Wait, what? Covenant College is Christian! How in the world could our college, holding In all things Christ Preeminent, not be fundamentally Christian?
Covenant College Sign, “In All Things Christ Preeminent.” Photo courtesy of Covenant College
Hopefully, that’s your first reaction to my title, as it is for me! But for many people I have met during my years at Covenant College, it isn’t.
Which is weird, right? Why do first responders, old alumni and many others I have met hold Covenant College as Christian only in name? Why have we had general drug raids, a hall called Ghetto, and people here who are openly non-Christian? Why do many students not go to church, leave off devotions, and doom-scroll Instagram for hours on end? Why is our college, one of the top, highest-level liberal arts Christian colleges here in the United States, often subject to doctrinal mismatches in its faculty and students? And why are we so divisive when it comes to trying to improve ourselves?
Many people, when confronted with that reality, do the right thing and point out the good that Covenant does. And it does a lot of good! Students are regularly challenged in their faith, grow closer to Christ, learn to will and to work for His good pleasure, sing, dance and rejoice in Christ our Redeemer! In fact, even the doctrinal mismatches we have often help strengthen the community. Oh, Covenant College, what an awesome God we serve, and look at how He has blessed us!
And yet, we’re still sinners. We pray harder, do better, fight harder, and yet nothing improves. We look away or shrug it off, and go find bigger fish to fry. Why is it so hard to be ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda (the church reformed, always reforming)? Why is it so hard to get up in the morning with joy to turn to God’s word because there’s nothing better you would like to do? Why is it so hard to go to chapel, or even to church, and just want to sleep or work or watch a movie instead?
Brothers and sisters, we are at war! We live and breathe in a spiritual battle every. single. day. Against the world, the flesh and the devil, we fight, and they do not rest. And woe is us if we think that attending a Christian college will make the war easier, not harder!
So what do we do? When we see failure everywhere, and not even our best efforts improve this fallen world, and our Christian college seems more and more like the secular world we live in, what do we do?
Only God can do what we cannot. And we MUST seek His help for every single thing, every single day.
I want to call you to pray, to read the Word of God, and to go to church. Have those good conversations, look to the Word of God, admit when you’re wrong. Bring forward issues, and let yourself recognize the wrongs, the pain and all the sin that pervades our everyday lives.
I also want to call you to be in awe of God every single day. We live on a mountain, surrounded by beautiful buildings, beautiful people and a beautiful world! Praise God for His awesome power and glory in all that He has made! But praise Him far more for His steadfast love, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!!
Therefore, finally, I charge you to love God above everything else that you could ever love. Love Him above schoolwork, a test grade, your best comforts and your habits, your family, your fiancée, your best friend, everything. And soon we find that our best works, deeds and even colleges are as nothing given the absolute majesty of our glorious King, Jesus Christ. Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling!