“They were offended and complained to the landowner, saying,‘You’re treating us unfairly! They’ve only worked for one hour while we’ve labored and sweated all day under the scorching sun. You’ve made them equal to us!’”  Matt 20:11-12 TPT

You don’t have to hang out around a playground very long before some kid somewhere can be heard screaming the age old protest: “that’s not fair!” One does not have to be taught to be offended or convinced we live in an unjust world. It comes naturally. It’s universal. It’s life.

As we get older, we’re supposed to learn to manage the fallout from what we perceive to be “unfair” situations. Hopefully, we don’t scream anymore. Hopefully we don’t see the whole world revolving around ME, but are able to put ourselves in the shoes of others, judging not only on the basis of how we feel, but with objectivity, sobriety, perspective. Otherwise, work spaces and social gatherings alike can just become more refined adult playgrounds where tantrums haven’t gone away, but sucked up, suppressed, and incubated. 

Jesus uses the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard to expose this “wicked way” (Ps 139:24) in us. Truth is, the Devil bombards us with the lie that God is unjust. Once we swallow this bait, it is like a hook in our spiritual jaws that we need to fight with basslike ferocity to dislodge. The parable was directed especially at the disciples, meant to correct misconceptions about God’s nature, and root out attitudes that impede true fellowship with one’s brothers. 

Notice how the workers “were offended and complained to the landowner”, who of course represents God the Father in the parable. For what, pray tell? They had agreed to work for one denarius (v.2), and that is exactly what they got. What was stuck in their craw is since he had given one denarius to those who had worked a lot less, the owner is judged as being unfair. Was he? This needs to be unpacked. 

Firstly, all of us have had times when we felt this way towards God. We get offended. We complain. And yet, like the parable says, it is never because God was unfaithful to what He had promised. CSB says in v. 16 “Are you jealous because I’m generous?” Just to be clear, from this perspective, God can’t win. When he chooses to bless to the workers he hired later, while at the same time giving the amount agreed upon to the early ones, He is mischaracterized and maligned. 

These first laborers felt cheated, and got upset. They were disgruntled, and in their frustration attacked the landowner: how could you make these last men to be equal with us? In their minds, they are obviously superior. They deserved a bigger cut. Not only had they worked longer, they embellish, painting themselves as miserable slaves who had labored and sweated all day under the scorching sun. They convince themselves the landowner is not just unfair, he is cruel too! They also manifest disdain for the latecomers. Equal with us? Humbug! We’re the A team!

(If they had been one of the 11th hour guys, given their strong sense of justice, surely they would have only accepted—at most—a half denarii!)

Truth is, we all need to guard our hearts against attitudes that creep in to steal our peace with God, as well as create tensions with each other. I’ve seen many disciples burdened by offense and crippled by complaints. When God answers a brother’s prayer and appears indifferent to our own cries for help, do we harbor jealousy? When someone else is promoted to some position ahead of us, or praised for something we feel we did just as well, do we revert back to our swingset days, stamp our indignant feet and silently shout “that’s not fair”?

I used to live in a massive city where migrant workers gathered early each morning, often with the tools of their crafts in hand, waiting for someone to hire them for the day. With no chance to vet them, a “landowner” would randomly select a crew for a project and off they went. Though hit or miss, to work was a blessing. It paid debts. It put food on the table. It brought them one step closer to getting married one day. Medicine could be purchased for a sickly parent. 

In Jesus’ time, one denarius for a day’s labor was fair. The ones who were hired early ought to have been grateful for the work, and the reward. Backbreaking labor was the rule, not the exception. Perhaps the next day they would not be chosen? Or, maybe they would be among those who got hired by this same landowner at the eleventh hour yet paid for a full day’s work? How would they view their boss then? Unfair, or magnanimous? Stingy, or generous? Many things in life are like this, fully dependent upon the eyes of the beholder. 

Come on, Church. The days are short. Jesus is coming soon! The Bride is supposed to be making herself ready. Our playground days are over. To accuse God of not being fair is unbecoming of the glory to which we have been called. As the author of Hebrews exhorts us:

“We are confident of better things concerning you…For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love…” (6:9-10)