Fairness VI

And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.

 - From Zephaniah 3

As I begin the second half of these reflections on the subject of "fairness," with a nod towards Advent themes, I am struck with how little space is given to the very theme of "fairness."

Yes, justice is promised to the children of God. But justice is given equal treatment to other themes: the requirement for us to be pure, and to practice godly, i.e. unselfish, sacrificial love.

God's people are not expected to point the finder and holler "That's not fair!" There's a fine line: we should pursue justice and an even playing field for all. We want our justice system to be blindly fair. This is good and we should structure our institutions accordingly.

But when our pursuit of justice is based on our own selfish desires "I want what they have," then it is not godly at all. Our response to unfairness in our personal lives is expected to be, to share with others, even if we're poor.

And, if you're convinced of eternal life, and you have the right perspective . . . why be concerned about how fair things are in this life, and in this world? Do you want the world to be a fair place? Then be fair!

Studies show that all people share two priorities when it comes to how they vote. We all want a community that cares, and we want one that is fair. We look for that in our candidates. And it turns out that people have different definitions of what it means to "care," and to be "fair." (And since our perspectives on these concepts are so divergent, maybe politics is not the place to sort it out).

God cares, deeply, about the outcast. But I think it is the outcast that can't help being outcast. When you go and do things that make you an outcast, rather than making your focus the betterment of others (which is as is should be) then I'm not sure that's what God has in mind. And He definitely cares about those that are outcast, because of their practice of godly purity and charity. Now that is an outcast after God's own heart!

God's got your back. He may not fix things right away. But in the end, He's got you covered. And that's pretty fair.