Once there were four young men who became friends while at college. All of these fellows were believers and followed the Lord. During a certain season in their friendship they decided to pool their resources and purchase a house.
Eventually, offense arose over non-Christian behavior by one of the housemates. One of the men had his girl-friend over and because of the lateness of the day, she spent the night in his room. The friends quickly addressed the problem and dealt with it so that unity was restored.
In the course of time one of the friends announced that due to a job opportunity he was moving to another city. The remainder began considering who they might invite to fill the empty room. They decided that the next guy would have to be a believer. Then the subject of the last offense came up. What could they do to head off that kind of trouble in the future? Debate was followed by prayer.
In the end they decided to create a House Covenant. It contained specific rules of conduct concerning things that were not permitted in their house and a way to deal with problems that could arise not specifically mentioned by the covenant. The next man who moved in was asked to read, agree to and sign the covenant. Once all four had signed it, they framed it and placed it by their front door. They concluded that for unity to reign and Jesus to be honored in their house they all had to be of the same mind when it came to the stewardship of their living arrangement.
Why is it that churches have done away with a church covenant that holds members accountable to a biblical level of behavior?
The Bible Bistro 