TO FIRE OR TO FORGIVE Matt Whitman

We arrived at the Chongqing Technology and Business University on a cool autumn day. A role play on the first day challenged all the students into thinking: Lily, a young university graduate, lied in her resume about her past experiences in order to get a good job. She was hired immediately. However, later on, her supervisor found out that she was actually fired from her previous job and many of the facts in the resume were lies. The role play was stopped there. The students were asked to vote for their actions: to fire or to forgive her. All the students immediately said that she should be fired. “Why?” I asked. The answer was unanimous. She had done some unforgivable mistakes. “Unforgivable mistake? What kind? Have you ever lied in your job?” I asked again. The audience seemed to be stunned. They did not know how to reply. However, to them, to forgive seemed to be totally beyond the principle of the business world. After all, she deserved such punishment. For the following days, we were still discussing about the role play. Some students started to doubt their decisions. Should we give her a second chance if she regretted and said sorry? How about us? We all made mistakes before? What happens if nobody forgives us? Later on, I challenged my class to think of another question, “what do you, Lily and Christmas have in common?” They were even more shocked about my question. I told them the greatest gift of Christmas is that we are forgiven despite the fact that we all did something wrong before.

Looking back on all the wonderful experiences, I felt so welcomed into this beautiful country. All the food they served on the table was delicious. I felt being part of the Chinese culture in a very short time. A few weeks ago, I could not even imagine using my own business skills to serve the Lord in China. Now, I see how powerful and important to train up a new generation with not only business skills but ethics. How I wish I can go back and teach those students again!