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 Inequality refers to different outcomes, while inequity refers to unfair outcomes. Inequality can be an outcome due to following God’s principles or due to ignoring God’s principles. Due to myriad inputs or causes, it is unrealistic to expect equality either in potential or in outcomes. The fact that people are not equal, in family of origin, in gene pool, in opportunity, in education, in income, and in culture, does not necessarily equate with inequity. The only way for complete equality to be expected would be for us all to be exactly the same in our genes, upbringing, environment, culture, opportunities, and performance. God made us all different, but He is not unjust (Rom. 9:14-15; Heb. 6:10).
From a Christian perspective, God loves all people so much that He isn’t willing for anyone to perish (John 3:16; 2 Pet 3:9). God does not respect one person more than another (Dt. 16:19; 2 Chr. 19:7; Acts 10:34; Rom. 2:11). Those from every tribe, language, people, and nation will be in heaven (Rev. 7:9). Every human being is made in God’s image (James 3:9), and we are all immortal (Matt. 25:32). The Church is to go to the ends of the earth with the news of Christ, again indicating the value of every human. Yet each person is uniquely gifted and unduplicated in all attributes.
The doctrine of election does not indicate that some people are more valuable to God than others, since the elect are not chosen due to merit. Israel was not chosen due to her “righteousness or integrity” (Dt. 9:5, NIV), and the nation had no intrinsic superiority (Dt. 7:7). The elect are so simply because of God’s unmerited mercy (Rom. 9:15-16). However, there are individuals whom God esteems (Noah, Daniel, Job—Ezek. 14:14). Jesus had an inner circle of Peter, John and James (Luke 8:51; 9:28), and the apostle John was the person Jesus especially loved (John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2).
Inferences about inequality can be drawn from Jesus’ parable of the talents, where resources were entrusted according to different abilities (Matt. 25:15). Unequal returns, as long as there was a return, were given the same commendation. Equal outcomes weren’t expected. The parable of the wise manager demonstrates that God entrusts responsibilities differently (Luke 12:48). Spiritual gifting differs among Christians, also implying differing ministry outcomes (Rom. 12:6). All Christians aren’t given the same work to do, obvious in the variety of services performed by Christians (Eph. 2:10). That this is OK is imbedded in Paul’s statement that comparing one’s self with someone else is “without understanding” (2 Cor. 10:12, ESV). It can lead to pride or envy.
While salvation is totally a gift of grace, God provides us with principles which lead to good outcomes in this life, many of which are taught in the book of Proverbs. Essential among them is building intellectual capital—wisdom, knowledge and understanding--whatever the cost (Prov. 4:7; 8:10-12; 17:16; 24:14). Care of assets and saving are important (Prov. 27:23-26; 21:20). Diligence and hard work normally lead to profit (Prov. 10:4; 12:11, 24; 14:23; 21:5). Skill leads to recognition and honor (Prov. 22:29). In at least 16 passages the negative outcomes of laziness are detailed, including hunger and poverty (Prov. 10:4; 21:25; 24:30-34).
Poverty is a relative term, and to be poor is not necessarily to be lazy, as It could be caused by such factors as disease, injury, family, and place or time of birth. We are all sinners, which degrades our personal stewardship of potentials (Rom. 3:10-18). Discrimination and oppression can limit outcomes (Rom. 5:12; Eccl. 4:1; James 5:4, 6; Gen. 39:19-20). Structural sin is real, including sinful laws, corrupt agencies, crime cartels, and unjust or unwise governmental and religious policies (Ex. 1:8-11; Eccl. 5:8; Matt. 2:16; Mark 7:8). Sin limits human outcomes.
There is not even equality in heaven. Salvation is by faith in the substitute sacrifice of Jesus Christ alone, not through good works (Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:4-6). However, Christians will receive different rewards (outcomes) in heaven, in addition to the free gift of salvation, when their lives are assessed by God. For example, if we love our enemies, and do good, or if we endure persecution for the sake of God, our reward is great (Matt. 5:12; Luke 6:35). Each receives a reward according to labor, including the possibility of getting no reward, apart from barely making it into heaven—”saved but singed” (1 Cor. 3:8-15).
Dr. Thomas Sowell, a prolific American scholar, requires and also provides empirical evidence in matters of ethnicity, economics, and discrimination. His books Culture and Race, and Discrimination and Disparities are revelatory. He simply asks for evidence of discrimination, rather than the assumption that disparity indicates discrimination. He illustrates, by the academic achievements of first-borns among siblings, how just one variable can result in unequal outcomes. Everything else in that nuclear family is the same except birth order, yet this explains inequality of academic outcomes (Discrimination, p. 8). Having studied cultures, circling the globe three times in the process, he makes this informed observation concerning inequality of outcomes among social groups (Discrimination, p. 216):
In what country, or in what kind of endeavor, or in what century out of the vast millennia of human history, has there ever been a proportional representation of various groups in any activity where people have been free to compete? One can read reams of arguments that statistical disparities imply biased treatment without finding a single empirical example of the even distribution of social groups in any endeavor, in any country or in any period of history.
Jim Sutherland
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missions, so we withdrew it and recently submitted it to a different missions journal. $998 was spent, primarily in support of an Atlanta mobilization event.
