competition

Gathering the Sparks

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 36; 147:12-20, Genesis 11:1-9, Hebrews 6:13-20, John 4:1-15

Though Charles Darwin did not write On The Origin Of Species as an attack on Christianity, many people interpreted it that way. The controversy of the seeming conflict  between natural selection and Genesis was not limited to Biblical literalists, but was also a concern for Christians who were not in theory opposed to more scientific theories of creation. The real danger of Darwin’s theory was what it said about the nature of life: it was not powered by love and redemption, but by competition and dominance. What did this reveal about God?

Maybe nothing as startling as it seemed. Another Biblical myth – the Tower of Babel – tells us that when God felt humans were growing too powerful and unified, he destroyed the tower symbolizing their potential, forced them to speak different languages, and scattered them across the world. God forced diversity upon his creation, setting tribes at odds with one another. Whether we read Darwin or Genesis, competition and diversity are central to the story.

In the Jewish myth of the Shattering of the Vessels, when God says “Let there be light” he sends forth his divine essence in ten vessels. The vessels are too fragile and they shatter, scattering divine sparks across creation. It is the duty of humanity to collect these sparks and repair the world. Division and scattering seem integral to our creation stories. We recognize the world as broken, and long to restore it.

Now consider Jesus at the well, talking to the Samaritan woman. They are separated by language and culture. As a woman and a Samaritan she is no one Jesus should be talking to, at least by the dictates of his culture. Yet he stops to banter with her, not to preach but to make a connection. They join their sparks to repair one tiny corner of the creation.

Other animals may be shaped by their environments, but humans can choose to shape the environment instead. When we choose cooperation over competition, we help repair the world. Each spark we collect illuminates what it means to be created in the image of a creator. Our brokenness offers the potential to create something divine in a way unquestioned wholeness never could.

Comfort: Brokenness is not a final state; it is the beginning of reconciliation.

Challenge: We have busy lives, and ignore many of the sparks of creation. Where can you slow down and make connections?

Prayer: Lord, make me an instrument of your divine reconciliation. Amen.

Discussion: Are you by nature more cooperative or competitive? Why do you think that is?

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Decrease to Increase

/ JJS / 3 Comments

YourBest

Today’s readings (click below to open in a new tab/window):
Psalms 15; 147:1-11, Genesis 9:18-29, Hebrews 6:1-12, John 3:22-36

The ministry of John the Baptist was a big success. Business was so good he had customers lined up from Bethany to Aenon, where he moved because it had more water to let him do his job. He had his own disciples and irritated all the right authorities. Yet when Jesus arrived on the scene, John willingly gave it all up. John knew something we often forget: successful ministry is not determined by numbers or longevity, but by how well it advances the message and mission of Christ. When John’s followers began flocking to Jesus, John didn’t start planning how to win them back. Instead he said of Jesus: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Christian ministry is not a competition, but our competitive nature can sneak into it. Choir solos, sermons, fundraisers, offerings, praise hands, potluck contributions – sometimes we can’t help comparing these things, especially if we are good at them. If healthy competition pushes us to do our best work, the ministry may benefit. When we start thinking of our collaborators as rivals, we do a disservice to everyone, and undermine the community and the ministry. Whether an individual or church, we let our lights shine to illuminate the love of Christ, not to put a spotlight on ourselves. Even if we are the very best at something, sometimes we must intentionally step aside to let others play their parts. Being our best – not the best – is what matters.

Mature preachers will say praise and criticism are the same. In other words, they hear feedback, but do Christ’s work for the sake of the work, not the reaction. Praise does not swell their heads, and criticism does not defeat them. This ego-free attitude requires cultivation, but our work will be the better for it. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a compliment for a job well done, but if our focus moves from Jesus to acquiring compliments (or members, or money, or readers), our work suffers.

For others to increase, sometimes we must decrease. But if we do it to help Jesus increase, we rise along with him.

Comfort: The best ministries are collaborations; you don’t have to do everything yourself.

Challenge: Whenever you feel competitive with someone, ask yourself whether it is healthy or unhealthy.

Prayer: Gracious God, teach me to appreciate the diversity of the Body of Christ. Amen.

Discussion: Where do you find yourself competing when you could be cooperating?

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Losers

/ JJS / Leave a comment
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Veterinarian and volunteer treating a sea turtle with a shell damaged by a boat motor.

Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 63; 149, Isaiah 56:1-8, Galatians 5:25-6:10, Mark 9:14-29

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul wrote:

If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another […] Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ […] all must carry their own loads.

Doesn’t sound much like our culture, does it? There are no hit “reality” TV shows about people cooperating to arrive the finale together. Businesses – not content simply to provide quality products which benefit their customers and provide owners and employees with a comfortable living – embrace  a model that can see markets only as competitions. Rather than a system to serve the common good of a nation by sharing ideas, politics long has been a power struggle which exploits tribal ideologies to create winners and losers.

