the basic message #E369
10/4/05
I'm a fair man. I'm not always a nice man, and I'm not always a patient man, but I'm fair. When my kids were little, one thing that would get me worked up quicker than anything was when they said, "you're not fair!". At work, my fellow employees can say I'm rude, impatient, and even a horse's ass, but they know I'm fair, even if they don't like to admit it.
Early in my Christianity I didn't really value the fairness of God. I guess it was because I hadn't yet come to understand I'd never find a totally fair human being in my lifetime. As a young man, I really thought I would one day meet people who only sought to be equitable in everything they did. I was sadly mistaken. The only thing fair in this entire world is God. Some of you will question such a statement by reminding me God allows hurricanes, droughts and floods. God lets babies die and lets criminals run free. While I won't argue those statements, I'd remind you that until we meet God, we won't have a clue as to why he allows such things to happen.
So why am I so high on the fairness of God? It's simple- he never changes. Politicians can flip-flop throughout their careers, but God never varies from his plan. And since it's his universe and we're just here to please him, he can do whatever he wants. There's a joke that goes something like this:
An atheist scientist was having a conversation with God. Apparently talking directly to God wasn't proof enough of God's existence, but the scientist was debating God that science can duplicate what God does. The atheist went as far as saying he could take a handful of dirt and turn it into a man. God questioned the ability of the scientist, and the scientist then proposed a wager that he could create life just like God did. After the wager was agreed upon, the atheist scientist picked up a handful of dirt to begin his work. "Uh-uh", God said. "Uh-uh, what?", the scientist replied. God said, "You'll have to supply your own dirt."
We frequently try to dictate to God what should and shouldn't be, and I would imagine he's often amused at such silliness. Amused to a point, that is. I serve a God who has his limits, and when we push God, even a tad, he's certainly not happy. The "just believe" people out there often portray God as a kindly old grandfather who wants nothing more than to give us whatever we want. I certainly believe God wants to bless us, but only on his terms. In God's fairness, he isn't going to bless us in ways that will ultimately hurt us. Example: A poor family can barely make ends meet, but is faithful in going to church and giving all they can afford. If they win the lottery, is that from God? My opinion: No. First of all, to win the lottery means they had to gamble in the first place, and I think gambling is unpleasing to God. Secondly, even if God approved of gambling, would a poor family know how to handle huge sums of money? The pattern is almost always the same- when people have nothing and suddenly come into money, they go a little crazy. They haven't had to understand about dealing with wealth, so it becomes "on the job training". Sadly, there are people out there seeking to take advantage of a situation like this, so the odds of poor people being able to benefit from a windfall is very slim. In hearing interviews with poor people who became rich and then went back to being poor within a few years, I hear a common theme: "I wish I'd never won- I'm worse off now than before".
Maybe the thing I like best about the fairness of God is his treatment of people. No matter who you are, God treats you the same as the guy next door or the guy across the globe. Donald Trump can get a choice table in the finest restaurants in New York, but I can't. George W. Bush runs the most powerful country in the world but I don't even control one person. Whether it's Trump or Bush or any other important person, guess what? I'm just as important to God as any of them, simply because God is completely fair. God may bless one person more than another, but we're all equal in God's eyes.
So what does the fairness of God have to do with you and I? It's simple- maybe you don't work as hard as you should on your job since you seldom, if ever, get recognized for doing a good job. That's not fair. Maybe you drive over the speed limit every day since "everyone else does it". That's not fair either. But when we look at the entirety of living a solid Christian life, God takes everything we do into consideration. No, we can't "work our way to Heaven", but we can certainly make an active choice to disregard God's instructions to us, thereby making our path to Heaven much more difficult than it should be.
The fairness of God benefits all people who seek justice. Do you?