eventually, the end of the kingdom as we know it comes when the resurrected believers join the resurrected Christ.  Then, every rule and every authority (other than God) is destroyed and Jesus will give the Father's kingdom to him (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).   However, Revelation 11:15 shows us that Jesus remains on the throne of the redeemed kingdom with the Father.  It says, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever." 

At this point, it's important to remember that the throne wasn't the thing that made the kingdom.  God mad the kingdom through a promise.  The covenant with Moses seems to have taken the covenant with Abraham (about Abraham fathering many nations by the power of God) and turned a specific group of covenant people into a nation (or kingdom) of priests to serve the world and call all people back to God.  Exodus 19:5 says, "Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."  

These priests were to be a people who would serve God's kingdom.  Much of the Old Testament shows us how they got this right and how they often got this wrong.  However, Revelation 5:9-10 shows us that this promise will be fulfilled.  It reads, "And they sang a new song, saying, 'Worthy are you to take the scroll and open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on earth.  

When John the Baptist, a priest and an ambassador of the kingdom, started preaching, he said, "Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand"  (Matthew 3:2).   Then, after Satan tempted Jesus to repeat Adam's fall, Jesus too began preaching, "Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17).  Jesus then went through all the region preaching the good news of the kingdom (Matthew 4:23).  Jesus also promised that the poor in spirit and the persecuted will inherit the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3, 10).  

When Jesus discussed the consequences of following or not following the Christ-fulfilled Law and Prophets, he used the condition of being great or least in the kingdom and even a condition of entering or not entering the kingdom (Matthew 5:17-20).   Notice how Jesus taught us to pray regarding the kingdom.  Ask the Father that His kingdom will come on earth just as his kingdom is in heaven (Matthew 6:9-10).  Only a few verses later Jesus instructs us how not to be anxious, saying our Heavenly Father knows what we need so we should seek his righteousness and his Kingdom (Matthew 6:32-33). 

Many of Jesus' parables start: "The kingdom of heaven is like. . ."  It seems the kingdom was very important to Jesus.  When Pilot asked Jesus if he was a king, Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world.  If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews.  But my kingdom is not from the world" (John 18:36).   

Earthly kingdoms are about physical territory and boundaries; God's kingdom is about souls and submission, glory and holiness.  Revelation 1:5b-6 shows us the kingdom.  It says, "To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."  Pilot tired to execute King Jesus, but Jesus defeated death and rose from the grave.  What did the risen Jesus talk about?  The kingdom!  Acts 1:3 says, "He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God." 

Jesus preached the kingdom throughout his earthly ministry as well as through is inspired saints. When he first sent his twelve disciples out to preach, he instructed them to say, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand"  (Matthew 10:7).  As we learn in 2 Corinthians 5:11-21, we are ambassadors for Christ proclaiming a message of reconciliation, which I think has a lot to do with the gospel of the kingdom that Jesus was preaching for most of his earthly ministry.       

There was a time in my life when I was working hard to build my own kingdom.  In hindsight, it was built on sand, made of temporary, created things that even moth and rust easily destroy.   I was also serving my country in the military and figured this was good enough.  As I Christian, I was being selfless but I was still serving to advance an earthly kingdom.  One night in 2003, on the Syrian border, I had a conversation with God.  The end result of the conversation was my awareness that God wanted me to serving something greater than my own kingdom or other earthly kingdoms.  He wanted me serving his kingdom.  

Over time, I started slipping back into my old ways.  I was building a kingdom of self and serving wrong kingdoms again.  One of the things that helped keep the focus in the military were battle cries and slogans.   As I reflected on this, I realized that Christians should have a battle cry.  So I started putting a battle cry at the end of my correspondence and some of my social media posts.  I love the hashtag, #ForTheKingdom! 

"For the Kingdom!"  

