I recently stepped outside after one of our services and was tremendously blessed to see several of the children in our congregation playing together. All were happy and thrilled to have time with their friends. After a period of hardly having any children in the congregation, I can't tell

you how blessed I was to see this taking place. 

 

Like most congregations, we have had numerous people leave over the years. Some left because they moved or had a genuine call to serve elsewhere. Others, however, became disgruntled or failed to understand the direction Holy Spirit was taking us. If the Lord calls people on, then they should indeed go. However, far too often we forget the importance of community, and instead of working through difficulties or differences of opinion, we undermine relationships that are being developed. I do not (at all) promote congregational faithfulness in the midst of wayward

leadership or cult-like teaching and actions that strive to control people’s lives (true leaders strive for positive influence, not control). However, aside from the extremes, it seems to me that the relationships within a congregation should take on something of a covenantal character.

Covenantal relationships are strong, almost unbreakable bonds in biblical language and are used to describe such things as nation-to-nation agreements (Joshua 9), the relationship of God to His people (Deuteronomy 4:13), and marriage (Malachi 2:14). The Bible does not specifically use the term covenant in terms of the local congregational; however, those things that are characteristic of a covenant, namely rights and responsibilities within an established relationship, are repeatedly part of the description of New Covenant congregations. More importantly,

congregational relationships can and should reveal the New Covenant that was sealed in Messiah’s blood.

To have a covenant there must be at least two parties that exist in a mutually beneficial relationship with rights and responsibilities. We see in the New Testament this existing between leaders and members, and from member to member. Leaders are tasked with such things as

preaching and proper exposition of the Word of God (2 Timothy 2:15; 4:2), gentle correction of those in the wrong (2 Timothy 2:23-26), maintaining a lifestyle in line with the gospel (1 Timothy 3), and being prepared to give an account before God for their service as overseers

(Hebrews 13:17). Congregants also have responsibilities to their spiritual leaders. These include providing a salary (1 Timothy 5:17-18; 1 Corinthians 9:11-14; though, like Paul, the leader is free to refuse the salary), honor (1 Thessalonians 5:13), and obedience (Hebrews 13:17). The

leader honors Yeshua when he teaches, preaches, and lives in a way that points people towards full participation in their covenant with Yeshua. In response, the congregation honors Yeshua when they properly care for their Yeshua-honoring leaders. In this way, we see a healthy 

portrayal of the ultimate covenant through the covenant-like and biblically based relationships of leaders and congregants.

Each parishioner is also to behave within the local body fully aware that that many, if not all, of the other members of that congregation are also a member of Messiah’s New Covenant body. On the night of Yeshua’s crucifixion He said that His blood was the blood of the New Covenant

(Luke 22:20). Those who partake of the Lord’s supper within their local congregations do so as representatives of the universal body of followers of Yeshua (1 Corinthians 11:17ff). It is a covenant meal. The covenant is not centered on the local congregation but on Messiah, but the

congregation reflects and propagates that covenant. This is why Paul takes strong issue when the Lord’s Supper is not properly regarded in a local community (1 Corinthians 11:17ff; Galatians 2:11ff). It is also why he exhorts members to do those things that a covenant family should do.

They are to “bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2), for example. The writer of Hebrews likewise understands the importance of the local community (10:24-25). The ultimate covenant, that sealed in Yeshua’s blood, makes its way into our lives on a practical level by the local

congregation. When one worships, learns, and enjoys fellowship with their local congregation, they should be fully aware that they are surrounded by covenant brothers and sisters. 

Modern American thinking has maximized the importance of individuality and minimized the strong biblical component of communal living. Just like a strong marriage can bring a certain glory to God, so can a strong functioning community in which leaders humbly fulfill their duties

to the congregants, the congregants to the leaders, and all to one another. When one understands that the ultimate covenant of Yeshua is reflected in the local body, and when that covenant is properly honored, we will see greater community faithfulness that will endure through imperfect people and decisions. Love will cover a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8) and our unity will bring glory to God. When leaders and congregants, despite their imperfections, are seen as a part of one’s covenant family, then we can provide a more stable, healthy place in which our children can grow.

Finding the right local congregation should be an important, prayerful process, and the main question that needs to be asked is whether the covenant with Yeshua is rightly being honored in word and action. Once that right congregation is found, it is my opinion that leaving should only be done with much prayer and soul-searching. Leaving a congregation because of hurts is rarely the right decision. Work through those hurts with your covenant family and learn to grow and love despite difficulties. By honoring your local congregation and leaders, you are honoring the ultimate covenant of Yeshua. Those who follow Yeshua were made our brothers and sisters by His blood. To treat congregational relationships flippantly is to diminish the glory of the Messiah who made us a family, but fighting for unity through difficulties honors Yeshua and the covenant He initiated.

Yeshua prayed for unity among His disciples: “Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me”

(John 17:20-21). That oneness should be demonstrated in every place from the home to believers across the globe. This includes our local congregation. Unless the ultimate covenant is being undermined or you have a direct word from the Lord to leave, stay in your congregation and let the New Covenant of Yeshua be exalted.