Over thirty years ago, Walter Brueggemann who was the Academic Dean of Eden Theological Seminary made the following statement:
“Covenant is the dominant metaphor for biblical faith by which human personality can be understood” (Interpretation 33.2: 115).
This profound insight into the essential nature of personhood radically shapes the life of the local congregation. This means that the Old Testament concept of covenant provides the background for the New Testament concept of covenant. What this provides is a framework for understanding the essence of biblical faith.
Biblical faith is covenantal, relational in nature. This may sound simple and trite, but it is transforming when properly understood. Faith is never presented in Scripture as a personal possession which is privately protected from others. Rather, faith is trust and core values lived out in the context of a believing community.
I am struck constantly by how many proofs I see in our culture that many Christians in their relationship with God, their spouse and their children are operating out of “contractual” model rather than a “covenantal” model. In a contract, one or both parties are looking for loopholes. A covenant is the opposite. It looks for commitment and permanence.
I am also struck by what I see in 21st Century Christians having a “contractual” mentality with their local church. Loopholes abound in the congregational commitment category:
A bad sermon, a cold preacher, less than stellar nursery, assembly worship styles, cliques, etc. The list becomes endless for individuals to use as loopholes in their contractual relationship with the family of God.
I wonder how the local church would look and operate differently if every child of God extended his/her covenantal relationship with God to other Christians, spouses and their children? Probably one of the most profound aspects of biblical theology and faith that our culture desperately needs is men and women of faith who are covenantal to the core!
In Christian love, Curtis
“Covenant is the dominant metaphor for biblical faith by which human personality can be understood” (Interpretation 33.2: 115).
This profound insight into the essential nature of personhood radically shapes the life of the local congregation. This means that the Old Testament concept of covenant provides the background for the New Testament concept of covenant. What this provides is a framework for understanding the essence of biblical faith.
Biblical faith is covenantal, relational in nature. This may sound simple and trite, but it is transforming when properly understood. Faith is never presented in Scripture as a personal possession which is privately protected from others. Rather, faith is trust and core values lived out in the context of a believing community.
I am struck constantly by how many proofs I see in our culture that many Christians in their relationship with God, their spouse and their children are operating out of “contractual” model rather than a “covenantal” model. In a contract, one or both parties are looking for loopholes. A covenant is the opposite. It looks for commitment and permanence.
I am also struck by what I see in 21st Century Christians having a “contractual” mentality with their local church. Loopholes abound in the congregational commitment category:
A bad sermon, a cold preacher, less than stellar nursery, assembly worship styles, cliques, etc. The list becomes endless for individuals to use as loopholes in their contractual relationship with the family of God.
I wonder how the local church would look and operate differently if every child of God extended his/her covenantal relationship with God to other Christians, spouses and their children? Probably one of the most profound aspects of biblical theology and faith that our culture desperately needs is men and women of faith who are covenantal to the core!
In Christian love, Curtis
