You’ve heard it, right? As a matter of fact, you’ve probably said it, perhaps multiple times. Something happens that doesn’t go exactly the way you had hoped, or planned, or dreamed, and the thought immediately comes to mind: That’s not fair!

It begins at an early age. You ask permission to do something, to go somewhere, to purchase the newest gimmick, to get in on the latest fad, to go to the once-in-a-lifetime event, to attend the greatest party ever, or any of a gazillion other must-have, must-do things. And in response to your request, you hear your parent say, “If….. then.” If you finish your homework,” or “if you complete all your chores,” or “if you clean your room every day,” or…… You get the picture. To which you immediately responded, “That’s not fair!” Oh, really? Why do we think that we are the standard setters for what is fair and unfair? As a matter of fact, what exactly does it mean to say that something isn’t fair? What, exactly, is fairness?

To see how diverse the word ‘fair’ is, simply look it up in the dictionary. It would take a lot of space to copy and paste the multi-faceted definition of this much often over-used word. It goes far beyond the scope of this blog to deal with the varied nuances of this word.

What I do want to focus on is this matter of fairness when we feel that in some way we have been wronged, treated in an unfair manner. And again, I would pose the question, who sets the standard for what is fair and unfair?

* “That teacher is so unfair! I deserved a better grade than this!”

* “My parents are so unfair! All my friends are going to the party – why can’t I?”

* “My employer is so unfair! I deserved that promotion more than Ted. They only gave it to him because he is such a manipulator.”

* “This diagnosis is so unfair! Why did God allow me to contract this disease? I’ve tried my best to live for His glory. Why does He allow so many wicked people to enjoy a carefree life, while He has robbed me of the future?”

* “It’s so unfair for that my son has made the choices he has made! We did our best to rear him with the best opportunities, and he has just wasted it all!”

Every one of those statements establishes one truth: we define the word “fair” according to our personal situations and preferences. Fairness is often defined by circumstances of life. Something happens, and we immediately conclude that it is either fair or unfair by our personal standard. We may be the recipient of the awful diagnosis, and immediately think that it is so unfair. However, we might hear of someone else receiving the same diagnosis and think that they have received exactly what they deserved. So, it was unfair for me to receive that word, but it was totally fair for them to receive the same thing. I would ask the question: Is that fair? Is it fair for us to think something is fair for one and unfair for another? That, to me, is the perfect picture of being unfair!

I would suggest that this idea of fairness, and more importantly how we define fairness, is based completely on our worldview. How do you view the world? Through which set of lens do you see things, understand things, define things? There are many different sets of lens that can be used: the lens of humanism, secularism, atheism, agnosticism, pantheism, panentheism, deism, theism. Our personal understanding of fairness will be based on our worldview.

We could spend much time and space discussing each of these, but that is not the purpose of this blog. Rather, I will focus my thoughts on the theistic worldview, and, even more specifically, the theistic worldview based upon the teachings of the Bible.

I will look more in my next blog about specific teachings from Scripture pertaining to this subject, but I do need to at least introduce the matter here. The Bible teaches clearly that God is the creator of all things, and that all things were pronounced to be ‘good’ by Him at the conclusion of six consecutive days of creation. This pronouncement of ‘good’ is to be understood in light of the fact that it was made before the corruption of sin entered the picture. God created man and woman, placed them into a perfect environment, blessed them immensely, and then instructed them to fill the earth.

God did, however, introduce a condition to the couple’s ability to remain in the perfect paradise, and to enjoy continual fellowship with God. That condition was broken by Adam and Eve, and thus ensued a state of brokenness between man and God.

The taint of sin affected everything. Adam and Eve were banned from the paradise they had enjoyed, and their intimacy with God was severed. Whereas they had enjoyed the provisions of God, they would now have to work for those provisions. The ground, which had previously yielded its fruit voluntarily, would now have to be tilled, and weeded, and watered, and nurtured. The labor would now be by the sweat of the brow.

Soon it became obvious just how awful the introduction of sin would affect mankind. Adam and Eve’s first two children, Cain and Abel, would graphically display the terrible consequences of sin, as Cain would murder his brother.

Now, you may be wondering how all this fits into a discussion on fairness. Let me conclude this week’s discussion by posing a couple of questions for you to ponder before next week’s blog. Was God fair to impose the condition on Adam and Eve? Was God fair in driving them from the garden, and forcing them to live by their own physical labor? Was it fair for Cain to kill his brother, presumably because he was jealous that God accepted Abel’s offering but rejected Cain’s? And finally, was it fair for God to impose on the entire human race the penalty for an act of disobedience committed by His first human family?

Please look for my next blog, “That Isn’t Fair,” part two, next week. In the meantime, please join the discussion. If you have insights you would to share I would love to hear from you. I will gladly include your insights in my next blog. Let’s learn from one another, as we strive to come to a better understanding of true ‘fairness.’