I imagine fists and swords raised as an army of blood-bought, redeemed, warriors serve on the front lines to advance the Lord's kingdom.  Everything we do must be to the glory of God, in the service of our King.   This is where I want to be.  This is where I want to serve.  Because this is the only Kingdom that truly matters.  And the kings of Kings is my King and my Lord. 

For the Kingdom! 
Bryan Catherman 

Personal Evangelism Tools

Brett Ricley loves evangelism.  He also loves taking others out to engage lostness.  But engaging with strangers is not the only way he reaches people.  He works through concentric circles of relational networks.  In the two videos below, Brett shares some thoughts on personal evangelism from the book, Concentric Circles of Concern by Oscar Thompson.  

Discipleship Uncomplicated by Warren Haynes

We've discussed Warren Haynes' book, Discipleship Uncomplicated a lot on Salty Believer Unscripted.  I recommend it to those wanting to make disciples but struggling to know where to start.  It's an easy book that's applicable and practical.  It lives up to the titled because the entire book is uncomplicated.  

Warren is a friend of SaltyBeliever.com and "Salty Believer Unscripted" so he joined me for an 8-part series through his book.  Each episode corresponds with a chapter in the book and he offers tips, stories, and other helpful stuff that isn't in the pages.  You can listen to our podcast series by following the links below and I highly recommend you pick up a copy of the book wherever books are sold.   

Discipleship Uncomplicated (With Dr. Warren Haynes)
-- Part 1: Love God; Love People audio
-- Part 2: What's Your Name?  audio
-- Part 3: Let's Pray audio
-- Part 4: This is for You audio
-- Part 5: Let Me Share a Story audio
-- Part 6: With Me audio
-- Part 7: Gather People to Influence People audio
-- Part 8: Multiply Leader audio

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Bi-vocational and Co-vocational Ministry

Scott Catoe joined Bryan Catherman to discuss the good, bad, and ugly of bi-vocational and co-vocational ministry.  We identify the difference as well as some realities people don't what to discuss when considering these different ministry options.  

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Character of Leadership by Jeff Iorg

It's no surprise that I recommend books by Dr. Jeff Iorg.  I believe his take on leadership is spot-on, and he's a down-to-earth guy who is approachable and a good model for Christian leadership.   Dr. Iorg has also been an influential force in my life as the president of Gateway Seminary and a lecturer in one of my doctoral seminars.   

Therefore, it's with great joy that I am recommending one of his older books.  The Character of Leadership: Nine Qualities that Define Great Leaders, by Jeff Iorg, is a book for leaders or soon-to-be leaders.  It's not just reserved for ministry leaders.  It's a book for all leaders who want to lead in a biblical, godly way.  

In the past few years, character has become lacking in leaders.  Sadly, there are times when this is true of Christian leaders.  Irog's book directly combats this growing problem.  

The greatest strength of The Character of Leadership is in the experience and skill of its author.  The book is believable because Dr. Iorg is a credible Christian leader.   The book is also easy to read, full of examples and stories, and not buzzy or forced.  It's relevant and (I think) timeless.  

I did find myself thinking the chapters were a little longer than Iorg's more recent books.  Knowing the speed I could move through some of his other books, I read this book during in a gap in my days that was perfect for the other books.  No so much with the longer chapters of The Character of Leadership.   That meant I was returning to a chapter midway through.  There are subsections in the chapters but they are often built around lists.  To get back into the flow, I'd have to skim back a ways to be sure I remembered the point the list was making.  Even so, I'm not sure if there's much that needed to be changed other than the time I selected to read the book.  

Here's a brief video where I share some of my thoughts on the book: 

I highly recommend The Character of Leadership to anyone who wants to lead in a godly way, in ministry or otherwise.  

Coaching Church Planters (With guest, Dino Senesi)

Dino Senesi joined us to discuss coaching church planters.  Senesi works with the North American Mission Board to help see more churches planted.  He directs the coaching arm of the Send Network.  

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Making Sense of the SBC?

