How Should a Christian Compete?

C. Play for the Approval of Jesus Christ

I’m sorry for taking so long in getting this last piece of the series up. I know that this has been the underlying theme throughout this series, but I think that it needs to be explicitly stated.

We would all compete differently if we truly believed and envisioned Christ stand on the sideline, or in the stands. Why would we compete differently? because Jesus isn’t concerned about how we do physically as much as He is committed to seeing His children honor Him in their hearts. You must compete with the mentality that Jesus Christ is the only one in the stands and unlike everyone else, He is scrutinizing your heart during every play. During every round of Scattergories, He is holding your attitude up against His holy Word and we must strive to stand before Him faithful.

As much as competing is a temporal thing, it is an eternal weighty matter. That is not because the very activities that we do have any kind of impact, but because our hearts matter to God and we must worship Him in the midst of competition.

Let us be hard-working, dedicated, Spirit-controlled, Bible-driven, heart-examining, people-loving competitors as we walk by faith in our sovereign God and ultimately all for the glory of Jesus Christ.

How Should a Christian Compete?

B. Understand that Competition is Just Another Pressure of Life

Competition is just life. It isn’t a separated thing, during which the rules change. We can’t suddenly put our Christian attitudes on the sideline because things are just different during a contest. But in fact, it is the exact opposite. Competition is the opportunity for us to apply the truth of Scripture to our hearts and actions. Sitting down with your friends to play the craziest game of spoons doesn’t mean that you suddenly forget all of the responsibilities of a Christian to love, serve, and respect.

Christians should be the best competitors because they know how to do their best and work hard at it, and at the same time obeying God and thus honoring people. When I say the best competitors, I don’t mean that they win everything, all the time, but it does mean that they walk off the field knowing that they gave it their all and that their testimony of Christ was strengthened and not hindered by how they played.

This is a really important concept in life. Whatever sphere that you step into, there will always be people better than you in everything. Thus you must have the disciplined mentality to fulfill your responsibilities and not to compare yourselves with others. When we begin to compare ourselves with others is when the competition starts and then you suddenly place the standard of excellence that the Lord has ordained for someone else, on yourself. Most academic competition happens this way. We are going along in our studies and then look around at what others are doing and then begin to compare ourselves. Then when the next test comes, our goal is no longer to do our best before the Lord, but to do better than the other person.

The point I’m trying to make is that competition is just another aspect of life in which we walk through only by the Word of God and prayer. Competition provides an environment for us to make a decision whether we are going walk by the flesh or the Spirit. We have to be Spirit-controlled competitors.

We also must compete by faith. Just as we are commanded to live the rest of our life by faith, so we are to compete by faith. Why do I say this? Because we don’t know the outcome of the contest. Whatever the competition, we don’t know who is going to end up getting the prize. This is just like the rest of life, we don’t know what is going to happen in the next moment, its all unknown; thus we walk by faith. This isn’t a faith that says, “Well, whatever happens, happens” or “May the best man win.” This is a faith that says, “Our great and sovereign God has already determined the outcome of this contest and thus I can trust Him for whatever is going to happen.”

We Calvinists are so great at declaring the sovereignty of God in salvation, but then it comes to some trial, pressure, or strain of life and seem to throw that completely out the window. That same God that saved you, has ordained all your actions and He wants your trust. Believe in Him – actively live out that you believe. A result of having faith in a sovereign God for the results is that we should NEVER be angry at the result of a game. We can be unsatisfied with your own half-hearted effort, if that is the case, but we don’t flare up during or after any competitive meeting because we believe that God ordained that result.

How Should A Christian Compete?

A. Seek to Make A Personal Best, Not to Beat Your Opponent

When we seek to beat our opponent, emotions such as anger, hate, and pride spring up. But when we compete in a way to make a personal best, we are then only pitted against ourselves and our most recent record. Trying to beat your opponent, turns innocent people into enemies. They are no longer someone else striving towards the same goal as you, but they are someone who is out to get you and prohibit you from achieving your goal. This attitude does indeed go against Philippians 2:3-4, for it causes me during the whole contest to try to put the other people down and promote my selfish desires. This attitude is taught all through out little league everywhere and thus children grow up believing that they are better than their opponent.

