Not Fair!

The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!" Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?") When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me." (John 21:17-22)

This is the sticky part of the barbarian call. It's not fair or equitable. When you hear the call, when you follow the call, you must recognize that it is a life-and-death proposition. When you understand what Jesus means when He says that you must follow Him, you finally realize that this is not a cattle call. He is not calling you to the same life that everyone else will live. He's not even calling you to the same path that every follower of Christ will walk. Your life is unique before God, and your path is yours and yours alone. Where God will choose to lead you and how God chooses to use your life cannot be predicted by how God has worked in the lives of others before you. - The Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus, 36-37

We so crave predictability and equity and at the same time we all want to be unique and great. We want to be able to look into Scripture and find out what the rest of our life is going to look like. But as McManus says, "It's not fair or equitable." Having been raised in a culture of "fairness" and "equality" we just sort of expect God to play along. But it doesn't really work like that... HE doesn't work like that.

Equity is the law. We all deserve death. We all deserve punishment. That's what's fair. We must be careful not to hold God accountable to our mired view of fairness and equality. Your call is no better or worse than mine. One is no more fair than the other. To be called is grace, to be used is a privilege, to influence others is a blessing beyond what any of us could ever deserve.