The Church: God's Covenant Community

Many church leaders can relate to the following story:  “When Jack, a fellow pastor and friend, arrived for dinner, I could see he was troubled.  Later he revealed the source of his dejection: ‘Today one of my key leaders told me he’s leaving the church.’  The member wasn’t moving out of town.  Just leaving.”[1]

The news of people leaving a church, especially a smaller church, is rarely something that is welcomed.  Most of the time it happens in the midst of hurt or misunderstanding, and usually it affects everyone in the church to varying degrees.  For many pastors and church leaders, experiencing the loss of people from church can often lead to the question, “What really holds people together?”

 We all know that putting people together has its difficulties.  Different personalities can clash, feelings may get hurt, and hopeful expectations may not be met.  Clearly, encouraging a life together in the Christian community has its challenges.  Perhaps this is why the great German theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, dared to write in his little book entitled Life Together that “It is grace, nothing but grace, that we are allowed to live in community with Christian brethren.”[2]  And yet, what is it that holds the people of a church together?  Is it the songs they sing?  Is it the youth programs?  Is it their doctrines or practices?  Is it the preaching?   Is it the social events or special meetings?  What is it?

One of the signs of spiritual revival in the church is the restoration of biblical truth.  The reason for this is that so much “of God’s original intention”[3] for the church became lost or neglected throughout church history.  Thankfully, it is now being gradually restored to the church in order that she might become all that God wants her to be in this generation and beyond (see Acts 3:19-21). 

One truth that is being brought back into focus again today is the importance of covenant relationships.  The word “covenant” simply means, “to bind together,”[4] and as you may know, it is a word that is used repeatedly throughout the entire Bible.  In both the Old and New Testaments, the revelation of people being joined together in covenant relationship provided a strong foundation for the ordering and structure of society. 

An understanding of covenant gives a healthy perspective on the nature of each individual’s relationship to God, and also to each other.  In light of this, it is clear that we cannot afford to ignore this very fundamental teaching that is meant to help the church become what God has always destined it to be.

What holds us together?  Well, if you are committed to a church simply because you like its style of music, what happens if that style should change?  Will you leave?  If you are committed because you like the youth program, what happens when your children grow up?  Will it be time to move on?  Clearly, God calls us into something deeper and richer than mere program selection.  This is why it is true to say that without an understanding of covenant – of being bound together – we as Christians will be limited in our ability to know why we should stay together.  Therefore, we must understand that God calls us into covenant relationship with Himself first, and then secondly, He calls us into the joy of walking out that covenant in relationship with our brothers and sisters in the church. 

As one studies the New Testament, it becomes clear that God’s purpose in joining Himself to us in covenant has always been to produce a family.  From all eternity, God has been eager to produce “for himself a people that are his very own” (Tit. 2:14, NIV).  This is why the Scriptures give definition to the kind of relationships we are meant to share.  For example:

Romans 12:5 says, “we belong to each other, and each one of us needs all the others”(NLT, italics added).

Romans 12:10 says, “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love” (NIV, italics added).

Ephesians 2:21 says, “We who believe are carefully joined together, becoming a holy temple for the lord” (NLT, italics added).

Words like “belong,” “devoted,” and “joined” all give expression to the nature of covenant relationship in the family of God.  Such words make it clear that “church” is not something one simply “attends,” but it is a family of people who have become brothers and sisters in Christ.  Indeed, it is a family where the members have learned to see that covenant relationship with Christ and each other is what holds everything together.

To quote Bonhoeffer once again, “Only in Jesus Christ are we one, only through him are we bound together.”[5]  Without this understanding, we can never hope to influence a world that so desperately needs to see a church where people truly practice covenant love, loyalty and living.  Truly, our united prayer should be, “O Lord, restore an understanding of covenant relationship to your people for the sake of this generation.”

  

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[1] Max Heindel, “Pastor, I’m Leaving,” in The Magnetic Fellowship, ed. Larry K. Weeden (Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1988), p. 157.

[2] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together (San Francisco: HarperCollins Publishers, 1954),

p. 20.

[3] Bryn Jones, The Radical Church (Shippensburg, Pennsylvania: Destiny Image Publishers, Inc., 1999), pp. 14, 15.

[4] Charles Simpson, ed., The Covenant and the Kingdom (Kent, England: Sovereign Word Ltd., 1995), p. 44.

[5] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, p. 24.