Establishing A Covenant Series

If and when we begin sharing our faith and as we begin gaining spiritual territory for the Lord, then our church will grow as more and more people are added. This means we will be in charge of leading those who are new to our fellowship; and when people of differing backgrounds come together, it can result in chaos unless there are established rules. Properly communicated expectations serve to hold people accountable, and as one person states, “Accountability breeds responsibility.”(1) Without accountability people will do as they please, even if it means jeopardizing the well-being of other individuals in the church, or the entire community of faith.

We live in an age of individuality, where people balk at being held accountable to anyone or anything. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness has been taken to the extreme of a “me-first” attitude. Authority is frowned upon, and authority figures – such as police officers, bosses, political leaders and pastors – are despised and hated; and God, the ultimate authority figure, is relegated to the realm of myth, as people try to erase the very source of truth and morality. Author Tim Challies states, “Left to our own devices, we will soon devise or succumb to all kinds of evil . . . We need accountability – and God has anticipated our need by giving us the local church as the primary means of this accountability.”(2)

When people begin coming into our fellowship, they will often bring with them worldly beliefs, including a self-serving attitude. The church does not exist to serve oneself or the preferences of people. People are supposed to serve the preferences of God. This means that the church cannot submit to the ideas of the world, but must live by a higher standard and institute a code of accountability in order to keep people on task with the church’s mission – and one way of holding people accountable is to establish a covenant. In our passage today we will see that Joshua held each of the Israelites responsible for their actions by instituting a covenant.

Communicating the Expectations (vv. 14-15)

14 “Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD! 15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Right here, Joshua communicated the expectations required in serving the Lord; and in doing so, he set the standard by which the people should live. He stated that God was to be first in their lives above all else; providing two primary instructions of 1.) serving the Lord, and 2.) putting away all other gods and idols (v. 14). In the Ten Commandments these two basic guidelines were actually listed first, emphasizing their priority within the community of faith (cf. Exodus 20:1-11).

After communicating the expectations Joshua, as the spiritual leader, established himself as an example of how to live. He basically said, “Look, I am not only going to ‘talk the talk,’ but I am willing to ‘walk the walk’.” “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (v. 15). “How about you?” Therefore, Joshua stepped out to lead the way in wholehearted commitment unto God, hoping the others would be inspired by his faith and join him.

He implied that there could be no halfhearted commitment, with one foot in the world and one foot in the community of faith. There could be no fence riding. The people had to make a choice, one way or the other. He said, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” (v. 15) – the Lord, the gods of Egypt, or the gods of the Amorites. “But you have to make a choice! If you wish to serve the Lord, then there can be only one decision that is right; and that is to follow the God of Israel!”

When we lead a group of believers, we must state the expectations to each and every person who chooses to join the community of faith. Pastor Rick Warren asks, “Why do so many churches find it difficult to motivate members to give, serve, pray, and share their faith?” He answers “that the members were allowed to join with no expectations placed on them.”(3) Joshua clearly stated the expectations, and implied that if they did not agree with them, they could leave the community and go their own way. What’s that old expression? “Shape up or ship out!” Let’s now skip down and look at verses 24-27.