Wednesday's Word

That's not fair!

Since the time I have become a Christian I have grown to hate the above sentence, especially when people use it in a conversation about God's sovereignty. I am also learning that fair in the world of economics is also absurd. Recently I have been reading a book by Paul Thorson titled, "Painting In The Dark". It's a short 160 some pages and filled with real life and real truth. The excerpt below is Paul's analogy to a girl in one of his classes who asked, "How is it fair for God to randomly pick and choose some and let others just fly right by and into hell."

Here is his reply/analogy that can be found on pages 68-69:

"So, all of humankind is gathered on a cliff. But standing there, we suddenly feel someone else is present. Like the feeling we have when walking at night and we sense that there is someone closing in behind us. A foreboding type of feeling. Our heart is pounding, our pulse racing, we don't know who or what is there and we are afraid to look over our shoulder and see. As we turn around to see who it is we let out a collective scream. 'Aiii! Quick, jump! It's a holy God!' We don't fall; we jump off the cliff together, to escape God.

"You see, I don't want to go to hell, but in that moment, staring into those holy eyes, I'd rather be anywhere else. Heaven only feels like heaven to those who are at peace with the King of heaven. In Romans 5, we read that those who are justified by faith have peace with God.

"But this is unthinkable for enemies of God. And Paul calls those who don't know Jesus 'enemies' just a few verses later in this same chapter in Romans (v.9). At the time God found us, we were not longing for peace with God; we wanted victory over God, or at least protection from the wrath of God. We weren't looking for Him; we were hiding from Him."

"This is where your analogy becomes so interesting", I said. All of humankind has jumped off the cliff and we are falling into hell. And yes, God reached His hand down to catch some people. Suddenly the hand catches a woman falling near me. I instinctively curl up, hoping He won't notice me. And as the woman vanishes, I turn to a guy near me and wipe my forehead, 'Whew, that was close. For a second there I thought He was after me!' He nods his head in agreement, never taking his eyes off that spot where the woman had been moments before.

"Once again the hand appears; the man I was talking to is gone. Oh, no! Again, I feel real terror. 'The poor guy...' No sooner do the words escape my lips than the hand appears again. But this time I feel a sudden change come over me and I realize two things at once: The hand is coming for me; there is no escape. And, My heart is willing; now I want Him to catch me. And he does! And it is wonderful, not terrifying, and it is perfect, not terrible."

Our arguments for "fairness" presuppose that we are wiser than God. We think that we deserve a chance to know God. But even the idea that we first wanted to know Him is a deception. And when we realize this, we realize the foolishness of believing we have a reputation worth protecting in the first place.

We have missed the point in our arguments about whether it is fair of God to choose some people for Himself but not choose others. We assume that everyone wants to be chosen and those who are not feel somehow cheated.