Fairness

Born in Seattle, Washington in 1955, Bill Gates, since 1995 has been at the top of the world's richest men. Co-founder of Microsoft, philanthropist, writer of several books, he has given us his ten rules for success in business: his first rule: life is not fair, get used to it.

Don't confuse success with celebrity, think of Bill Gates and Helen Keller, or Madonna with Joni Eareckson Tada. Think of the thousands of our finest who lie buried in military cemeteries around the world and the Bernie Madoff, Ken Lay, Harvey Milk, Charles Wrangle or the thousands filling America's prisons who have chosen the low road rather than the high road of life. Their vote in an election counts just as much as yours. Prisoners eat better than most disabled veterans.

Studying history, we know what happened to most of the corrupt historical figures in the world. Not only did most of them suffer here on earth, but if everything we believe to be true about eternity, they will suffer forever. One of the most revered men in history is King David, although a first class sinner, spending his live in many psalms in repentance, was a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22). David's son, King Solomon, world's wisest and richest man, 300 wives, 700 concubines, builder of the great temple, wonder of the world, still richest building ever built (est. 14 billion dollars), bowed when his mother Bathsheba came into the room. King's fathers were never mentioned, except in this case, but their mothers were always given prominence.

You may not be a king or even related to royalty, but it is a sorry man who does not honor his mother, the fairness involved in what she went through to give you birth and to raise you. I like to see a boy pull out a chair for his mother at a table in a restaurant. Abortion is still inconceivable to the hearts and minds of most people. We are only responsible for sin, but ours is a destiny of sacrifice (Romans 1). The person who deserves the most is always the weakest, the person who deserves the least is always the greatest. A group of university seniors were asked to put the ten commandments in the order in which they considered their importance. Of course, as expected they put #1. Not to murder, #2 Not to steal, these are laws in every civilization, religious or not. Their ninth commandment was honoring father and mother, and their tenth commandment, a total reversal of the commandments which God Himself had given, honoring God and having no idols before Him.

There is a joy in goodness, a satisfaction in fairness. We like to see the criminal punished, justice rewarded. I said to a detective recently, having reported things taken from a house by a tenant, “this boy is not the criminal type, he is just young and dumb.” It is not always the monetary value of a theft with vacating tenants, (towels, bathroom rugs, kitchenware, wastebaskets, trashcans, shower curtains, curtain rods, brooms, chairs) but it is the aggravation of having to replace these things, the time and money involved. Careless driving in a parking lot, when you slightly damage anothers' car, is not a matter of vehicular accident, but it ruins the aesthetic, psychological enjoyment of your car as well as the time and expense in returning it to it's undamaged condition.

I remember arriving in the country of Togo, the customs officer let me know real quick that he expected a five-dollar tip in order for me to get my suitcase. Going into India, my guide went to the duty-free shop to get gifts for the customs officers. It ruins your trips to these places to know you are exploited at the very doorway of the country.

If every person were born the right color skin, the right hair color, eye color, healthy, wealthy, wise. All the genetic code that makes life fair, then we would have nothing for which to wish or want, pray or work and we would get very tired of one another.

It took me a long time to get over the unfairness of blindness. But, it is only when we are down that we can look up. Christ told us that we must die in order to live, this is the advantage of farm life, only through seed do you have harvest. Only by giving to do you get. Only though death do you live.