I'm the pastor of a church that is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.  As a church that partners with the SBC, I get questions about the denomination, the structures, and what that all means.  These questions surface more often as the SBC is ramping up to the national Annual Meeting.   There's some confusion about the SBC.  I don't think I can clear up all the confusion, but understanding the structure helps.  

The first, and maybe the most important thing to understand is the autonomy of the local church.  While a church may be a part of the SBC, the SBC has no authority over the local church.  The SBC is a network of churches who have agreed on a confessional statement called the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message.  They also agree with the mission and strategy to take the gospel to every nation and people in the world.  They agree to work together.  

Another thing that's helpful to bring clarity is that there is understanding how there is the Southern Baptist Convention, Southern Baptist Denomination, North American Mission Board, International Mission Board, LifeWay, SBC seminaries, and more.  It get's confusing.  If that weren't confusing enough, there are also state or regional conventions.  And there are local associations of Southern Baptists.   When I first joined an SBC church, this really baffled me.  

Understanding a very brief history of the SBC might help.   

In the early 1800's, churches with Baptist theology were doing work in American with a desire to do more but unable because of limited resources.  These churches were autonomous.  There was no hierarchy of authority over them.  To expand their ministries by working together, they started forming societies.  These were mission societies, publication societies, and societies for training pastors.  Where a single church couldn't support and send a single missionary, a group of churches could pool resources to send a missionary or even multiple missionaries.   Starting a seminary would be nearly impossible for a single church, but not so for a team of churches.  To help be good stewards of these societies, they set up structures of leadership within the society.   In addition, like-minded Baptist churches in the same states began joining together.  

Eventually, three large, national societies sought to join their efforts.  Churches within the societies called for messengers to travel to a meeting to bring messages from the churches and take messages back to the churches.  They determined that it would be good to set the vision and efforts of the society so they would all be working toward the same goals; although, nothing about the set vision was binding on any single church.  A number of these groups were coming together.  So were state and regional groups.  Some were in the North and some in the South.  And, at times, they didn't agree with mission and vision, or even theology.  The churches in the South became the Southern Baptists and they called their meeting a convention.  The group became a denomination and spread all over the world while keeping the name.  (A few years ago, the passed a resolution that church could call themselves Southern Baptists or Great Commission Baptists.  It sounded nice, but it just muddied the water more.)  

Another helpful thing to understand is the various structures.  

A church in my area (Salt Lake City) who wants to join the SBC is really requesting to join the Utah-Idaho Southern Baptist Convention.  It is through the state or regional network that a church affiliates.   By joining the state convention, the church identifies as SBC.  Once this identification has happened, there is the option to join other local or regional associations.  For example, we have the Salt Lake Baptist Association in our area.   Our state convention has elected leaders (at the time I'm writing this, I served as the Vice President).  We have messengers come from churches.  When churches want to support the ministry of the SBC (which includes Disaster Relief, church planting networks, seminaries, and missionary operations) the church actually gives funds to the state convention, which uses some for the work and passes some on to the entities doing national or international work.   For the most part, we call this the Cooperative Fund (or CP).  Here's a look at how it works. 

Technically, the SBC only truly exists two days a year when the Convention convenes.  However, at the meeting, communities are appointed to do various tasks throughout the year.   This includes an executive committee, the North American Mission Board, The International Mission Board, and so-on.  

So as it stands today, the church I pastor has choices.  How much do we want to contribute to the mission and vision discussed at the annual meeting?  We still set our own mission and vision.  We still determine our own church government and church policies.  The SBC is not binding over us because we decide the extent of our partnership.  And today, we enjoy the partnerships of the SBC, NAMB, the UISBC, the SLBA, and others.  

Dr. Jeff Iorg recorded a wonderful podcast heading into the 2018 Annual Meeting.  In his podcast, he lays this out much better than I've done here.  He discusses some pros and cons and how some things work in practice.  I highly recommend listening.  Find it here.  

