Grace isn’t About Fair

1681) As a teacher, one of the most difficult interactions I have with my young scholars concerns fairness. If they see me giving someone a “lighter” consequence than they receive, it’s stirs them up. Of course, at their age, it’s hard to understand that different isn’t necessarily inequitable.

As much as I’d like it not to be true, as adults, we can have the same reaction when we feel someone is getting away with something, especially something far worse in our minds.

The parable of the workers in the vineyard, found in Matthew 20:1-16 illustrate a truth that when applied to others, we often dislike but when applied to us, we freely embrace.

In this story, the landowner hires workers at three different times, yet, at the end of the day, they all receive the same pay. Those who worked longer object to this and the landowner demonstrates that the issue does not lie with the work they have done, but with his generosity and graciousness.

Grace is not about what we have (or haven’t) done, but about the character of the giver. It’s not about fairness. Thank God!