that’s not fair! by Jeff Olson

Go ahead. Say these words out loud: “That’s not fair!” Whether as a sibling, a spouse, an employee, or a sports fan, we’ve all said those words. At some point, we’ve all compared ourselves to someone else or their situation and concluded that we’ve gotten a raw deal.

The cry of unfairness appears in a parable Jesus told in Matthew 20. It’s the story of a landowner who paid his workers the same wage, even though some had worked the whole day while others had worked just the last hour (Matthew 20:1-10). The men who put in a full day felt shortchanged, and they protested (Matthew 20:11-12). They pointed out that they had worked longer and harder. They had borne the brunt of the work. They worked through the heat of the day, while the guys who only worked an hour barely broke a sweat. And yet the landowner paid everyone the same amount.

I have to admit that a part of me struggles with this story. I find myself identifying with the guys who worked a full day. The hours and the workload was unequal. And yet the pay was equal. That’s obviously not fair! At the same time, the landowner paid these men exactly what they agreed to work for, which was entirely fair (Matthew 20:13-14).

As with all of Jesus’ parables, there’s a deeper meaning to the story. It’s true that the workers who worked only an hour didn’t deserve the same amount of pay as those who worked all day. But one of the larger reasons they were equally compensated was to illustrate that God is generous to those who do not deserve generosity, which includes us.

Thankfully, in Jesus’ kingdom “those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last” (Matthew 20:16).

http://www.ourdailyjourney.org/2011/10/01/that%E2%80%99s-not-fair/