In addition, you can find more information about the SBC on the national website.  It's more detailed and might help bring more clarity.  

Discipleship Uncomplicated: "Multiply Leaders"

Dr. Warren Haynes concludes our 8-part series, "Discipleship Uncomplicated."  In this episode, we discuss multiplying leaders.  

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How Do I Pick a Good Study Bible?

You've been reading your Bible, but you're ready to get a Study Bible and take your study to the next level.  (If you are unsure about what's in a Study Bible, this additional video should help.)  There are a lot of different Study Bibles with lots of different purposes.  How do you pick a good Study Bible?  The video below breaks down the  differences and should help you get a better idea where to get started as you set out to pick a new Study Bible. 

Discipleship Uncomplicated: Gather People

Dr. Warren Haynes joins us again to discuss the importance of gathering people to influence people in the discipleship process.  This is the 7th episode in an 8-part series called, "Discipleship Uncomplicated."

Subscribe to the Salty Believer Unscripted on your favorite podcast app, or use these links:
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Millennials Don't Want Faith? Nonsense!

I've heard it many times before.  "Christianity was for previous generations, but it's not for ours."   People argue that faith is not relevant today.  They argue that Christianity is for grandma and grandpa, but the times are changing.  Christians hear these statements and look at the statistics and freak out.  They fear the church is over because Millennials don't want to come to church anymore.  You'd think those Christians have never read the end of the Bible.  We know that the church is not going to die out, even if it does in America.  But I also wonder if we are only gathering data from non-believing Millennials?  Have we looked at this from the perspective of the believing, faithful, Millennials?  

I don't have all the data and I'm just thinking anecdotally, but I am still thinking about it.  Here's something to think about. 

First, God is the same today as he has been since he created the world and will be forever.  Second, what makes today's young people think they have grown beyond a faith that people have held onto for 2,000 years, that's built on a faith in God that's a few thousand years older than that?  And third, while this argument about younger people may be the feeling elsewhere, I don't see that idea playing out to the extreme it is reported among the young people at the church I pastor, Redeeming Life Church in Salt Lake City.  

Recently, I was blessed to watch four young families dedicate themselves to raising their babies in the way of our Lord, Jesus Christ.  Our faith-family agreed to walk this journey out with them and hold them accountable.   This happened on a Sunday, in a worship service, in a church-ish building.  Two Sundays before, I witnessed three people get baptized.  One man in his 60's, one in his 20's, and a boy in single digits.  Beside each of the people getting baptized, there were at least 2 people participating in conducting the baptism.  None of those conducting the baptisms (except me serving as the master of ceremonies) were over 30.  And upwards of 40% of the people at our worship services move to the children's ministry area (or are already there in the nursery) when I dismiss the kids and teachers after our time of musical worship but before I preach a sermon.   We also have a thriving group of young adults gathering on Sunday and throughout the week.  When I survey my faith-family at Redeeming Life Church, I see lots of younger people taking Jesus seriously.  Many of them take Jesus VERY seriously. 

But Redeeming Life is not a hip, cool, church of all young people.   We have people in their 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, and 90's.  In fact, we have a family of 5-generations worshiping with us, from Nana all the way down to her little toddling great-great-grandson.  We're not that cool and certainly not hip.  We are faithful.  We worship God.  And we take the Bible seriously--teaching through it and orientating our lives to it's teaching. 

I'm hopeful and encouraged that so many young people love Jesus at Redeeming Life Church.  If not, I might be fooled into believing the lie that today's young people don't want Jesus or faith.  Sure, there are many who don't know any better, but let's not broad-brush the Millennial generation.  There are still many faithful, Millennial Christians.  They want to know and learn the Bible. They want to serve Jesus.  They are not ashamed of the gospel.  It's encouraging.  I am blessed to pastor them and enjoy life in our faith-family together.  

For the Kingdom!
Bryan Catherman