"God's Favor Isn't Fair!, Really?"

God's Favor Isn’t/Ain’t Fair is a phrase sometimes uttered when someone receives an unexpected gift or has a positive response to their prayer.  Viewing God in such a manner is troubling because it suggests that God truly has a list of favorites.  If God's favor ain't fair, Christians might do well to reevaluate the God to whom they confess their allegiance.

Perhaps, God isn’t the problem; maybe the Christian’s definition or understanding of God is the problem. Or could I be incorrect for suggesting there is a problem?

When Christians bask in the notion of God choosing them over/at the expense of others, does their response demonstrate a well-nourished understanding of God? Or might their concept of God be more exemplary of the divisive and bereft nature of people (the creation)?  

Asserting that one is favored is informed by the need to be first, special, better than, etc. Leading to an unhealthy drive to head the food chain even to the extent of classifying God as one that mocks and labels "the other" as not favored. History records the flaws and destructive consequence of such thought: i.e. slavery, Holocaust, Jim Crow. Philosopher Samuel von Pufendorf warns us: “More inhumanity has been done by man himself than any other causes”.

Too often our inhumanity is cloaked in God or religious accouterment.

When we suggest that God’s favor isn’t fair, we in essence claim that God is unfair. In doing so, we deprive people of hope! We are telling the "not yet favored" that God's gifts aren't for them. Is that the message, we want the world to hear about a God we say, loves ALL? 

Think about it in these terms, the gifts of God are denied to others because "Favor ain't fair"! Really? So:

• the 870 million people in the world suffering from chronic malnourishment,          are not favored?  
• the more than 16 million children in the U.S. that live in households with an income below the poverty line, are not favored?
• the near 3 million people receiving jobless benefits, are not favored?
• the 634,000 people that experience homelessness on any given night in the U.S., are not favored?
• the 32 million adults in the U.S. and the 774 million people in the world who     can’t read, are not favored?

Be careful what you believe because actions follow beliefs!

Announcing, "favor isn't fair" is akin to the first grader bragging she/he was the only one to receive a special gift card from their teacher. The teacher’s gift wasn't motivated by the teacher loving/liking the student more than their classmates. The Christian; like the first grader, proclaiming God's favor of themselves over others, places the character of God in question:  Does God love you more than me? Is God selective with whom He blesses? Does God give certain people/ groups preferential treatment?   How does God choose who receives His gifts? Do I matter to God? Does/Did God really "so loved the world"? We might consider the following:

Does God have character issues or have Christians

misappropriated the meaning of God’s gifts?

Perhaps, we are too quick in defining God through our own prisms and too slow in allowing ourselves to be shaped and defined by God! Maybe, we lack a correct/accurate understanding of the nature of God. If we discover that God is indeed the lover of ALL our souls, we would know that God’s favor extends to everyone. Favor isn’t measured in material possession, social status or economic status but is measured in God’s love for His creation. God’s favor for ALL of us is so great that Romans 8 reminds us that NOTHING we have or lack ”will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”.

Some of the aforementioned people have a greater appreciation for what God’s favor is because despite their circumstances; they continue to see the favor of God’s love at work in their lives. Suffering and disappointment may abound but they recognize favor is not defined by one’s power over, accumulation of, or the privilege one receives. When God is rightly perceived; we see and experience God’s true favor; in terms of love, forgiveness and grace.

Proclaiming Favor isn't Fair is divisive and destructive; immediately barriers are cast between the "Favored" and "unFavored". By announcing favor isn't fair, we are saying God has declared winners and losers; and worst of all, the Favored (winners) want us to believe that God proudly crowns them so!