I just returned from a walk through Heartwell Park. About the time I
was passing one of the baseball diamonds I heard the roar of the crowd
and looked up just in time to see the ball land behind and between the
left and center fielder. It bounced once and then rolled to the wall.
By the time I looked back into the infield the runner was moving into
second base with a stand up double. I couldn’t help but think how good
it must have felt for him to connect with the ball and drive it to the
outfield. It must have felt even better to hear the cheers of the crowd
as he rounded first and made his way to second.
Almost in the same moment my thoughts turned to the Pitcher. I wondered how he felt giving up that hit. I saw his next pitch and though it didn’t result in a hit I could tell by his countenance that he had not yet recovered his confidence. Just as I passed the diamond I heard the crowd once again roared to life signaling that once again the picture had given up another hit. Though I didn’t see it, I am sure the boy standing on second must have scored.
As I moved further away I wondered what it would be like for that Pitcher. Would the coach make the long walk out to the mound? Would his teammates give him the silent treatment as he entered the dugout between innings? What would his father have to say to him on the ride home?
I began to fantasize that the next batter could see what the two previous hits had done to the soul of the Picher and he would decide to intentionally strike out, giving himself up for the sake of another. I knew, however, that this would cause a series of events to ensue for this player, including his own encounter with the coach, ribbing from his teammates, and a talking to by his father. The truth is the specter of these events would keep the batter from making such a sacrifice. In baseball there is going to be a winner and a looser and a player will do anything he can to avoid being perceived as the latter.
I wish I could say this is all left on the baseball fields of youth, but it is not. I have seen grown men tie their identity to the success or failure of their favorite college or professional team. Long after they can no longer play the game they invest time, energy and emotion into trying to identify them self with a winner. This is great when their teams triumph, but when they loose it can cause irritability, anger, and even depression. For everyone who experiences the euphoria of the win, there is someone who is feeling the agony of defeat.
It would be nice if this was only confined to sports, but it isn’t. I occasionally will buy and sell stock. My goal is always to buy low and sell high. It is a good feeling when you make a bit of a profit. It feels even better when the stock goes up by 50% or even doubles. Though I don’t like to think about it, my win generally means someone else has lost. Someone had to sell that stock at a low price. Someone is sitting there watching the price of that stock rise thinking to them self; I sold at the wrong time. I don’t like to think about the man who has to explain to his wife why he lost half his money, or the stockbroker who has to go meet with his boss and explain why his portfolio isn’t performing well this quarter. I just like to think about my win.
Unfortunately the need to win isn’t just about sports or investments. I have been involved in church for 32 of my 47 years of life and I have noticed over the years that this need to win often makes its way into ministry.
I remember being in a high school group and feeling pretty good about the fact that our group was the largest in the city. A close second was the Presbyterian Church across town. I wish I could say we were glad they were doing a good job at reaching students, but we weren’t. The truth is we saw them as our competition rather than co-laborers in the gospel. After all we wanted our ministry to be the winner. Maybe you will forgive us for this attitude given the fact that we were young and probably not emotionally or spiritually mature enough to know any better.
I could give you more recent examples, but I will leave it up to your own experience of church to discern whether this attitude was unique to my youth group, or if it is an attitude that is more wide spread, infecting other churches and believers who are long past the season of childish thinking.
Some may actually feel as if competition in the church is a good thing. After all didn’t Paul use lots of sports metaphors? Didn’t he talk about running the race in such as way as to win, or pressing on to win the prize? If we are honest, it feels good when it seems as if our church is winning, but at what cost. Who loses? We might think it is another church, but what if it is us?
I can’t help but think about the other things Paul called us to like; in humility to consider others better than ourselves, to serve one another in love, or to honor one another above ourselves. This seems to be exactly the opposite of what the world would define as being a winner. What, however, if this is truly what it means to win, and what if in the pursuit of winning on the world’s terms we are actually doing real and significant damage to our souls?
There seems to be some evidence in scripture that this may be indeed be true. Jesus says things like the first will be last, and whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. He also models the reality that not being on top is really the winning position. He says things like I didn’t come to be served, but to serve, and he is hardest on those who seem to be the winners in society and he invest in those who we might pass by because they seem like losers.
Finally, in his last hours with his disciples he takes off his outer garments, wraps a towel around his waist and proceeds to wash his disciple’s feet. Peter, recognizing this is a job that is reserved for those who are not esteemed in their society, protests. After all Jesus is the Rabi, the teacher, the winner. This is beneath him. Jesus insists, modeling the spiritual truth that power, winning, is in serving. He tells us that we are to do as he has done. He goes so far as to say that blessed, or happy as it is translated in versions, we will be if we do these things. his seems to have some significant bearing on our souls.
I cannot help but wonder what it might be like if a group of believer actually took Jesus at his word. What would happen if rather than seeking to win we devoted ourselves with all the energy necessary to win a race to serving others, honoring others, and considering the needs others above our own?
I wonder what the experience of being in a community like this would be like. What would it do to our souls?
What if no one to felt as if they were a looser, and no one to felt like they had to win in order to feel good about them self? What would it be if the people who made up this community did not find their identity, their happiness, or their sense of self worth in whether they win, but in whom they follow?
