Res­pect for one’s neigh­bor is a va­lue that can be seen in our dai­ly life. It is ap­pa­rent in our speech, views, ac­ti­ons, and at­ti­tu­de to­ward our neigh­bors, su­pe­ri­ors, aut­ho­ri­ties, go­vern­ment, and mu­tu­al mat­ters. There is much talk about a lack of res­pect in our time. At ti­mes it seems res­pect for ot­hers has suf­fe­red from inf­la­ti­on. This is a wor­ry among many who are brin­ging up and te­ac­hing child­ren.

Many chan­ges in so­cie­ty al­so bring to dis­cus­si­ons mat­ters which may awa­ken strong fee­lings and di­sag­ree­ments. The con­se­qu­en­ces of mo­ne­ta­ry po­wer are more and more vi­sib­le in our so­cie­ty as those with li­mi­ted me­ans are left in a poo­rer po­si­ti­on and the rich be­co­me we­alt­hier. Who are ser­ved by gree­dy growth ob­jec­ti­ves and tough com­pe­ti­ti­on? What in our time is ser­vi­ce, where one per­son pau­ses be­si­de anot­her to help? Do we no­ti­ce those who need help?

The word di­a­ko­nia is Greek and me­ans ser­vi­ce. Di­a­ko­nia is ser­vi­ce that is ba­sed on Chris­ti­an faith and love. It is ba­sed on the Bib­le’s te­ac­hings about neigh­bor­ly love and the es­tab­lis­hed cus­tom of ta­king care of those with li­mi­ted me­ans in the ear­ly church. Love and a de­si­re to ser­ve and help are a part of di­a­ko­nia. It se­arc­hes for, al­le­vi­a­tes, and eli­mi­na­tes pe­op­le’s an­xie­ty and suf­fe­ring. Di­a­ko­nia al­so seeks to awa­ken so­ci­al and in­ter­na­ti­o­nal res­pon­si­bi­li­ty.

Being ab­le to live in a de­moc­ra­tic so­cie­ty where hu­man va­lu­es are res­pec­ted is not self-evi­dent. We of­ten hear about this from the me­dia in dif­fe­rent parts of the world. Do we stop to think of its sig­ni­fi­can­ce in our own life?

The Bib­le te­ac­hes: “If it be pos­sib­le, as much as lieth in you. Live pe­a­ce­ab­ly with all men.” (Rom. 12:18). Even though we aren’t of the same mind in all mat­ters, we can ne­vert­he­less res­pect each ot­her as pe­op­le and dis­cuss open­ly with our neigh­bors. This inc­re­a­ses trust and builds pe­a­ce.

We of­ten un­ders­tand pe­a­ce simp­ly as the ab­sen­ce of war, vi­o­len­ce, and op­p­res­si­on. Ho­we­ver, it is a much bro­a­der con­cept. The Heb­rew word for pe­a­ce, ša­lom, which ap­pe­ars in the Old Tes­ta­ment, and the word έιρηνη (ay­reh­neh) in the ori­gi­nal Greek New Tes­ta­ment both al­so mean who­le­ness, well-being, he­alth, and wis­hing pe­a­ce to ot­hers. Paul men­ti­ons pe­a­ce as one of the gifts of the Spi­rit (Gal. 5:22).

A Chris­ti­an does not act ac­cor­ding to the will of God by for­ce, beg­rud­ging­ly, or in hope of pa­y­ment. Je­sus taught: “But he that is gre­a­test among you shall be yo­ur ser­vant.” (Matt. 23:11). Man is not, ho­we­ver, sa­ved by his deeds, but by be­lie­ving in Christ, which is ma­ni­fes­ted as deeds of love. Paul wri­tes: “– – but faith which wor­keth by love.” (Gal. 5:6). This is the mark by which Je­sus’ dis­cip­les are known (John 13:35).

Text Ol­li Lohi

Trans­la­ti­on K.K.

Pub­lis­hed Sii­o­nin Lä­he­tys­leh­ti 3/2014

Jul­kais­tu eng­lan­nin­kie­li­ses­sä kie­li­liit­tees­sä 18.11.2014.