Churches should have a covenant relationship. Instead, many churches have consumer relationship.
Covenant relationship.
A covenant is a formal agreement or sincere promise between two or more parties to both act and not act in certain ways. Particularly in a church relationship, this also includes agreeing that they believe and not believe certain teachings. A church covenant relationship, then, is based on mutual agreement or sincere promises between the members of the congregation.
A “church covenant” is based on:
- mutual commitment
- interdependence
- brotherly love
A covenant relationship is a relationship with commitment (Romans 15:5-7; Ephesians 5:21), communication (1 Thessalonians 4:18;; 5:11; James 5:16), concern (John 15:12; Hebrews 13:17), devotion (Romans 12:10; 16:16), determination (Hebrews 10:24-25; Ephesians 4:32), and exhortation (Romans 15:14; 1 Timothy 6:2). A covenant cannot and should not be lightly broken. It is entered by the commitment of two parties (the church & the individual). There is a unified commitment to follow Christ as head and each observe his responsibility one toward another.
Consumer relationship.
A consumer is a person who uses a commodity or service; one who purchases goods and services for personal consumption (benefit). A consumer relationship, then, is based on the provision and consumption of services. When satisfactory service is no longer provided, a new provider is sought out.
A scan of the present “church’s desolation” makes it obvious that many members attach themselves to churches as a consumer in a consumer relationship. They attend the church when it provides the services they desire. When those benefits are no longer being provided, they leave and look for another church.
7 comments:
Hear! (If thou hast ears to hear!)
Good intro to ekklesia 101.
E. T. Chapman
I've been very interested in the idea of church covenants over the last couiple of years, but I've been stuck on whether or not requiring someone to agree to a formal covenant in order to join a church can be defended from Scripture. Do you have any thoughts on this, or any resources you could point me to?
I apologize, did not mean to do that anonymously. Adam B.
Adam. Brother, thanks for your question. I am committed to the idea that believers gathering themselves into a church is a covenant relationship between themselves (to each other) and to God. However, to me, the actual written covenant I find a little trickier, since we don’t see anything that looks just like that in the Bible. I tend toward the less formal and less detailed side, in which members agree to mutual love, care, and edification for one another, on the basis of the teachings of the Bible (and of believing the Bible is the word of God). I believe this is supported by scriptures such as I mentioned. And if it is thus supported, I do not suppose it is wrong to write it down. But again, many of the church covenants are fairly long and detailed, and intended I guess, to lay out what the things are believed and expected by the church. My general lifetime experience is that most churches around here have adopted the covenant that was written by J. Newton Brown (I think) and that on the other hand they do not give much prominence or attention to it.
Some books I have on church covenants are:
Church Covenant “We Engage...”: a series of 26 outlines on the church covenant, by I. K. Cross
Preaching from the Church Covenant: a Biblical Explanation of the Church Covenant, J. R. Mosley Sr.
Christian Engagements: Studies of the Church Covenant, by Roy M. Reed
Baptist Church Covenants, by Charles W. Deweese
I have had these so long, and it has been so long since I read them that (1) I do not not know if they are readily available, and (2) do not remember which one or ones I would recommend! I will try to find some time to pull them out and take a look. Also, the following link is an interesting historical writing about organizing a church and church covenants. (Not saying I am in agreement with all of it, but it shows what some of our forefathers believed in the 1700s.)
https://baptistsearch.blogspot.com/2017/02/customs-of-primitive-churches.html
Hope this might be of some help.
Thanks, Brother.
To perhaps clarify, I think a church's covenant is basically this (not necessarily these exact words): We as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, baptized upon the profession of our faith, agree to assemble together as a church under the headship of Jesus Christ. I do not think it is wrong, and is in fact a good thing, for a church to delineate its faith and practice, but I do not see that as the covenant itself.
Thank you sir, that is helpful! The only of those books I'd seen is Deweese's "Baptist Church Covenants". Thank you for the recommendations and your thoughts.
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