Archive for Covenant
Why We use a Membership Covenant (Part 5 of 5)
Posted by: | CommentsA Signed Covenant protects the Leadership:
Hebrews 13:17 says that Elders will have to give an account for the members of their church. This is the most frightening passage that I’ve read about what it means to pastor God’s church. How can I stand before God and give an account of my pastoral ministry if no one has made a commitment to me to adhere to certain Biblical principles? How can I shepherd people who secretly refuse to be shepherded? I am asked, as a pastor, to make a huge commitment to people that will result in my greater judgment (James 3:1), but they are not asked to make any commitment to me, and they are not asked to make any commitment to the Bible. This is a farce and a lose-lose situation.
I’m basically screwing myself in this deal. I am voluntarily taking upon myself greater judgment and greater responsibility, and I’m not going to ask for anything in return? Hebrews 13:17 says that members of a church congregation should “Obey and submit to church leaders.” How does the church realistically ask people to submit to the leadership? How does the church ask people to obey? This is a two-way relationship after all. As pastors we have a good understanding of our coming judgment (at least I hope so). But church members need to be informed of their responsibility in the two-way relationship as well. They also need that understanding. As a result, I personally need a signed membership covenant from the members of my congregation so that I can sleep a little easier at night knowing that we have a reciprocal relationship with each other and knowing that they know it too. I can’t even begin to explain to you the number of hours that I’ve stayed awake over various membership situations. I sometimes feel that in some way I have failed various members as their pastor. I take the burden of it all on myself.
My own mind, lured and enticed by the idolatry of being a people-pleaser and wanting everyone to like me, works very hard sometimes to believe the various lies, to take blame on myself, and to try and create a compromise situation where everyone can get their own way. In this situation -that I create in my own mind- I can be well-liked again, and everyone can live happily ever after -the only exception being God who is usually greatly dishonored in such compromise situations. But then I drive to work. I pull open my file drawer and I take out the membership covenant, and the bright shining light of truth floods the darkness, and I know that to compromise on the bedrock truth of Scripture would be a disservice to the church by allowing the cancer of sin to remain, and a disservice to churches all over the world. I’ve learned that a signed membership covenant protects the church from me in my weaknesses, and it protects me from my own self.
Why we use a Membership Covenant (Part 3 of 5)
Posted by: | CommentsA Signed Covenant is a Useful Accountability Tool
Without a signed membership covenant it would be hard for any church to do two things: 1.) hold individual members to any standard of accountability, and 2.) hold the church congregation to a standard of accountability in seeking to be reconciled with any wayward members.
In the Western Church, average church goer Joe and Sally live in blatant and unrepentant sin. They believe, erroneously, that they can do whatever they want with a subtle disregard for the interests of the church and the interests of Jesus Christ. They often make decisions that lead to subtle forms of idolatry – the most blatant and obvious being the inherent belief that they can leave the church whenever there is any disagreement and seek out a church that cators to their personal whims. Joe and Sally leave the church, abandon their family in Christ, and selfishly pursue whatever tickles their fancy. They should be held accountable for their decisions. A signed membership covenant PROVES that there was a clear understanding between various parties at the beginning of the relationship BEFORE there was any conflict. A church that utilizes a signed membership covenant can honestly say that Joe and Sally fully knew what they were doing when they joined the church. A signed membership covenant becomes a piece of evidence in a court of law when members violate the other members of the church and selfishly pursue their own interests. It helps to establish a baseline and the church can hold people accountable to that baseline because the church can prove that they explained that baseline of behavior to Joe and Sally before they joined the church.
