Covenant Versus Non-Covenant MinisteringReformed Mind

While sitting in a course on how to counsel children, I asked the question of how one would make the distinction between covenant and non-covenant children, and in particular if the teacher made such a distinction. The teacher didn’t, although she acknowledges there is a difference and considered giving it further thought.

I am currently working on a couple of school projects where I am focusing on the covenant relationship of the Bible and how a proper understanding impacts our ministering, counseling, and addressing the needs and sins of people. I am in particular interested in the covenantal relationship of families and how someone ministers to families who have raised their children in the context of a Christian home and those who have not. I think ministering from this perspective will take two different paths because it is two different ways of thinking about loving and caring for people – those inside and those outside the covenant. For those of you familiar with covenant theology, do you think there is a difference in the way you would minister to someone, particularly a child?

Richard A. Hill

I’m confronted with this issue all the time, though not with children, but maybe my thoughts will help anyway. I’m a US Army Chaplain, so many of the people I work with are outside the covenant. Many Soldiers who come to me are experiencing personal issues that I know Scripture addresses, but they are outside the covenant, so they wouldn’t understand if approached them in that way. Instead, I take a common grace approach. There is value in this person because he or she has been made in the image and likeness of God, therefore, any truth I can give is helping out. Caring for the least is one of the works Christ praises. That caring doesn’t include converting, but helping with day-to-day struggles, like clothing, and food, and I think it’s safe to extrapolate that out into social issues like marriage. In any case, the only difference I would see between covenant and non-covenant counseling is the approach. The truth is the same (no compromise), but with non-covenant people it may be more parabolic (stories and examples) rather than directive and instructional (like with covenant people).

http://joshlsullivan.com/ Josh Sullivan

Richard, this is awesome advice, and I know your job is incredibly challenging and requires much thought about ministering to an incredible diverse background. I like the distinction between “stories and examples” and “directive and instructional”. Very helpful and thank you for commenting.