On Being Reformed: A Call to Covenantal Membership

For many of us, being a part of a Reformed church is something we are fairly new to. It seems that many people who are currently finding their way to such a church for the first time are seeing the beauty in the love and pursuit of the Word of God, and the seriousness with which a holy life is lived. This should be a breath of fresh air compared to many churches out there today. However, the fact that being Reformed is quite different from other evangelical Protestant churches does lead to some confusion and uncertainties, with some aspects of the church seeming quite foreign at times.

It is one of these areas that this blog series aims to clarify: what a covenantal church looks like and why it operates the way it does. The concept of covenant is largely foreign in modern culture and is often looked at as something from the Old Testament times or just something dealing with marriage today. Even many people who understand covenant theology are still unsure of what a modern-day covenant church should look like practically in its day-to-day life. This series aims to answer why we do certain things the way we do within a covenantal Reformed church. 

The bulk of this series is meant to address the Membership Covenant, which each of us at Knox willingly entered into when we became members. However, throughout this series, we will also see an overview of why we believe Scripture intends that Christ’s church should operate as a covenantal church. In this series, we will be going through the 8 commitments we have made as a church family. The purpose will be to show three main points: the biblical reasoning for why we have the commitment, what it practically looks like in our day-to-day life, and the reasons it is important to be held accountable to the commitment.

I want to start by looking at the statement we have on our website, under the “Become a Knox Member” section, to give a quick overview for the purpose of committing ourselves to the church with our Membership Covenant. It says the following:

A church, as the gospel teaches it, is nothing without committed individuals who submit to one another, serve one another, disciple one another and are accountable to one another.

We are unified with each other in truth and in love, and it is because of this that we embrace the truth of the methods by which we are charged to structure the Church, and we love each other by our faithfulness to the headship of the Church, Jesus Christ, as He ordained it.

Whether we call it "covenant community", or "membership" or any other title, the establishment of a covenant commitment between Church members and leaders is the precondition for the very existence of the Church. Without affirmed commitments, the structure and disciplines of the Church, as scripture teaches it, cease to function.

As such, we serve, bless and disciple our visitors and regular attendees. As individuals and families are led, we offer covenant membership opportunities for those who call Knox Church home to begin to play an integral role within our community. Our new members represent Knox Church and begin their own journeys of servanthood, discipleship and leadership of their own. As the church membership grows, our community develops a greater pool of resources to not only edify one another but also to resource our community with hands and feet to reach the lost and preach the gospel truth about Jesus Christ's saving grace. 

As we see here, it is our commitment to each other that holds us accountable to being faithful and submitting ourselves to Jesus Christ as the head of His Church. It allows us to be unified in truth and love as part of His body. And as such, Knox Church becomes a local body of Christ that commits itself to a life that is pleasing and faithful to Christ. This commitment, as Scripture shows, is to be the structure of the church itself, whereas without it, a church would cease to function as a church the way Scripture teaches it should be.

I hope and pray that this series will open our eyes to the importance of the Membership Covenant we committed to, that we will see more clearly what Christ's Church should look like as revealed in the Scriptures, and that, as we consider what it means to be a covenant church in practical terms, we will behold the beauty and glory of God displayed through His true church. 

In the next post, we will dive into the first point of our Membership Covenant commitments, which is our submission to Scripture as the ultimate authority in all issues. This is where we will open up the Word of God to show why a church should operate within covenant commitment, as well as what being grounded in Scripture as the ultimate authority looks like for the church.

Until then, I pray that in all things we can firmly root our minds in the Word of God and practically live out the truths it contains.

Soli Deo Gloria

Pastor Steven Larson