Fixing the Scales

Most people don’t intend on being selfish. The reality of selfishness usually lies in the grey shades of our decision-making. We would never go out of our way to kick a homeless person begging by the highway exit. We would never steal money from our parish collection plate.

But would we drive past the homeless person without even extending a thought or a prayer toward his need? Would we justify stinginess in time, talent, and treasure because of our own comfort? We all have been guilty of transgressions such as these in the past. We will fall again in the future.

Most of the evil in this world can be traced back to a feeling of entitlement that lurks deep within each of us — a frantic concern for our own good that we find difficult to shake. The same instinct that compelled Eve to reach for the fruit that would give her the knowledge of good and evil still compels people to focus on what they are owed, on what they have “earned,” on what they have “coming to them.” We are so tempted to fix the scales. We are so tempted to keep score.

We would do well to remember that our God is not a God who keeps score. He is not a God who acts entitled or who tacks on extra dues, taking as much as He can get. He is a God who seats the lowly with princes. He is a God who seeks avenues for reconciliation and mercy.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS