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Many years ago, when I was a very young pastor, I made a visit to a church member’s home. As I entered the neighborhood in which the home was located, I saw a sign that said, “Oak Tree Estates: A Covenant Community.” When I first saw that, I did not really know what it meant. I grew up in a rural area where we did not have neighborhood covenants!
Much to my surprise, I soon discovered that in some places the neighbors expect one not to be a redneck! They want you to mow your grass, keep your house painted, and even expect your car not to be on blocks!
For example, when Rachel and I lived in Indianapolis, we discovered our neighborhood covenant wouldn’t allow us to have a basketball goal, park on the curb, or even have a yard sign. I recall asking the question, “Are we still in America? This is ridiculous!”
But here’s the point I’m making – In a covenant community there are expectations to which one is held accountable. You cannot do whatever you want in a covenant community because your actions reflect on the entire community.
What you do, how you live, and how you maintain your property (in the example of a neighborhood covenant) directly impacts your neighbors and your community. It has an impact on the quality of life in your neighborhood, it has an impact on property values, and it has an impact on the reputation of your neighborhood in the broader community.
Often times people get upset when their neighbors hold them to the terms of the covenant. However, if things were done properly when you moved in, you were shown the covenant, you read it, and you agreed to abide by it.
In a very similar fashion the church is a covenant community. When you become a member of a local church, you voluntarily enter into covenant with that body of believers to live your life in such a way as to bring honor to God, to point people to Jesus, and to guard the witness and unity of the church.
Thus, the church is not merely a collection of individuals who gather in the same room, sing a few songs, hear a speaker, give an offering, and then go their separate ways. If that’s all church is, just about anything could qualify as “church,” including a concert, ballgame, or political rally!
No, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is intended to be so much more than that. We are called to be a community bound to one another in covenant by our mutual faith in Jesus and our commitment to one another (Rom 12:4-5, 1 Cor 12:12-14, Eph 4:4-6).
Church member, do you take this covenant seriously that you entered into when you joined your local church?
Church leader, is there a culture of loving accountability in your congregation that communicates expectations of members and holds them to it? (1 Cor 5:1-8)
Brothers and sisters, church membership is not a right, but a privilege. May each of us be a faithful member of the covenant community to which God has called us.
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