…just as the Son of Man did not
come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Matthew 20:28
Fairness is an unchallenged Goliath in the army of humanism.
The modern days soldiers of humanism see the “fair” treatment of humans as an
inalienable right of individuals, to the exclusion of the old notion that there
is a God to whom man is accountable. The Humanist Manifesto mockingly scorns
such notions. (See the Humanist Manifesto.) John Dewey and other important
educational thinkers and psychologists had no use for the idea of obedience to
a God who is no longer needed by an enlightened culture. These humanist thinkers
have dominated educational philosophy for the last 100 years. In support of
humanism, school textbooks have become increasingly politically correct. The
educational texts of the early days of the American republic, such as McGuffy’s
Readers or Noah Webster’s An American Dictionary of the English Language
spoke of a God to whom man is accountable and a Bible that was worth studying.
Humanism and its advocates, such as Dewey and Piaget, openly scorn the
Scriptures and God’s authority. They have exchanged the eternal truths of God
for pragmatic lessons learned by observing children playing marbles. This is
but one reason why the U.S. Supreme Court has gone from quoting Scripture in
its decisions to blatantly rendering decisions that defy the Bible.
Ideas such as sacrifice and repentance are no longer needed,
and certainly must not be taught to young children in school. What has replaced
these “antiquated’ relics of Christianity? Among other things, fairness. The
idea of giving one’s life in service to God is absent in today’s educational
culture. If your children are going to learn the significance of sacrifice they
must learn it from you and your church. Jesus was not interested in fairness,
but in bringing glory to his Father. As John Piper powerfully points out,
sacrificial living ultimately results in what is best for God’s people anyway.
But still, if we are to follow Christ, we must be about giving our lives away.
Fairness is out of place in this setting. As always, please let us know your thoughts about
these things.
Think about this carefully. Consider if fairness has replaced
the sacrificial love of others in our daily lives. If it has, then seek the
courage of a young David to slay this humanistic Goliath. Isaac Watts puts fairness
in perspective with these words from his great hymn, Alas and Did My Savior Bleed.
Was it for crimes that I have done,
he groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!
Well might the sun in darkness hide,
and shut its glories in,
when God, the mighty maker, died
for his own creature’s sin.
Thus might I hide my blushing face
while his dear cross appears;
dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
and melt mine eyes to tears.