Hey! No Fair!

Who invented the "line"? Who decided there should be an ordered manner of approach applied to a mob of people all seeking the same thing? Whoever it was, they are both a boon and a burden to us all. So, what do you do when someone "cuts" in line in front of you? How do you feel about the person who gets in line and then "holds the place" so that their friend, or friends, can then come get in line alongside them? Feel a little cheated? Slighted? Of course you do.

Humans have an innate sense of what is "fair." What mechanism of our creation prompts us to know what is fair and what isn't is beyond me. I'm certain that there are psychological reasons and theories positing why we know what is fair and what isn't...I just don't know them, and what's more, with or without social norms and a cultural bias, I still think a human being would know what was fair and what wasn't. We often measure what is fair by what we ourselves have endured to attain the same thing another person is seeking. If we've waited for hours to get in to purchase a new computer, then other people who got there before us, and have therefore waited longer, deserve to have access before us while those who arrived later than us and have therefore waited less time deserve to have access after us.

Here's the hard part: as Christians, we are asked to enforce not what is "fair" but what is merciful and charitable and generous of spirit. Ouch, that hurts, huh? But God is a just God you say, surely He understands the tenet of fairness and would not hold it against us for wanting only what is fair and what is due us on account of our efforts. Well, you should really hope you're wrong and that, in addition to being a just God, He is also, and more often, a merciful and generous God.

You know that guy that you're pissed off at for getting to merge ahead of you in traffic because he rode up the right turn lane and then cut over? You're usually hoping that he gets a ticket or gets stuck behind a slow-driving semi or something, right? Well, think back to when you ran a stop sign or a red light because you were distracted and thinking about something else. What about the time you didn't see that other driver and you changed lanes cutting them off? How about the time you inched up close to the car in front of you so that you wouldn't have to let in the guy trying to "cut in line" in front of you...but then when the guy behind you lets them in, you realize they weren't trying to cut in line at all and really only wanted to get into the turn lane; sort of feel like a jerk now, huh?

Here's the thing: if you were  held accountable for all the jerk moves you've made, intentionally or unintentionally, you'd be just as screwed as the guy you think deserves to be "punished." When you realize that you are just as much in need of mercy as the other guy, it becomes easier for you to let things go, show forgiveness and generosity, and feel like you're actually making a positive impact on your world...which is really what you should be striving to achieve as a Christian, not making a "fair" world.