Fairness is not a Biblical principle

Luke 15:29  "But he answered his father, 'Look!  All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders.  Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.' "

The brother is reacting to the return of his prodigal brother, and the reaction of their father to having him back.  How hard is it to see someone else get the same or better things than we have even though, in our minds, they have not worked as hard or been as diligent in their pursuit of them?  If we have the experience of hard work, waiting and persistence before receipt of blessings, don't we think others should go through the same process?  If they don't, our true feelings tell us that the system isn't fair and that person doesn't deserve what they got.

We see these exact feelings drive political preferences and voting decisions.  This makes sense, because our political and economic systems are based on fairness and merit.  But God's system is different, and is based on neither fairness nor merit.

I once heard Andy Stanley say, "Fairness is not a Biblical principle," and I haven't found anything yet that refutes his statement.  I would add something to what he said:

Thank God fairness is not a Biblical principle.

None of us would ever be reconciled to God if fairness was a Biblical principle.  God doesn't have a formula that He uses with everyone.  We need to accept that and celebrate the result, not worry about what process led to the result.