Two Kinds of Fairness
What do we mean when we say life is or is not fair? God, in His infinite wisdom, does not operate with just one definition of fairness, but juggles two.
The most obvious form of fairness is the strict administration of justice, where everyone gets exactly what they deserve, no more, no less.
However, an alternative type of fairness is achieved through impartiality, where everyone is treated the same, regardless of merit.
For example, when two teams flip a coin to determine who gets the ball first, the outcome has nothing to do with which team is more deserving. A coin is flipped because the result is impartial, and that’s what makes it fair.
So randomness is fair when it shows no favoritism, while justice is fair when it does. In what sense, then, does God seek to be fair with us? Is it with the justice of a gavel striking the sound block, or with the impartiality of a coin spinning through the air?
Jesus addressed this issue head-on when he said, “Love those who are lovable. Pray for those who are deserving of your support, that you may be just like your Father in heaven. For He causes the sun to shine on the virtuous, and He directs the rain to fall exclusively on the fields of the faithful.”
You might be thinking that doesn’t sound much like Jesus, and you'd be right. What I just cited was what Bizarro Jesus might have said if he hailed from an alternate reality where justice, not grace, reigned supreme. The actual words of Jesus, hailing from our reality, where grace is the name of the game, are as follows: “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:44-45, NKJV).
According to Jesus, God is fair, not with a fairness that rewards the deserving, but with a fairness that demonstrates the equal value that He places on each of us. In other words, God is fair by being uncompromisingly indiscriminate.
The criteria that govern the distribution of the rain are the same criteria by which God determines what circumstances land in our lives. The determining factor is not our personal piety, but God’s boundless, impartial love. As we consider some of the unwanted things that have found their way into our lives, the surprising twist is that it was God’s indiscriminate love, not His judgment, displeasure or indifference, that placed them there!
People of faith often suggest that there are no accidents in life. Actually, there are, but according to this passage of Scripture, they’re all on purpose! Through an arbitrary distribution of life’s circumstances, God is fair while simultaneously demonstrating the indiscriminate nature of His love for all humanity.
Random Pieces of Life's Puzzle
A friend of mine once gave me a thousand-piece puzzle. It was a beautiful picture on the box, an ocean sunset with waves crashing against the rocks. Excited, I poured the pieces onto the table and started working.
At first, it was fun. Fitting the edges and finding the bright colors of the sky. But as the hours passed, frustration crept in. Some pieces didn’t seem to fit anywhere. Others looked like they belonged but were just a little off. After a while, I was tempted to give up. It felt like a mess, and I couldn’t see how it would ever come together.
Days later, I returned to the puzzle, unwilling to just walk away without seeing the beauty of the end product.
Slowly, piece by piece, it started to take shape. What once felt like random, useless pieces were actually critical parts of the most beautiful sections.
Life can feel like that unfinished puzzle. There are pieces of pain, confusion, and unanswered questions that don’t seem to fit. But God sees the whole picture when we only see fragments. Even when we don’t understand, we can trust that He is working everything together for our good. The pieces that feel out of place today might be part of a greater masterpiece He is creating in your life.
While it might be tempting to throw your hands up and just walk away, stick with the process. At the other end of patience, perservernace, and endurance comes beauty and joy.
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance [endurance]. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" (James 1:2-4).
"Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope" (Romans 5:3-4, ESV).
Pray in the Name and Power of Christ
"A person cannot always speak in the name of another; cannot do it at all unless he has received an authorization so to do. Then he stands as that person’s deputy; stands in his place; speaks in his name. I am sure that nine out of ten of the prayers of Christians are not offered in the name of Christ, and could not be. It would be a sin against Christ for such prayers to be supposed to be the prayers of Christ. ... But when we talk of the Spirit of God, and we dare ask in the name and use the seal of Christ, to set his signature at the bottom of our petition, then, brethren, depend upon it. Christ will do it." - Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Several times a week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt steps to the podium to relay to an awaiting press pool the mind and intentions of the president, Donald J. Trump. She does so as all of her predecessors have done. For example: Jen Psaki and Karine Jean-Pierre, on behalf of President Joe Biden; Dana Perino and Ari Fleisher on behalf of President George W. Bush; George Stephanopoulos on behalf of President Bill Clinton; Jim Brady on behalf of Ronald Reagan; Jody Powell on behalf of Presdient Jimmy Carter; and so on.
When they speak from that podium, they dare not speak their own mind. They are conveying policy, they are conveying presidential action, they are conveying administrative intent. To speak their own mind, heart, or opinion would be to misprepresent the office of the presidency, and would be a gross violation of their calling and position.
Likewise, when we pray in the name of Jesus, we are proclaiming that we are praying on His behalf of His authority.
But are we?!
- - Authorization Requirement: Speaking or acting for another requires authorization. This authorization allows one to represent the other person. As believers, we are "authorized" to speak in Jesus' name, in so much as we do not speak amiss. "If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it" (John 14:14, ESV).
- - Praying "In the Name of Christ": Many Christian prayers are not offered "in the name of Christ". Praying in Jesus' name signifies approaching God based on Christ's merit, not one's own, and seeking to please Him and glorify the Father. "Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son" (John 14:13, ESV).
- - Misunderstanding "In Jesus' Name": Adding "in Jesus' name" at the end of a prayer does not guarantee praying with Christ's authority. It signifies aligning prayers with Christ's character and intentions.
- - Authentic Prayer: To pray in Jesus' name requires understanding Him, His actions, and His promises. It means acknowledging reliance on Him for access to God and praying according to God's will. "And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us" (1 John 5:14, ESV).
- - Caution: Prayers not aligned with Christ's will or character are considered a sin against Him and should expect no response or fulfillment. "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures" (James 4:3, NKJV).
Prayers in Jesus' name should be shaped as Christ might offer them and submitted to God's will.
Just as the presidential press secretaries are bound by duty and postion to speak soley in line with the mind and intentions of the president, so must we be quite certain to not overstep the bounds of our own position.
To pray in Jesus' name, we must know the mind of God AND the heart of God, and aptly allign ourselves to it! Only then, when we speak in alignment "with the Spirit of God, and we dare ask in the name and use the seal of Christ, to set his signature at the bottom of our petition, can we depend upon it. Christ will do it."
"If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you" (John 15:7, NIV).