That's Not Fair

Since August of last year, my wife has been working as the office manager at an out-patient drug and alcohol rehab clinic. Periodically she'll make a comment about a client that will talk with her (without using names, of course). Fairly often my wife comments on the way most of the clients beginning their recovery are initially unwilling to take responsibility for the condition in which they find themselves. They are usually convinced that it is up to someone else to do something about their problematic situation. Initially, says my wife, few of them take responsibility for the choices they are making now.

Children are notorious for the quip, "That's not fair!" I remember hearing it from my siblings (I'm the oldest of four) when we were growing up -- especially at times, for example, when I was allowed to stay up an hour later at night than they were. I remember my son saying it when we wouldn't allow him to participate in an activity his friends were doing. I've heard
lots of adults say it, too.

While there are lots of things about which I believe I'm fully qualified to declare as "fair" or "unfair," there are lots more that I am not. But there is one thing about which I believe I can declare with absolute accurateness and authority... Life Is Not Fair! There are a lot of people, just right around me let alone in the rest of the world, who experience life in profoundly unfair ways. Good friends of ours, who now live 2 1/2 hours away, are experiencing some of the hardest things a family can experience without any fault of their own. They are experiencing - and have been experiencing for many years - the profound unfairness of life. My heart breaks for them and those like them. But they are some of the most gracious, kind-hearted, compassionate people you will ever know. Life certainly has not been fair to them but they have decided that, despite the severe things they seem to have to always live with, they are not defeated and they take responsibility for their choices. Those choices include attitude, respect and kindness towards others, faith in the gracious sovereignty of God... and more.

So here's my conclusion. "Life" may not be fair but "life" is not what determines our character. Our own choices, the ones over which we have full control, determine who and what kind of person we are. You may have a tendency towards anger over the unfairness of life and over those whom you perceive treat you unfairly, but the choice you have is not how life and others treat you, but how you treat others, how you will approach life.

If you live expecting life in this world to be fair the likelihood is that you will live in either frustration and anger or in depression and defensiveness... or some combination of those.

But God is always good. He always does the right thing at the right time. God himself does not deal with us in terms of fairness. If God did what was "fair" we'd all be condemned to hell. Instead, all that "fairness" fell upon the Son of God, Jesus Christ. What we get from God, now, is not "fair." It's grace.

A Religion of Peace?

I haven’t seen the cartoons, so I can’t say anything about them. I have seen the violent demonstrations against those cartoons by Muslims… or at least I’ve seen what the media has broadcast.

So here’s the question… Just what IS a “religion of peace?”

Jesus said, “If all you do is love those who love you, so what? Even thieves do that much!”

If the only time peace is demonstrated is when things all around are going your way, so what? If your ability to be at peace and act peacefully is wholly dependant upon your circumstances, so what?

Look, I don’t fault those Muslims (and I’m not saying they are representative of all Muslims or of true Islam) for being angry. I don’t fault them for acting out their anger. I can understand and empathize with how they feel. But I do fault them for declaring themselves to be part of a group that declares peace as a way of life… and then doesn’t. And it would be one thing if this were an isolated incident but it is not. This is consistent with how Muslims have acted since the very beginning of Islam. This is consistent with how their own prophet acted. (This is a matter of historical record and not conjecture.)

I’ve not said Islam is not a religion of peace… but where is the evidence that it is such? It would seem to me that one of the best ways to understand what a particular “movement” (I know, Islam is more than a movement, but give me a little license here for the moment) is about is to identify how the founder(s) of that movement acted in concert with what they taught.

Mohammed said, “Kill those who rise up against you.” He slaughtered hundreds. Muslims who followed Mohammed (the earliest followers) understood him and imitated him.

Jesus said, “Love your enemies.” Christians who followed Jesus (the earliest followers) understood him, too, and imitated him.

So I ask the question again… Just what IS a religion of peace? Where do I go to see that? Towards whom do I look?