I'm still crippled. I'm still sitting around with not much to do.
That's a lie. I have tons to do. What's good is that most of it doesn't involve my foot - unless it's getting books and computers from one room to another...or going to work (meh).
But in my downtime, I've had a lot of time to sit and think and listen (ok, talk) to God.
Truthfully, my attitude has really stunk the last several weeks. I know it. I'm not proud of it. But this whole, let-others-do-for-you-so-you-can-get-better-thing has really pushed me hard. And I've found myself doing a lot of thinking about fairness. Because in my mind, it's not fair that I can no longer help clean up after dinner and do the dishes. It's not fair that I get yelled at by the people around me when I try to get up and do something on my own. It's not fair that I get angry with people who pay no attention to the fact that I'm on crutches and can only do so much with no available hands and one semi-good foot. It's not fair that when someone needs something, I can't just get up and get it for them. It's not fair that other people's schedules have had to readjust to my crippledness. It's not fair.
And as I've been whining about all of this to God, I started wondering what scripture says about fairness, and to that end...is fairness even a biblical concept?? Or is that another one of our western, "democratic" ideas that we assume is for the best of everyone?
The first scripture to pop into my head was the Golden Rule - "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Or if you want it in biblical terms, "love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:31). Logically, this makes sense, right? In kindergarten terms, it translates into "don't hit if you don't want to get hit", "be nice to the teacher if you want the teacher to be nice to you", "help a friend who's in need", etc. In adult terms I translate this as, "I do my best not to let my life overflow into yours in an inconvenient way, and you do the same" and "if I do something nice for you, you'll return the favor at a convenient time." But when asked "who is my neighbor?", Jesus responded with the story of the Good Samaritan - a man who went out of his way, with no necessity to help out one in need (who was NOT his friend)....
Naturally, my spirit kept prodding....Because then I thought, "What a great idea to do a quick study on what the bible says about fairness!"
I won't take you through the WHOLE thought process, but here's a quick look at some of the highlights I found:
James 2:1-5 (which we just discussed in study group about a month ago!) - My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?
Ecc 9:11 - Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.
Prov 16:11 - A just balance and scales are the Lords, all the weights in the bag are his work.
Matt 20:16 - "So the last shall be first and the first shall be last"...coming at the end of the story about the laborers who all agreed to work for a denarius.
Gal 3:28 - There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
and finally,
John 3:16,17 - “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
I've been doing a lot of complaining because I'm the cripple and it's not fair that I should be unable to take care of myself. But through a brief run through the scriptures here's the truth that I've come to in a new light:
Life is not fair.
Whether I'm the poor one or the rich one, the healthy one or the sick one, the right gender, color, height, weight, educated or not, we will ALL one day be judged by the righteousness and justice of God. And THAT is the only standard that will matter in the end. He is good and just in all things, but He showed mercy when we had no hope of redeeming ourselves because of His love for us. He asks us to do the same.
He doesn't ask us to be fair for the sake of equality; He doesn't ask us to act justly for the sake of legalism; and He doesn't ask us to live righteously so that we can be better than the lost who have not experienced His grace. All of those things allow us to judge "fairly" based on ourselves.
He asks us to love others so that the world "will know we are His by our love one for another" (John 13:35) - this said after Jesus washed the disciple's feet.
It takes as much humility to graciously receive love as it does to give unearned, unfelt, unsolicited love. It's not fair.
Thank God it's not fair!!
