How fair do you want to play in a world that doesn’t follow your rules. You find a cell phone, you trace its owner and return it. But a week later you lose your cell phone and find out too late that the bloke who found it has called all the friends he has around the country. So now you’re not only without a phone but with an unpayable bill as well! Not fair, you scream. There’s no justice! And you nurse the pain and anguish of living in an unfair world. But what should be our response? How do we respond to these kinds of situations? Bill Gates, Microsoft’s supremo says this: “Life is not fair; get used to it.”
“Life is not fair; get used to it.”
Straight, direct words and well said, I may add. Get used to it, stop fighting it. Expecting the world to be fair to you because you are a good person is like expecting the bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian, says one anonymous writer. The world doesn’t necessarily have to play by your set of “fair” rules, they have a right to play by theirs. The question really is: will you be sucked in to playing by “their” rules or will you still manage to stand by yours? Will you still play fair because “fairness” is who you are, or will you capitulate to “unfair” behaviour and become who you are not? A tough task, but one that needs to be addressed if you plan on staying on in this “unfair world.”
So how do we respond? How do we handle the “unfairness” of our world? The answer, though simple is not simplistic. We handle it according to our nature, our principles, our values, and for us as Christians that nature, those values and principles are given to us by the One who lives and directs our lives. And the One who does that, the One we call Jesus, invites us to be counter-culture. Consider a sampling:
- You’re invited to be in the world but not to follow the world.
- You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavours of this world.You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colours in the world.
- You’re to love your enemies so that it brings out the best in you, not the worst, and there are more, but for paucity of space, we’ll stop…
Yes, counter culture is the way we ought to live. Counter, that is to the world. So how do you play fair in an unfair world? Be true to yourself, to your new God-given nature; don’t be reactive to the unfairness of the world, be pro-active to the refining God is doing in you. As the Message says: “You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously towards others, the way God lives towards you.” (Matthew 5:48)
Play fair people, that’s part of your new DNA!
Agapé
Rev. Dr. Cecil Clements