Great ideas and good intentions, followed by hard and diligent work, often fail because a critical distinction is overlooked. It is the distinction between doing things to others or for others, on the one hand, and doing things with others for others, on the other.
Doing things to others or for others is presumptive and, however well-intentioned, ultimately manipulative. It may produce the appearance of good results, but it almost never generates conviction, commitment, or conversion. There are rare occasions when actions taken “for one’s own good” must be obeyed without hesitation—situations that threaten life or limb, or laws that must be followed whether we like them or not. These examples are obvious and need no rehearsal here. That they are exceptions only confirms that they cannot be the rule.
Conviction, commitment, and conversion arise only through doing things with and for others. Working with others begins with listening—learning what others know, think, experience, and want. It requires humility: the willingness to offer one’s knowledge and skills as resources others may use for their own good. It is a demanding form of humility, especially for those in senior leadership, if long-term success is the goal.
That humility takes two forms. First, it creates conditions in which others are able to succeed in what they are doing. Second, it builds organizations capable of continuing and flourishing even without the presence of those who currently occupy positions of authority.
There is also a theological dimension to this distinction—one too often overlooked by Christians eager either to evangelize the world in the name of Jesus Christ or to confront injustice with forceful certainty.
The Word of God became incarnate in Christ Jesus to live with us and for us. The Gospel accounts of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, following his baptism, portray his faithful rejection of the temptation to do things to or for others by force or spectacle. The way of the cross could prove its worth only if it were lived with and for others.
Jesus revealed a way of life that is not merely better, but best for humanity—a way in which persons, peoples, and nations might live together in flourishing harmony. He demonstrated this way of life by living it with us, as one of us, even as one of the least among us. He did so without coercion, and yet people said, “Never has anyone spoken with such authority.”
He did not drive people into conviction, commitment, or conversion. He led them. He listened patiently, engaged deeply, and offered gifts of healing and reconciliation that restored others to fullness of life. He never demanded perfection. He asked only that we keep trying, with the promise that he would always be with us.
This is the example Christians are called to follow, as best they can, as they work with others for others. The way of life Jesus taught must be proclaimed by being lived—however imperfectly—in public as well as private life. It cannot remain a purely personal faith. It must shape how we engage society, how we exercise authority, and how we pursue freedom, justice, rights, and equity.
In a time marked by fear, coercion, and an unrestrained lust for power, the way of Jesus—the way of the cross—calls Christians to resist complicity with injustice while refusing to mirror the methods of those who wield power irresponsibly. Faithful resistance need not be angry or violent to be firm. It must instead be grounded in disciplined nonviolence, truth-telling, and public witness—bearing signs of peace while standing courageously against abuse of authority. This is the way that still has the power to awaken conviction, inspire commitment, and invite genuine conversion.