Redeeming our view of Competition
Someone once said that “competition brings out the best in us”, I’m not sure that’s always true. Our competitive nature, like just like everything else, is a God-given emotion that has been twisted into something negative by Satan. Even in Christian circles (or perhaps, especially in Christian circles) it seems that our competitive nature often brings out the worst in us, not the best.
Competition gone awry
The root of our competitive pitfalls is actually something much deeper. It’s rooted in insecurity, envy, jealousy and covetousness. The first visible evidence of this on earth is with the sons of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel. Cain became jealous of his younger brother Abel because the Lord regarded Abel’s offering more highly than his own. Cain devised a plot and invited Abel out into the field where he committed the world’s first murder by killing his brother Abel in cold blood. (Genesis 4:1-10)
The Bible is filled with stories of the competitive nature gone awry, from Jacob tricking his father against his brother Esau (Genesis 27), to Joseph being thrown in a pit by his brothers (Genesis 37:12-36), to the embarrassing behavior of the apostles as they competed with one another to see who was the greatest (Mark 9:33-35). In hindsight, we see how boldly arrogant, and ignorant, they were… as if the Lord would actually reward such behavior.
Competition between individuals
Individuals are seemingly always in competition. Sometimes we do this overtly and sometimes subconsciously. Sadly, men are often the prototype for bad competitive behavior.
How often have you, or someone you know, taken things one step too far? Perhaps as a weekend warrior on the flag football field, as a parent at a youth baseball game, or even playing basketball one-on-one with your son in the backyard. It’s not isolated to men either. Women can also be highly competitive in sports, in their career, or their appearance. We try to establish our superiority over the other person by blindly attempting to best them in a sport, prove that we’re right and they’re wrong, or attempt to get the promotion regardless of the costs.
Competition between Non-profits and Churches
Bad behavior in competition is not just isolated to individuals or sports teams. Non-profit organizations and churches often set a poor example as they surprisingly try to compete with each other.
Non-profit organizations frequently behave as if they’re competing for the same monies from the same audience. It often ends up pitting one organization against another when in reality they should simply focus on refining their message and effectively communicating their cause.
Churches are often competing with each other even though only a small percentage of the overall population ever attends church. One would think it’s obvious that there’s no need for competition amongst churches, in fact what the world needs is MORE churches. The world needs churches that are fervently reaching out to the lost. Rather than fretting about the new dynamic church that moved into “your” city, start praying about the lost in your own backyard and how you can best reach them.
Competition in business
What about companies you say? Isn’t competition a natural by-product of a capitalist society? Am I suggesting we should turn to some sort of socialistic, everyone supposedly wins, proposition?
I do believe in the principles of capitalism but unfortunately businesses are often the worst examples of competitive behaviors from small businesses that “bend” the truth to the high-stakes world of corporate espionage.
Competition done right
Despite the negative examples above, I think competition is a good thing. Done properly it CAN bring out the best in all of us.
There’s a reason why no one has ever set the world record in swimming or sprinting by themselves. When the individuals are competing in a race against other strong competitors they are motivated to try hard, to win the race — and as a result of the competition, a new record is set.
Professional sports teams are always attempting to make their team better through personnel trades, better training, and new offensive/defensive schemes. They are always working to improve because the other teams are also making moves to improve themselves. As a result, many teams raise their game to a new level each year.
Competition between companies in the same marketplace often results in amazing new innovations in product design and features. SalesForce.com’s entrance into the CRM space caused Oracle, Microsoft, and others to improve their products leading to a win-win situation for customers. Apple’s entrance into the mobile phone market spurred Google to develop Android-based smart phones and for RIM, Nokia, Microsoft and others to raise their games in order to keep up. Now consumers have better devices and more choices than ever before.
Without competition we would become complacent. Products would become stagnant, their features would be reduced to the lowest common denominator. That’s why monopolies are so bad for consumers. In a monopoly a company controls the entire market and they inevitably lose the desire to innovate. Why would they? Consumers would have no other choice for a different product.
Thankful for competition
I am thankful for God’s gift of competition. It inspires us to excel. I work for a company that provides web-based church management software. I’m thankful for all of the competitors that offer software to churches, from specialized point solutions, to full enterprise-level church management systems. As some solutions fade away new ones arise with a new way of thinking, a fresh outlook on an old problem, or perhaps an innovative solution to a new challenge. It keeps us all sharp, always seeking to improve.
Regardless of where you work, my prayer is that you view competition through new eyes, so that it might lead to inspiration and innovation rather than the alternative.
