Laying down your life is probably not going to happen in one dramatic moment like Dirk Willems is remembered for. How about in a thousand little moments? Serving others is dying a little bit each time. In that way, it seems to me, we lay down our lives over a thousand little moments.
Check out Luke 22:24-27. The spirit of competition, where there is ONE that is accounted greatest, is completely contrary to following Jesus.
That’s true in almost all competitive sports. There is one winner and all others lose (I can’t think of a single league where there isn’t a tournament at the end to determine the single winner)
That’s true in almost all political races (funny, we even conjure up sports in the description of this)
That’s true in almost all pursuits for power
I wonder about awards “Best Technician”, MVP, etc.
It is NOT true about business or personal finance, at least not inherently true. And, that’s because there isn’t a ‘first place’ or a ‘winner-takes-all’ environment. Also, we should be careful not to broadly characterize anything because of individual bad actors. I once held the belief that capitalism was distasteful competition. I openly admit my error today! Bad actors shouldn’t shouldn’t poison the well anymore than we would say that dogs are evil because I got bit by one. Was Jesus being hypocritical when he corrected his disciples in their spirit of competition while also applauding the servants who had gained by trading? If business necessitates a spirit of competition, and competition is wrong according to Luke 22:24, then we have a problem.
I argue that the spirit of competition is wrong as Luke 22:24 suggests, and you’ve probably noticed that I sometimes am saying ‘spirit of’ and sometimes just ‘competition.’ So, let’s put a definition to ‘competition’ and that might help us see why the spirit of competition is denounced by Jesus. Competition: A rivalry, a contest, or the act of trying to win or gain something that others also want. If we are engaged in competition with the purpose of keeping others from winning or gaining…we might be struggling with that spirit of contention, the one Proverbs 13:10 talks about.
You could say my bicep and triceps muscles are competing. Odd, huh.
How about an example: if you say that McDonalds and Burger King are competitors – both vying for the same hungry customers….why wouldn’t you say that me and you are competing for the same Arby’s roast beef sandwich. Only one of us can eat that particular one, and only one of the stores can serve you or me on any particular instance. Why wouldn’t you say, if I visited McDonalds today, that McDonalds and I are competing against Burger King for the purchase of the burger from their vendors, and that I’m therefore competing with those vendors for Farmer Joe’s vs Farmer Bob’s beef? Why do we only talk like B to B is the only kind of competition? Why not B to C, C to C, etc? I suspect it is because we are doing less thinking and more listening to the evil voices jawing their propaganda. Think it through…trading makes everyone more prosperous…it’s God’s ingenious way where we participate with strangers, enemies, and friends to bless each other without even meaning to.
Why are there these false dichotomies that we allow when talking about business? Can you have the spirit of competition in business? Can you have it as a consumer? Can you have it always in every situation inside of you in your heart? Yes, to all of those.
So, tell me this….why do I hear religious people beat on competitive sports, politics, and power, and then as if to show that they are ‘even-handed’ talk about competition in business?! All that does is conflate and confuse…it’s worse than not saying anything about competition at all! “Competition in business” is nonsense. There isn’t a winner and a loser…God’s economy produces only winners, even if you can’t see how, if you ‘lose the contract’ to another company, how that’s winning. Well, it is, but I’ll let you figure out how.
So, professor, what did we learn?
There is no praise to a man who wants to best his fellow in anything.