A Fair Wage

Romans 4:4, “Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.”

So much can be taken from this sentence Paul wrote. For example, the wage is due the one who works. But for those of us who do work, what is a fair wage?

We are taught that it depends on the job, the skill involved, the education needed, or some other mental or physical asset the worker brings to the table. We are taught that the person investing the capital deserves a fair wage/return for their investment regardless of human effort involved. We learn that corporations will move operations half a world away to find someone who is willing to define their fair wage on the lowest of standards.

Some I think pull their definition of a “fair wage” out of the hat. Right now I could say with absolute certainty that many instinctively would consider $100,000 a year a fair wage. But where does that number come from? Did you know that many small business owners would take $1,000,000 for their business just because that seems to be some magic number?

Why aren’t we taught as a society what a fair wage is?

So here is what I think a fair wage is. A fair wage is the amount that a person needs to live, plus the taxes the government will take, plus the expenses the wage earner incurs to do the job, plus a profit that should be associated with the risk of the job. If the job could cost you your life, the profit should be enormous. If the job is a career without risks and a longevity beyond retirement then perhaps the profit should be less.

But why do I say this? I say this because I think we as a human race do not properly value our time and effort. I think the majority of us sell ourselves short. I for one have felt guilty for “making a profit.” And in this guilt deny God the opportunity to bless. This guilt that so many Christians share has us shun the very abundance God is trying to give us so that we can have it for good works.

Just today I read this in a friend’s online post. It said, “You pray. You ask God for something. He answers so big that now you question was this God.” He is having a hard time accepting the “profit” of the fair wage. To me it sounds like there is guilt in the blessing. But the guilt is a lie. It is an attempt either from Satan or from our own lack of self-worth to self destruct and not accept the blessings of God which are so much a part of His love in spite of our unworthiness. 

I want a spouse, and then God brings someone so wonderful you sabotage the relationship because you feel unworthy.

I need money, and then God brings an opportunity for profit and you sabotage the abundance because that would be ripping someone off, or because you are not worthy of that “wage.”

I am not a prosperity message proponent. But I do believe God is redefining for me what a fair wage is. And that fair wage has an abundance, it has a profit. No one would consider loaning money interest free. They expect it to grow. It is a finite resource and if it’s not put to work earning a wage it is wasted. And yet our finite life is given away so freely in an interest free loan to our employers. The wage is not a favor. The wage is what is due. Join me in valuing your time and energy working fairly. Consider beyond the immediate. I think it’s a God thing.