Every parent has heard the words. Every leader has heard the words. Every mediator has heard the words. “That’s not fair!”
There is a root thought that causes us to want fairness and it isn’t a desire for fairness. A root cause for ‘fairness’ is actually greed.
In Luke 12:13-15 there is a brief account of a man asking Jesus to tell his brother to divide the inheritance his brother was going to get. In that day, the oldest brother got everything. The younger brother got what was left over. The younger brother was asking for life to be fair. I find it interesting that Jesus didn’t challenge the cultural norm of the day. Instead he drilled down to the heart of the matter.
Jesus pointedly addresses that the young man was not motivated by fairness, but by greed. “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
There are many lessons in this statement of Jesus’. The fact that he goes to the issue of greed emphasizes that this young man wanted what was not his. This is the essence of greed.
When you’re feeling like you want life to be fair, check your own heart. Are you really wanting something that isn’t yours in the first place?