If we want to follow Christ, we must defy cultural expectations. That has always been true, but ever since Christianity became the empire instead of the underdog (some seventeen centuries ago), and we turned the Gospel from an invitation into an edict, we’ve been looking for ways to convince ourselves Jesus backs a winner.

What does it mean both to bear one another’s burdens and to carry ou r own loads?

It means putting the welfare of other people ahead of our own. It means balancing  a humility of word and deed with a steady call for justice. It means seeking ways to serve rather than to conquer. It means willing to be among the last – those whom Jesus calls first in the Kingdom of Heaven, but what many in our society would call “losers.”

In his humility and self-sacrifice, Christ defied expectations of what the Messiah should be: crucifixion was not for winners. As his followers, our triumphs are achieved not through force and fear, but through love and sacrifice. Our strength comes from open hands, not closed fists. When impose our need for victory onto the message of the Gospel, we rob it of the power to reveal itself. Let’s trust the message to be enough.

Comfort: In Christ, you are strong enough to be vulnerable.

Challenge: Look for ways to be more cooperative, especially with people you consider rivals in some way.

Prayer: Holy and loving God, lead your church to unity. Amen.

Discussion: Are you competitive in ways you don’t need to be?

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Zipper Merge

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 104; 149, Zephaniah 3:14-20, Revelation 18:1-14, Luke 14:1-11

The zipper merge is the idea that, when construction or an accident forces two lanes of traffic to funnel into a single lane, drivers should continue using both lanes as long as possible, then alternate between lanes to proceed. States which have adopted this strategy claim it significantly reduces traffic backup, but many people are reluctant to use it. They feel it’s rude to use the closing lane instead of waiting your turn, and either refuse to do it themselves, and/or refuse to yield to people who do so. Either way, they’re shifting blame onto the other “side” when traffic studies show it’s the refusal to yield that really increases the congestion.

We’ve been refusing to yield since well before the invention of the automobile.

When Jesus noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited […]; and the host […] may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. […S]it down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

In a culture where “second place is first loser,” we are not inclined to put on the brakes. Yet Jesus clearly instructs us that it’s God’s role, not ours, to decide who is first. Refusing to yield – literally or figuratively – may be momentarily satisfying but it doesn’t teach the other person a lesson. It does, however, reveal something about our own humility. In 1 Corinthians, Paul writes: “love does not insist on its own way.” That’s the zipper merge in a nutshell. In God’s kingdom the point is not to get there first, it’s to get there together.

Comfort: God isn’t sorting us by losers and winners.

Challenge: As you go through your day, look for more opportunities to cooperate rather than to compete.

Prayer: God of Justice, I will work with your children, not against them. Amen.

Discussion: Some competition is healthy, but it becomes unhealthy when it interferes with our ability to treat each other as Jesus asks. Are you prone to any unhealthy competition?

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Surrender

/ JJS / 5 Comments

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 36; 147:12-20, Job 28:1-28, Acts 16:25-40, John 12:27-36a

For most people, surrender is a dirty word. Not just in war or sports, but in everyday life. Heaven forbid we not crush the gas pedal to pass and scowl at the driver who cut us off. We dare not end any argument, no matter how pointless or relationship-damaging, by simply withdrawing from it. Our business cannot simply succeed; it must out-perform or – better yet – eliminate its competition. We talk about loving our enemies, but we put it off until after we defeat them.

When an earthquake miraculously released Paul and Silas from unjust imprisonment, what would we have expected them to do? As their jailer was about to kill himself over his failure, they could have seized this opportunity to escape, but Paul cried out to stop him. Not exactly a move from the Jack Bauer playbook, is it? The jailer was so moved he fell at their feet, asked what he could do to be saved, and took them to his home, where Paul and Silas baptized his entire family.

Paul so loved his enemy (for who is your enemy if not your wrongful jailer?) he risked imprisonment and further beatings rather than see the man harm himself. Succumbing to Christ transformed Paul – who only months before had been hunting and jailing Christians – so drastically he was able to create converts by showing mercy in the face of injustice. Christ renewed Paul, who renewed the jailer, who renewed his family, and so on…

We all contain that same potential. To tap into it, we must surrender all that we are to Christ. We’re taught to never surrender, but there’s no getting around it. We surrender not from a position of weakness, but from a position of trust. What do we surrender? The grudge against the neighbor who always takes our parking space; the certainty we are the right kind of Christian; the status of socializing with the popular crowd; the fear of the different and the unknown.

Surrender is a lifelong process that doesn’t perfect us, but opens us to the possibilities available in God’s realm.

Comfort: God finds strength in our weakness.

Challenge: At the beginning of each week, select one thing – a grudge, a habit, a fear – to surrender to God.

Prayer: Compassionate God, thank you for the arms that hold me up. Amen.

Discussion: How does the idea of surrendering make you feel?

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