A reflection on covenant community by Jim Hilts

When Saint Paul wrote to the Christian community in Ephesus, he expressed an important truth: 

“We are members of one another”

Ephesians 4:25

When I consider our community, the People of God, assembled at our common gatherings or when we go on a community retreat together, what do I see – a collection of randomly gathered individuals and families? No, but a small part of God’s Kingdom. That perspective greatly impacts how we view our life together as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Saint Paul reminds us that we ought to think “covenantally” rather than individualistically. Such a mindset is the very opposite of what shapes much of current American and Western thinking. We are a community of redeemed sinners bound to our Lord and to one another in a bond of love forged by the grace of God. God gives Himself to us to be our God and takes us as His people. 

We belong to our Lord: 

“None of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself … whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.

Romans 14:7,8

And this also means that we are bound to one another as members of Christ’s body.

If we love our brothers and sisters, we will seek what is best for them, and especially for their growth in the Lord. This can be done in a positive way by mutual encouragement and exhortation. The writer to the Hebrews, after speaking of the blessings of the new covenant that are provided by the blood of Jesus, gives this stirring call for God’s people: 

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

Hebrews 10:24–25

Our life in community is the place where we can spur our brothers and sisters to make use of the means of God’s grace, including gathering for worship, praying earnestly for each other, studying the word of God together in our small groups – where we come to know each other better – all these help to shape us more into His likeness. This is not something that happens automatically. We must wholeheartedly seek to love and to serve each other; for this is the essence of our covenant agreement.

Another essential element in the life of our community is the bearing of one another’s burdens. This is Saint Paul’s command:

 “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

Galatians 6:2

The Lord calls our brothers and sisters to bear all kinds of burdens (as are we ourselves), but they are not called to bear them alone. Apart from the ministry of the Holy Spirit who dwells in all of us, there is the ministry of those brothers and sisters who are united to them in the bonds of covenant. Indeed, this is often how the Spirit provides His help through others. 

When a brother or sister struggles with discouragement, failure, worry, bereavement, aging, sickness, the prospect of death, or any other problem, the burden is made heavier if others who could help stand idly by, showing no concern, apparently wrapped up in their own affairs. It can be costly to bear someone else’s burden –  costly in time, in physical and emotional energy. We do it out of generous love and concern – not seeking reward, appreciation, or personal gain.

In our own times of trial, we also need to be willing to accept help and support from our brothers and sisters. It is easier to be the strong one giving help than it is to admit weakness and accept help, yet that too is part of being members of one another.

Sin is a reality that impacts not just ourselves, but the community as well. 

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

1 John 1:8

In love, we can hold each other accountable for our behavior, and so deal with sin before it grows and causes even greater problems. Sin can devastate communities, and thus it must not be ignored in the futile hope that it will just go away. Community leaders have a particular responsibility to exercise loving discipline. Yet, if all of us were faithful in ministering to one another, far fewer issues would require attention through formal discipline. We must not forget that receiving discipline is part of our covenant responsibility, and never easy.

Finally, a covenant community that is functioning according to God’s pattern is a healthy environment for the raising of children. As they grow up, they will be surrounded by examples of what it means to be a godly man or woman. We will not be afraid to have them imitate what they see, and hopefully many will grow as mature disciples of Jesus and serve in mission and community as well.  

For me, and for many others who are called to this particular way of life, covenant community is a significant part of living a full loving life in the Kingdom of God. 

---

Top image credit: Illustration of Christians praying together with glowing cross in background, from Bigstock.com, © by Mike Kiev, stock photo ID: 13856114. Used with permission.