It also helps to hold the church to a standard of accountability. Many in the church may not know Joe or Sally or do not have a relationship with them. As a result, many members in the church may be reluctant to pursue reconciliation with Joe and Sally. In the beginning, there was a tempting desire to allow Joe and Sally to go in peace without confrontation over their subtle idolatry. But every member will know that this is not an option that will carry water with the leadership. Why? Because they also signed a covenant that clearly articulated certain responsibilities that were incumbent upon them in moments of crises. The church KNOWS that they have a responsibility to Joe and Sally, to reach out to them and to love and care for them during this moment of crises. And so the church steps out in obedience and can call Joe and Sally back to church attendance and begin to appeal to Joe and Sally via the membership covenant to resolve their differences amicably. The church leadership is effectively able to hold the church to a standard of accountability to engage Joe and Sally in an act of reconciliation and redemption when few really want to. And this is very helpful. Because it further compounds Joe and Sally’s guilt for so flippantly disregarding their church. They have had a loving family reach out to them and appeal to them to repent and come back to the church. Any insistance upon departure is, in cold-hearted fashion, a rejection of the loving appeals of their fellow brothers and sisters. This makes church discipline really really easy at this point.
A signed covenant is a piece of evidence that can show to a watching world that there was a clear-cut understanding among various parties involved. As evidence, it cannot be denied! Therefore, it is useful in holding people to a standard of accountability.
Why We use a Membership Covenant (Part 2 of 5)
Posted by: | CommentsA Signed Covenant is Counter to the Typical Church Culture and Helps Develop Koinonia Fellowship:
I do believe in a signed membership covenant because I think it’s faithful to Biblical Koinonia Fellowship. With churches on every street corner it is way too easy for people to hop from church to church. They tend to hop from church to church for several reasons, and not all of them are necessarily bad. But at the end of the day the opportunity to church hop reinforces a mentality that church is nothing more than a country club that provides services and spiritual goods, and their interest is merely a consumer’s interest. When we approach the church of the Bible we find a brotherhood. There were not churches on every street corner. So these guys were bound to each other like survivors in a life-raft on a hurricane tossed ocean. They needed each other, they loved each other, and they protected each other. At the end of the day we should view ourselves in the same way as flesh and blood brothers, not patrons of the same country club. Our loyalty should be to each other as family, not to the institution.
One of the things that I’ve seen happen in the Life Groups these past few months is the formation of true Koinonia Fellowship. The church is starting to become a tight-knit family, and that’s awesome to see! There has been healthy debate, and some members have had some disagreements with other members about the right way to pursue ministry, but everyone understands that they’ve made a binding commitment to each other. And everyone is seriously trying to work through those issues TOGETHER.
The reason I like a signed membership covenant is because you can talk about the formation of koinonia fellowship, and people will nod their heads and think that they understand it when they really don’t. As long as you have it in the back of your head that you can casually check out and go somewhere else, then you are kept from forming that relationship. A marriage is no marriage at all as long as both parties keep the reservation in the back of their heads that they can always get a divorce. A signature on a piece of paper is a person giving his word to certain things. We can buy a car on financing with nothing more than a signature. We can buy a house on mortgage with a signature. In our culture today when we make a binding commitment to something… we sign our name to a piece of paper that commits us to that thing. But when it comes to making a binding commitment to a church, one of the MOST important decisions we could ever make, we do it with a verbal commitment, a nod of the head, and a wink of the eye. Every church on every street corner is attempting to lower the bar in terms of a binding commitment to a church because every church is trying to lure, entice, draw, and attract as many people as possible to their church. It’s the whole megachurch mentality run amok. Every pastor is attempting to build his own empire. So there are churches that are attempting to lure and entice our brothers away from our church so that they can build their own megachurches. In doing this, they are inadvertently tampering with our church’s ability to develop true koinonia fellowship with each other, because to develop this koinonia will take time and energy. Koinonia doesn’t happen overnight. It takes years… The megachurch culture is attempting to build a large building with a lot of attendees in total disregard of Koinonia fellowship. However, a signed covenant means that people can’t easily and flippantly disregard their commitment to koinonia fellowship at our church when the church down the street opens up a really cool new ministry.
Why We use a Membership Covenant (Part 1 of 5)
Posted by: | CommentsA Membership Covenant is a Biblical Idea
Most churches today completely ignore the idea of a Membership Covenant. One of the questions that gets asked most often here at The Bridge Church is whether we have a biblical right to demand a Membership Covenant or not. Does this church really have the right to place expectations regarding belief and behavior on its members? Does the Bridge Church have the right to ask prospective members to adhere to a certian common faith and to live according to a certian moral ethic? The short answer is yes.