Given this focus, our social and intellectual growth needs freedom for exploration, complemented by a commitment to good will and graciousness. Personal discipline is also required. For example, civility is basic to all types of community, while academic honesty and respect for education are fundamental to an instructional environment. Learning depends on truth-centered attitudes. It thrives in an atmosphere of discriminating openness to ideas, a condition that is characterized by a measure of modesty toward one's own views, the desire to affirm the true, and the courage to examine the unfamiliar.
Community is built upon other-centered practices.
It flourishes in a place where love for God and neighbor is cultivated and nurtured. It grows strong when members practice integrity, confession, and forgiveness, attempt to live in reconciled relationships, accept responsibility for their actions and words, and submit to biblical instructions for communal life. Scripture supports these attitudes and principles. It promotes relationships based on the ideals of trust, compassion, and forbearance, and praises actions that manifest sacrificial giving and sincere faith. Scripture also forbids attitudes such as pride and jealousy, and prohibits such actions as drunkenness, sexual promiscuity, and dishonesty.