I believe this kind of community would be set apart. I believe it would be powerful. I believe it would speak to the souls of those who come in contact with the people who make it up. I believe it would be transformational. I think it would be heaven on earth. I think this is what Jesus intended.
The questions is: are we willing to risk letting go of the need to win to take hold of something far more satisfying to our soul?
Almost in the same moment my thoughts turned to the Pitcher. I wondered how he felt giving up that hit. I saw his next pitch and though it didn’t result in a hit I could tell by his countenance that he had not yet recovered his confidence. Just as I passed the diamond I heard the crowd once again roared to life signaling that once again the picture had given up another hit. Though I didn’t see it, I am sure the boy standing on second must have scored.
As I moved further away I wondered what it would be like for that Pitcher. Would the coach make the long walk out to the mound? Would his teammates give him the silent treatment as he entered the dugout between innings? What would his father have to say to him on the ride home?
I began to fantasize that the next batter could see what the two previous hits had done to the soul of the Picher and he would decide to intentionally strike out, giving himself up for the sake of another. I knew, however, that this would cause a series of events to ensue for this player, including his own encounter with the coach, ribbing from his teammates, and a talking to by his father. The truth is the specter of these events would keep the batter from making such a sacrifice. In baseball there is going to be a winner and a looser and a player will do anything he can to avoid being perceived as the latter.
I wish I could say this is all left on the baseball fields of youth, but it is not. I have seen grown men tie their identity to the success or failure of their favorite college or professional team. Long after they can no longer play the game they invest time, energy and emotion into trying to identify them self with a winner. This is great when their teams triumph, but when they loose it can cause irritability, anger, and even depression. For everyone who experiences the euphoria of the win, there is someone who is feeling the agony of defeat.
It would be nice if this was only confined to sports, but it isn’t. I occasionally will buy and sell stock. My goal is always to buy low and sell high. It is a good feeling when you make a bit of a profit. It feels even better when the stock goes up by 50% or even doubles. Though I don’t like to think about it, my win generally means someone else has lost. Someone had to sell that stock at a low price. Someone is sitting there watching the price of that stock rise thinking to them self; I sold at the wrong time. I don’t like to think about the man who has to explain to his wife why he lost half his money, or the stockbroker who has to go meet with his boss and explain why his portfolio isn’t performing well this quarter. I just like to think about my win.
Unfortunately the need to win isn’t just about sports or investments. I have been involved in church for 32 of my 47 years of life and I have noticed over the years that this need to win often makes its way into ministry.
I remember being in a high school group and feeling pretty good about the fact that our group was the largest in the city. A close second was the Presbyterian Church across town. I wish I could say we were glad they were doing a good job at reaching students, but we weren’t. The truth is we saw them as our competition rather than co-laborers in the gospel. After all we wanted our ministry to be the winner. Maybe you will forgive us for this attitude given the fact that we were young and probably not emotionally or spiritually mature enough to know any better.
I could give you more recent examples, but I will leave it up to your own experience of church to discern whether this attitude was unique to my youth group, or if it is an attitude that is more wide spread, infecting other churches and believers who are long past the season of childish thinking.
Some may actually feel as if competition in the church is a good thing. After all didn’t Paul use lots of sports metaphors? Didn’t he talk about running the race in such as way as to win, or pressing on to win the prize? If we are honest, it feels good when it seems as if our church is winning, but at what cost. Who loses? We might think it is another church, but what if it is us?
I can’t help but think about the other things Paul called us to like; in humility to consider others better than ourselves, to serve one another in love, or to honor one another above ourselves. This seems to be exactly the opposite of what the world would define as being a winner. What, however, if this is truly what it means to win, and what if in the pursuit of winning on the world’s terms we are actually doing real and significant damage to our souls?
There seems to be some evidence in scripture that this may be indeed be true. Jesus says things like the first will be last, and whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. He also models the reality that not being on top is really the winning position. He says things like I didn’t come to be served, but to serve, and he is hardest on those who seem to be the winners in society and he invest in those who we might pass by because they seem like losers.
Finally, in his last hours with his disciples he takes off his outer garments, wraps a towel around his waist and proceeds to wash his disciple’s feet. Peter, recognizing this is a job that is reserved for those who are not esteemed in their society, protests. After all Jesus is the Rabi, the teacher, the winner. This is beneath him. Jesus insists, modeling the spiritual truth that power, winning, is in serving. He tells us that we are to do as he has done. He goes so far as to say that blessed, or happy as it is translated in versions, we will be if we do these things. his seems to have some significant bearing on our souls.
I cannot help but wonder what it might be like if a group of believer actually took Jesus at his word. What would happen if rather than seeking to win we devoted ourselves with all the energy necessary to win a race to serving others, honoring others, and considering the needs others above our own?
I wonder what the experience of being in a community like this would be like. What would it do to our souls?
What if no one to felt as if they were a looser, and no one to felt like they had to win in order to feel good about them self? What would it be if the people who made up this community did not find their identity, their happiness, or their sense of self worth in whether they win, but in whom they follow?
I believe this kind of community would be set apart. I believe it would be powerful. I believe it would speak to the souls of those who come in contact with the people who make it up. I believe it would be transformational. I think it would be heaven on earth. I think this is what Jesus intended.
The questions is: are we willing to risk letting go of the need to win to take hold of something far more satisfying to our soul?
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