COMMUNITY GUIDELINES

We believe that a Christian community requires a commitment to personal spiritual growth in grace.

The core of the Christian community is God at work in the hearts of its members. Our foundation is God and His redeeming work in our broken lives. Although God is the Initiator and the One who draws us to Himself, we acknowledge the need to respond to His call in a continued pursuance of Him. We are committed to seeking a deeper relationship with God through regular times alone with Him, spending time in His Word, and meeting with other believers. We are committed to living a lifestyle of worship in all that we do, whether in sports or music, in dorm or in class, in chapel or at a social gathering, at work or at play.

We believe that a Christian community requires a commitment to personal integrity.

We commit to a lifestyle of positive choices that influence eternity and bring God glory. We choose to use godly discernment in our entertainment choices, such as in the movies we watch, the video games we play, the Internet sites we access, and the music we listen to. We choose to exemplify positive studying and sleeping habits. We choose to treat others and ourselves with dignity by dressing modestly and appropriately. We commit ourselves to the task of building godly life-giving relationships that regard each individual as an image bearer of God. We especially choose to regard all relationships with highest respect. In so doing, we will guard others and ourselves from sexual temptation, and refrain from sexual intimacy that violates the sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman.

We believe that a Christian community requires respect & consideration of others within the community.

Living and studying together in a tight community gives us the opportunity to live out Christ-like servanthood, where we learn to place the needs and considerations of others before ourselves. We will not knowingly bring fellow students into circumstances that will encourage them to violate their consciences or live a lifestyle of negative choices. We acknowledge the need to respect the privacy and property of others, especially in the dorm setting. We will avoid gossip, crude talk, or jokes that will tear others down, but instead will choose to use words that will encourage and bring life.

We believe that a Christian community requires a commitment to its members.

As students of SBC, we are members of this community. We choose to be true brothers and sisters in the Lord to each other and to those with whom we rub shoulders daily. We choose to be representations of Christ to each other and we will hold each other accountable in both word and deed. We will lovingly confront those who are falling into sin, and encourage those who seem defeated. As much as we are able, we will participate in community events and use our gifts to bless and edify the student body. We also commit to an attitude of godly respect for the faculty and staff at SBC and will abide by the directives and policies of the school, as set out in this handbook.

We believe that a Christian community should represent Christ to the larger community.

We acknowledge, by choosing to be a part of this community, we are representatives of Christ to each other and to the people around us. Whether at school, at home, at church, on deputation, or in the neighbourhood, the way we conduct ourselves impacts the way others view Christ. We choose to be positive representations of Christ and will avoid knowingly participating in anything that would hurt the mission of the local church or injure anyone’s faith. As members of Christ’s body, we will endeavour to obey Jesus’ command to love one another as He loved us. Therefore, we shall be known by all people as followers of Christ.