I find these points interesting in themselves. On the one hand, who doesn't love freedom? On the other, in raising a child, you see the practical value of obedience. John 15:15 doesn't hinge the distinction of slave/servant vs. friend on freedom, but on knowledge. The requirement for obedience is not lessened -- the disciples are however granted a boon of knowledge which raises them above being just slaves. It likely is an example of love; perhaps an example of treating servants as you'd like to be treated yourself; also likely something which we do not have enough information to understand. Obedience and submission is in fact far harder than one would think. That "there isn't anything else that they would rather do" is nice in theory, but far far far from reality. Even wanting to do that, truly, sincerely, is a huge challenge, and arguably the single biggest challenge of the would-be to surmount.
Slavery is supposedly abolished and universally repugnant. Yet we buy products made by companies which treat their employees virtually as slaves, and in some cases actually use slaves. We have a servant class in every country and in some cases in every home, as women. We have animals as working slaves, property, and food. We ourselves are slaves to our own wants and desires. I think the high moral ground isn't so high after all if we look at it in totality. I have more moral and intellectual difficulty in bringing down centuries old literature and calling myself superior to it than to try to see it in a broader context and to see where its calling still exceeds my actions.
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