Colossians 3:23 – 4:1
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.”
In a recent conversation with my daughter, who is ten years old, we discussed the topic of fairness. The topic came up because she had believed that she had been treated unfairly by a friend of hers, and she was upset. I first consoled her. Then, I explained to her that fairness, in the sense she had used the term, is actually just a man made concept, and not Biblical one. She was puzzled at first as to what I had meant. I then explained to her that fairness is Biblical when we apply it to others. But, when we expect others to apply it to us, it is selfish.
The type of fairness illustrated above, by Paul, is fairness according to God. The type of fairness expressed by my daughter is fairness according to man.
We have all been guilty of, at some point, selfishly expressing discontentment by proclaiming that a violation of fairness has occurred, just as my daughter did. In other words, such a proclamation is really just a crafty way of making it seem like we are being victimized when something doesn’t go our way. The thing is though, in light of God’s sovereignty, when we deal the “that’s not fair” card, we are actually at it’s very core, expressing displeasure… with God.
(I’ll let that sink in a moment.)
“For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.”
If what Paul is saying is true, then we (Christians) have no reason to ever proclaim, “that’s not fair.” We are to be “serving the Lord Christ”, not ourselves.
And if that’s true, then we are to apply fairness to others, regardless of whether or not they are fair to us.
Why?
Because, we should know that we “have a Master in heaven,” and that whatever we do, we are to remember to “work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.”
That inheritance… is Christ. He paid for our wrongdoing on the cross 2,000 years ago, and in His future judgement, “the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.” Until then, no matter what the circumstances may be, we are to always be fair.
Do you believe that?
Godspeed, to the brethren!
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