Recently, I had a change of heart about a certain issue. Parenting books I have been reading emphasized the importance of immediate obedience. I understand where they are coming from, that children need to learn obedience because they always have to obey authorities. However, I struggled with this idea because of images of a drill instructor barking orders at scared recruits. I saw that as disrespectful to children because we would not think of talking to adults this way.

     However, some event at my work made me realize the importance of the idea of immediate obedience. Here is what happened. Part of my work is taking kids to doctor's appointments. One day I took a kid to his Doctor's appointment and I told him to go see the doctor now. At that moment, that kid was listening to some music. The kid told me to wait. Since I was lenient about kids obeying immediately, I allowed this kid to keep listening to his music. The kid must have made the doctor wait for five minutes, and honestly the doctor was not completely ready either so I did not bother to really make this child hurry.

     Besides my leniency, what gave this kid the idea to make the doctor, who could have been really busy, wait for five minutes? I believe now that making others wait is a sign of selfishness and it needs to be addressed. Like this kid, we sometimes get so focused on our agenda that we do not honor the one asking help from us. Don't get me wrong, I still believe that we shoud not talk to kids in such a way that they are disrespected, in a way that we would never talk to adults. However, I believe strongly now that this behavior of making others wait, by ignoring or just continually saying "wait" needs to be addressed. We and our kids need to develop the virtue of cooperation, we need to develop the heart habit of wanting to be of assistance to others, whoever they are and within reason. What would a cooperative person do when asked to do something? He would either stop what he is doing and help with a cheerful disposition (not reluctantly), or ask if he could help later, and then accept a person's no, help is needed at the moment.

     Some may think that this is a mundane issue but understanding the virtue of cooperation will shed light on some issues we Christians deal with. There is a question I heard from a Christian radio station that I used to think about, whether Christians can work alongside atheists or not, for example, in building houses for the homeless. Some Christians see it as a good way to have conversations with atheists about Christianity. Some will say no, that it is not right to do anything with unbelievers. I have some thoughts in this matter.

1. I believe we sometimes overanalyze an issue. The bottom line is some people need houses and this is an opportunity to build houses for them. Helping people is a virtue and God definitely wants us to be virtuous. Jesus healed people just because he has compassion on them and we need to be compassionate too. Therefore, if a group of Christians want to build houses, then good for them, even if those with the equipment are atheists. God blessed the work of Joseph even though he is working for a gentile Pharaoh in helping the Egyptians through a time of famine. Anyway, in the workforce, we always work wih those who do not share our beliefs. Is cooperation a necessary virtue in the workplace? You bet, and God wants us to be cooperative too and have a good reputation.

2. The thought of helping people or working side by side with people for the sake of evangelism is not right. We should not help people and work with them for an ulterior motive. A good work ethic- doing good work for people for its own sake, is a virtue that we need to develop and virtue should be an end in itself. Jesus healed both those who believed in him and those who did not. Don't get me wrong, I believe it is important to share our faith. However, sharing the hope that is in us should be part of our conversations as we build relationships with people. Just as we may talk about our work, we should also be talking about why we work hard and why we help people. It is because God gave us a compassionate heart, the heart of Jesus.

3. Although it is good to help people, we should always remember that the only one who could really give us peace is the Lord Jesus Christ. Having houses for people may help them live better lives, but the life that would give peace is a life lived with Jesus. Whether we are involved with a diaconal Christian ministry or a secular service organization, we should do our best to be in relationship with people because it is in relationships, not in food distribution or work programs, that souls find healing. The healed soul is one that finds peace with God through Jesus. 

The bottom line is to love our neighbors by caring for them in anyway we have been given an opportunity to.