It's
tough stuff. We're far from perfect in doing it. But we hang on to how Jesus
summed it all up: Love God, love others, love yourself.
Today
we Christians seem to be best known for our worst behavior--judging,
criticizing, arguing, splintering. We here at CENTRALongmont are a diverse
group, running the demographic gamut from young to old, the ideological
spectrum from seriously conservative to seriously liberal. We don't agree on
everything. But we do agree--no, we commit--to live and work and worship
together as part of our witness to the community outside our doors, that
followers of Jesus can share a diversity of viewpoints yet still love and
accept one another. We've chosen to do our best to leave partisan bickering
behind to focus instead on loving God, loving others, and loving ourselves.
It's
why the banner hanging outside the front of our church says, "Whoever you
are, wherever you are in your faith journey, we'll come alongside you...to
worship, to learn, to join hands in working in the community."