It’s not a competition by Stewart Perry
I do have a competitive streak as part of my personality. I love to win, I love it when the team I support wins, and I really, really don’t like to lose. As a result, I can sometimes take things a little too seriously. There’s nothing like that adrenaline rush when you win. But there are down sides… not everyone can win.
I saw on the news 2 different times this week that there were single winners in the lottery. That must be amazing for them, but for those 2 winners, there must have been a whole lot of losers! So when you have a competitive streak like I do, when you don’t win you often equate that with losing and losing doesn’t feel anywhere near as good as winning does. In many cases it can be soul destroying.
Over the last year or so, our family has had a resurgence in playing card games together… except I often don’t join in. Sometimes it’s because when they are wanting to play, I need to focus on work or I’m tired and want to just watch TV but sometimes it’s because I know I’ll take it too seriously and want to win and especially if they’re playing a game that I haven’t learned yet then my chances of winning are diminished and so my competitive streak convinces me that it’s better not to try. As a result I often watch on while they have loads of fun and I miss out. Competitiveness can be costly.
Jesus tries to teach us the pitfalls of competitiveness with the repeated instruction of “the first will be last and the last will be first.” But we don’t always follow it do we… or at least I don’t… because the seduction of winning can be so strong.
While we know in our head that everything is not a competition, the culture we live in which rewards success and laments failure, often distorts the reality that just trying is often reward enough.
On Wednesday this week I attended a special morning tea hosted by the Lord Mayor. Over the last 3 years, church or ministry leaders who’ve arrived or begun on the Gold Coast have been invited to a “Welcome Morning Tea” and this was a gathering of all those who’d gone to a morning tea plus a few new arrivals and beginners. I was there because of my involvement in the unity movement across churches on the Gold Coast. There was 70 leaders there. How exciting that there’s been more than 70 new ministries or churches or seasons started over the last 3 years in the Gold Coast!
As a few of the new people shared briefly about their background and new adventures, which were a combination of church planting, ministry leadership and taking up a role in an existing church, it did strike me that this is not a competition. However, it would be very easy for us to see it as such.
For each of these new people success doesn’t look like having their church or ministry grow to be bigger than ours or anybody’s really. Not all of these church leaders will become mega church leaders, not all churches or ministries are supposed to be “mega”. In fact most churches on the Gold Coast are less than 100 in membership.
A new church or a new ministry popping up down the road or even next door doesn’t have to be seen as a threat. Their success doesn’t negate our mission. We shouldn’t see their growth as our failure. Quite the opposite. We should be supportive, affirming, and above all, praying for these new churches, ministries and initiatives. Many of them are going bravely into spaces that we’re not equipped or called to go into.
And do you know what I’ve found? They don’t see what we do as a threat and they don’t think they’re in competition with us. There are enough people on the Gold Coast not going to church for all to be full and thriving. There is more than enough need to meet on the Gold Coast for all our ministries to be fully activated.
This principle also applies within churches too. We’re not in competition with each other. It’s not a race to do the most jobs, attend the most services or meet the most needs. We’re just called to offer our lives in service and be faithful and part of that faithfulness and service is supporting each other in prayer and practical ways as they faithfully serve as well.
I pray that we can not only be churches that work together well as we collaborate together across Burleigh Heads, Robina and Palm Beach. I also pray that we can die to competitiveness and pride to a point where we not only celebrate each other within our local church and our own denomination but we also celebrate the way God is working in other churches and other Christians, not only in our region but across the world.