The Moral Concept of “Fair”

There are many Gospel topics with meanings related to the concept of “Fair”, such as just, merciful, kind, understanding, loving, gracious, forgiving, equal etc. All of these appear in the scriptures in the context of actions, where God relates to His children.

Yet nowhere in the section of Study Helps of the scriptures was I able to find a reference to “Fair” except in the context of describing the beauty of an individual or a group of people.

Could it be that the human concept of “Fair” is simply not a part of the Divine Dictionary?

Let me illustrate the problem by comparing a present-day work situation with the parable Christ gave of the laborers in the vineyard.

Two men are hired by a company to do a certain job. Both are happy, they like the work situation, they like the fellow workers, they are happy with the salary until one discovers that his friend, doing the same job as he, earns twice as much. He is upset with the unfairness of his salary.

In a parable, Christ compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a householder who hires workers for his vineyard. He hires them at different times of day and in the evening pays each a penny as agreed.

The murmuring on each case is the result of selfishness. The main difference is the fact that the first situation is based on human values, the second relates to eternal values. The ultimate prize in the kingdom of Heaven is Eternal Life, a commodity which cannot be earned. Try as we might, we can never meet a divine standard on our own, “by grace are we saved after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23). Christ makes up for the difference between where we are, and where we need to be, for all who accept Him and His atoning sacrifice by making the sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit, with all that means in terms of repentance, love of God, love of fellow men and serving Him with all our heart, might, mind and strength, as well as accepting and obeying the principles and actions associated with saving Gospel ordinances.

The question of fairness never enters the picture. Paul, in the first epistle to the Corinthians lists the characteristics of charity, the pure love of Christ. Among them he states “Charity seeketh not her own”. In other words, if we have charity, we do not insist on receiving that, to which we are entitled, but rather step back to give an opportunity to someone in need.

The fact, of course is, that in view of eternal issues, the two are not that different. The Kingdom of Heaven represents the purpose of life, and unless we apply eternal standards to our earthly values, we will not have done “all we can do” and we will not “be saved by grace”.

In the spring General Conference of 1978 President Kimball suggested three fundamental things needed to build “Zion”. “First, we must eliminate the individual tendency to selfishness that snares the soul, shrinks the heart, and darkens the mind”. (General Welfare Session, General Conference April 1978, Becoming the pure in heart, Spencer W. Kimball)

If we truly learn to cease being selfish, we will begin to love our “neighbors” and a concern for fairness will no longer be an issue in our personal relations, racial or otherwise.