What does it mean for something to be fair? To be honest, this is one of my pet-peeves. It is like finglenails on a chalkboard to me when I hear some child whine "It's not fair!" The saddest part is that most adults fall for this same misunderstanding of "fair" as well. So let's define fair.
Fair: Getting what you deserve
Fair is NOT getting what my neighbor got. Fairness is not equality. They are two different things. According to the United States Declaration of Independence, all men are created equal, meaning that they all have the same opportunity (life, liberty and the persuit of happiness). It does not mean that they will all use that opportunity to earn the same rewards. However most people seem to hold to this incorrect meaning. Let me give you an example. If out of my own graciousness and kindness, I bring home a candy bar for one of the children, but not the others. When I give that candy bar to the child and the others yell "It's not fair!" My response is going to be: "You are correct I am being perfectly fair to you. You earned nothing and that is exactly what you got. I am being unfair to the child with the candy bar, because he earned nothing as well but I gave him a candy bar anyways. That is called mercy, grace and kindness. Just because I am merciful to him does not mean that I must be merciful to you." If you don't like that idea or if you think that I am mistaken, compare my example of fairness to what Jesus had to say.
Matthew 20:1-16 - “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. 3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went. “He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ 7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’ 8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ 9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ 13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”