I broke the Standards of Conduct this semester by drinking a glass of champagne during a wedding in Florida. Don’t worry, Student Development already knows. This is not about how crampy I think the Standards of Conduct are at Covenant, but quite the opposite. Through this experience I actually learned far more about what it means to set boundaries and uphold my word, as well as the grace for when both of these are broken.
First, I would like to remind everyone why the standards are a part of the school in the first place (I will be focusing on the drinking aspect of the Standards of Conduct, even though it is far more extensive than that.) Covenant has created these Standards of Conduct not because it thinks drinking is bad, or because it wants to find ways to punish students, but because it is trying to create a type of community here.
The reason it is called the “Standards of Conduct” is that Covenant has standards it wishes to uphold in the community. Statistics show that alcohol on campus leads to more reckless decisions, more sexual assault, and more violence. This does not mean that alcohol in and of itself is bad, but that, since more issues arise at a unique setting like college, there needs to be much more moderation.
This is a unique time in our lives and a unique setting; besides other college campuses, there are few other places where so many people in the same stage of life are in one place. Not only is it unique in the sense that many people are living so close together, but it is also unique that over half of the Covenant students are not of legal age to drink. By removing alcohol from campus, we are then helping our brothers and sisters who may struggle with this more (1 Corinthians 8:13). Covenant is implementing the Standards of Conduct only to cultivate a certain community.
Secondly, the Standards are about so much more than having a drink or not having a drink. The week after the wedding, I did not think a second thought about the drink as much as what it meant. In drinking at the wedding, I broke my word. I drank a glass, did not get drunk, was of age, and was far, far away from Covenant.
I thought it had no effect on what the Covenant community looked like in the slightest, but it did, because I broke my word. I said I would not drink during the semester, and yet I did. I broke a boundary. I lied. I said I would do one thing, and I did another.
There are so many times in our lives where we will set our own boundaries, even if it may seem like breaking that boundary is not sinning. For example, someone might struggle with arrogance in how they look. That person may have to set boundaries like only going to the gym 3 times a week, unfollowing workout channels or pages, or choosing to go a week without make-up. If those things are broken, it may not seem like they are sinning, but those boundaries were put in place for them because of where their heart is. I had a single glass of champagne and I am over 21. If I was not under contract I would not be sinning, but the difference is in the boundary that I had and the fact that I said I would not violate it.
The Standards of Conduct give us practice for a lifelong practice of saying no to things and maintaining our boundaries—even when breaking them does not seem bad. By drinking, I missed out on an opportunity to hold my desires up to the Lord.
Yes, I am 21 and can legally drink by US standards. But I didn’t really need to; if I hadn’t had that drink, I would not have missed out on anything. I was having so much fun already. There are going to be so many more times just like this where we are going to have to hold up our desires to God. These are only a few years of your life where you are held under these obligations. This is a good practice for us to learn self-control and self-constraint.
Lastly, I wish to remind you that Covenant’s protocol for when one breaks the contract is the practice of self-confessing and asking for forgiveness. Let’s face it: we are all sinners, and this is a practice we will be forming for the rest of our lives.
Sin festers and builds if it is not brought to light. In all aspects of the Covenant Standards of Conduct, Student Development wants us to make a lifelong practice of learning to say, “I am a sinner and I need forgiveness as well as discipline.” Student Development always wants to form a pathway to repentance and forgiveness, especially for those who self-confess.