Understanding the Church Covenant (Part 5)

Our covenant continues  with the following:

Section 7: “We will seek to live carefully in the world, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and remembering that, as we have been buried by baptism and raised again from the symbolic grave, so there is on us a special obligation now to lead a new and holy life.”

We live in the world, but we’re not to be of the world (John 17:15).  We need encouragement to stay to the narrow path of righteousness and say “no” to the flesh and the devil. Scripture calls us pilgrims (1 Peter 1:1) but we too often feel right at home.  Covenanting with other believers reminds us of our status as sojourners in this world who like Abraham are looking for a different city (Hebrews 11:10). The local church can and should help us do this.

We need encouragement to seek satisfaction only in Christ and not in the things that would distract us from this. I have known several brand new Christians who are so disappointed to realize how strong temptation is after they are converted. They moan with Paul “If I am saved, why do I keep doing these things?” (Romans 7:25). One of the ways I explain their predicament to them is with an illustration C.S. Lewis once used (albeit in another context): if you are walking with a strong wind on your back, it is relatively easy to move, but turn around and walk against it, and the wind feels much stronger. Before Christ we cherish our sin and hate God, after Christ we cherish God and hate sin (sin that we sometimes commit). It is hard to fight sign because we are in fact fighting it.

Being a part of the church family helps us stay committed to our own holiness, and the holiness of our brothers and sisters. How do we do this? The covenant admonishes us to remember our baptism. Oh that we would do this! After Paul’s explanation of our depravity and God’s plan to save us in Christ (Romans 1-5) he anticipates some will respond “God is so gracious let’s keep on sinning!” But take note of how Paul handles this response in Romans 6:1-4 (take a moment to read it now). Paul calls them to holiness by reminding them of their baptism. So, church member, keep section 7 of the covenant by remembering your own.
 
Section 8: “We will work together for the continuance of a faithful gospel ministry in this church, as we sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline and doctrines.  We will contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the Gospel through all nations.”

If you join our church, you’ll own a part of the responsibility for all that goes on here. Now, the three things above are not the gospel - but they are meant to protect the gospel, image the gospel, and sustain gospel work. The gospel is the message about Jesus - but rightly handing baptism and the supper protects and pictures the gospel. Membership and discipline tell the world what we think the gospel does in the lives of Christians. And giving enables us to share the gospel.

Giving is not really new for any of us. If you have ever donated money to anything, you know what it is like to put your money toward a cause you believe in - and it is actually quite exciting as long as you believe in the cause. What are our causes? We give toward the church ministries themselves, including the pastors (1 Timothy 5:17-18) the Great Commission in other places around the world (Matthew 28:18-20) and poor saints (Romans 15:26).
 
I mentioned the practice of church discipline.  Let me say a bit more about that.  Church discipline is the removal of an individual from our membership because of unrepentant sin in their lives.  The final stages happen when those who profess Jesus and have been baptized into the church give sustained evidence that they have not been made alive in Jesus (Ephesians 2:1-6).  So out of love for them and for the reputation of Christ, we are making it clear to them, to us, and to the world around us, that this life they’re living is not representative of a Christian’s life.  They are welcome to attend here, but they may not call themselves a member of our church, and they may not take the Lord’s supper with us.  Matthew 18 and 1 Corinthians 5 are two chapters in the Bible that speak of this in greater detail.

Some prefer a church model where there is a big entrance door but no exit door. As kindly as I can put it, this makes church membership absolutely meaningless. If we publicly recognize someone as a Christian at baptism, but are unwilling to publicly recognize a former member as a non-Christian, our “Authentic Christian” stamp has no ink. We are emptying membership (and conversion) of any real meaning, and this is an insidious undermining of the gospel - for if we claim the gospel changes people but are unwilling to reject someone’s profession of faith, then we are really saying “Jesus changes lives, but don’t ask our church how.”
 
The other way we uphold and picture the gospel is the ordinances - baptism and the supper. Back in the 70’s it was popular for a lot of churches to produce dramas, as a way to 'enhance' outreach and worship. You won’t see any man-invented dramas in the gathered worship each Sunday for FBC. But you will witness two - the ones Jesus gave us - baptism and the supper. Both of these are visible, tangible illustrations of the gospel. If you are a member baptism has been taken care of - and your involvement means showing up to church regularly enough so that you are present to vote on new members. Participating in communion is quite simple - show up and eat and drink. We do this, as part of our faithfulness to one another and Christ, until he returns to feast with us (Matthew 26:29).