A workers reward

Equal pay for equal work.  That is a motto for today and has been for an extensive period of time.  Indeed it is or should be equal pay in the world around us for an equality in work and contribution.  Yet it is often the case where some are more equal then others and where there is an inequality in power the likelihood of an inequality to exist increases.  In Christ's parable about the workers in the vineyard (Matt. 20.1-16) there is an inequality in pay and work and power.  Or is there.  Yes, perhaps what the owner does is of consequence in levelling the playing fields but he is using an inequality in power to do so.  I think if I had worked in the fields for longer than everyone else I would also be a little bit peeved in seeing the inequality that power has created to benefit the "lazy".  Do I not have rights as well?  I was able to be up at dawn and willing to work just as much as the others could have been.  There is a certain amount of inequity in this situation even if the owner can do with his money what he likes.  We always consider it from the owners point of view not from the viewpoint of the workers.  What does this largess mean for those who have worked?

There is no question that the power of the owner is sufficient that he can do what he wants.  That is not an issue.  If we are to be concerned about equality what question needs to be asked in terms of those who have been employed?  I am sure a rights lawyer would quite rightly say that one has to look at the contract before signing. True.  We also know that the contract with the later workers was a bit loose as the wage mentioned was "fair".  From the later workers perspective the wage received was probably a very fair one but each group was probably somewhat miffed that each group after received the same.  The question I ask is what justice is there here when power is greater and it is at the whim of power that generosity is created?  Is the expectation then for us that no matter what we contribute we should receive the same reward?  That would certainly rock the economics of the system that we currently have.  If those with power were expected to have the largess to contribute equal wages to all.  Then we could truly realise that any and all contribution to our own commitments should be as equal by all.

Did we come late and is our pay equal?

We would then ensure that everyone has the ability to contribute to our faith endeavours, our social endeavours and our environmental endeavours as equally as everyone else.  That would be an expectation which we could hardly deny and our ten percent would be equal to everyone's ten percent of giving.  However, this is not the economic reality.  We live in inequality of both power and finances.  Our true dilemma is not one of equality but one of sacrifice.  How much are we willing to sacrifice to ensure that there is a semblance of equality or at least a striving for equality?  The Philippians author in his struggles of commitment (Phil. 1.21-24) brings this to the fore.  It is a struggle to determine what is the best for the community rather than ourselves.  Power inequality notwithstanding suggests a certain amount of "I" in decisions. In our circumstances the greater faith demand is for the "We".  Our sacrifice is for the greater good.  Those working early need to realise that it is there sacrifice to allow for a greater equality for all as they do not know the circumstances of the later arrivals.

We ourselves do the same when we try to make statements around equality.  We do so from our own power bases rather than looking at the good of the other and the community.  What we believe to be right as far as we are concerned is the right answer but this may and often is not correct.  In looking at the whole we actually need to factor in the experiences of the other which we cannot do without listening and loving with a compassionate heart.  We have to sacrifice something of ourselves to enable community to form.  We actually have to sacrifice our power and our authority to enable community to form.  We cannot expect others to do the work and expect to get the same wage.  We must contribute our own worth to enable the whole to come together as a functioning whole.