The principle of making a personal best is one which Scripture supports. Colossians 3:23-24 says, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord.” I understand that the initial point of that passage is in the context of slaves and masters, but I think the point can carry over to other relationships and situations. We are to work hard for Christ’s sake. Essentially Paul exhorts the Colossians, “Whatever you choose to do, do it with all your heart.” He doesn’t want them doing half-hearted work. We must work-hard because we aren’t doing for any person that we can see our actions, but we doing it to please One who is invisible who sees our hearts. At the end of the day, so what if you won or lost the game, but there is eternal weight on whether we

Now take this into the world of competition. You stand in the batter’s box understanding that you have the responsibility to hit the ball and thus your heart attitude and mental focus rests on your desire to do your best and you do everything that you can to get a hit. You aren’t to think about ruining the pitcher’s perfect pitch, you aren’t to think about gaining the praise of the people by a home-run, and you aren’t to think about trying to humiliate the opposing team, you only think about doing what you are called to do. You step up to the plate to hit better than you have in the past – to pass yourself up. This an attitude that honors Christ and others in the midst of competing.

How Should the Christian Compete?

When I think of intense competition, I picture the typical children’s sports movie where the two teams are growling at each other and see the opponent as a enemy in battle. I think of two teams who hate each other and will stop at nothing to see the other team crushed. I pictured an athlete willing to cheat to see himself with the trophy and recognition. Sadly, this mentality is promoted from the professional sports and filters all the way down to youth little leagues.

But the Christian must play different. Because we have a different citizenship, thus we also have different values and different purposes. We have been redeemed to glorify our Father in heaven. We aren’t out to further our own reputations and gain attention, but to show that we do all things for sake of Christ. We know this principle from 1 Corinthians 10:31 and Colossians 3:17. In 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, we see that because Jesus Christ died for our sins, we are no longer to live for ourselves, but for Christ. Thus, we must not compete for ourselves, but for Jesus.

But I don’t think that the correct application of that principle means that we should disengage from the culture, instead we should jump in and do what the world can’t, namely compete for the glory of Jesus Christ. The church isn’t separate itself as a secluded body of people doing their own things, but we must be in the world. We are obviously called to not be like the world, but how can we be a witness, if we aren’t in it. The world needs to see how the love of Christ transforms people and one arena to see that is in competition, whether it be on the soccer field, classroom, or business market.

In order for us to have this kind of testimony and for us to compete in such a way that follows biblical guidelines and yet desires to win, we must keep three key principles in mind. The next three posts will discuss each of these principles.

Should the Christian Compete?

Before I address how we are to compete, I want to first address whether the Christian should compete at all. I ask this because if you remember the three required elements of competition, the third one is that each party involved is self-interested. If people were not self-interested, then there would be no competition. If people did not want to reach a certain goal, then they would not be putting forth the effort and time in reaching that goal.

That immediately raised an issue in my mind. As a Christian, I know that based upon Philippians 2:3-4, that I am to count others as more significant as myself and I am not to look out for my own interests, but also to the interests of others. So how do apply that verse and yet still justify wanting win? Is there a way to live selflessly and yet still be self-interested enough to compete? Is that self-interest wrong?

If one concluded from that logic that it was wrong to compete, then the Christian life that we are called to would look very pathetic and unattractive. We would never step on the field or court. We would never play Monopoly, foosball, or UNO. We would never play another game. We would never work hard and would eventually just give-up in life because that is what we have done in every other arena.

I found some people who believe that competition is anti-biblical. They say that the quest to perfect oneself or to win goes against Jesus’ command to love one another in John 13:34 and His statement in Mark 10:44 which says, “And whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.” They equate wanting to win with a quest to pridefully display oneself. They say and I quote, “Competition fosters division and alienation, not peace and harmony. It is this competitiveness in business that causes people to become unscrupulous and to cheat others in the quest of getting one up and being the victor in the social race toward perfection of the flesh.” I think that they are on to something, but they took the quick and easy way out with working the concept through the rest of Scripture.

So, I want to propose to you that the Christian can compete in such a way that is consistent with the whole revealed will of God and in such a way that shows our love for God and love for others.