Competitive Nature

If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else…

Galatians 6:3-4

In our culture, being competitive is celebrated. Famous athletes are lauded for their competitive drive. Kids at a young age are taught to compete and win in youth sports. You even see competition when it comes to grades and academic performance. This tendency to be competitive runs through our culture and is embedded in the DNA of the business world. Evolutionary scientists tell us it’s the survival of the fittest.

As natural as being competitive seems, is it something that should exist in the church? Is being competitive something we should see in a growing life with Christ, or is it something that should get discarded along the way?

Having a competitive nature comes with serious pitfalls. Competitive people tend to frame everything as a win/loss scenario. If I win, you lose. But if you win, I lose. That kind of thinking is toxic to teamwork, conflict resolution, and community.

The other thing that can happen with a highly competitive person is that they begin to tie their worth and value to winning. They believe the lie early in life that, “I am valuable when I win.” Unfortunately, this is always packaged with its counterpart, “I am worthless when I lose.” Many kids pick up these lies along the way from undeveloped, immature parents and coaches.

Competition, by nature, is a comparative activity. It necessitates comparing yourself to someone else. But scripture is clear in Galatians 6 (see above) that we shouldn’t compare ourselves to others. We are to test our own actions against who God has created us to be, not against others. This perpetual tendency to be looking to the right or left, rather than in the mirror, makes a competitive person especially difficult in Christian community.

I’ve seen competitive personalities on display in church community and it’s not pretty. I’ve seen pastors try to “out do” other pastors in order to prove their worth and value. I’ve seen people jockey in conversation for who can be more spiritual, which is really just a competition for who can “sound” more spiritual. I’ve seen leaders compete for who has more influence in decision-making in the church. A competitive personality, in Christian community, reveals itself for what it really is…an unfinished immaturity that has yet to be surrendered to Christ.

The one time the apostle Paul celebrates a competitive spirit is when he’s challenging the Corinthians toward greater self-discipline and hard work. In other words, he celebrates competition’s tendency to cause a person to be tenacious.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 

1 Corinthians 9:24-25

Even here Paul makes the distinction between competing for earthly prizes and the kind of training that results in an eternal crown. He’s celebrating the discipline and tenacity that spiritual training brings about. But I don’t hear in this a celebration of a competitive nature. Instead, he’s celebrating perseverance and grit.

I grew up playing basketball, soccer, baseball and swimming. I was most competitive in swimming as it was my best sport. But what I loved about it was that we were competing mostly against our own times. Yes, the people in the water with us pushed us to give our best. But even when I was way ahead or way behind in relation to other swimmers, I was still pushing myself hard. My greatest competition was myself and my old time that I wanted to beat, not the person in the lane next to me.

I think this is what Paul had in mind when he wrote Galatians 6 and 1 Corinthians 9. It’s fine to allow the example of others to challenge us or inspire us. But our ultimate goal is not to beat other people. We can’t live a healthy spiritual life with a win/loss attitude, especially in ministry and Christian community. Our greatest competition is ourselves and our own potential. Our ultimate goal is to be formed into the image of Christ, to become who we were created to be, not to be better than someone else. Our value and worth is not tied to “winning” or being better than someone else. Our value and worth is rooted in God’s unconditional love for us, our unmerited adoption into the family of God.

The competitive nature in a follower of Christ must be nailed to the cross. It must be surrendered to Jesus so that He can transform it into something fit for the Kingdom. It must die a bloody death so that it can be resurrected into newness of life.

Over and over again Jesus taught us that the Kingdom works differently than the world. In the Kingdom, the first will be last and the last will be first. In the Kingdom, the humble are exalted. In the Kingdom, the servant is the greatest of all, the one who washes the most feet is the best leader. Jesus went to the cross, for the joy set before Him, knowing that, in the Kingdom, the one who gladly loses for the sake of others is the real winner.