Cooperation or Competition?

On a recent weekend, we enjoyed an evening of dinner and games with some close friends. At the end of the game, one of our friends speculated (correctly) that the game we were playing had been invented by a German. He explained his guess by saying, “The quintessential American game is Risk, where it’s every man (or woman) for himself. But the typical German game requires cooperation.” He’s right: our German game has a “winner” at the end, but no one will ever win if they don’t cooperate with the other players. I think my friend is right on another level – the solo, competitive spirit seems to be woven deeply into the American psyche. In many ways, that has served us well as a nation and as individuals. And in many ways, it is a huge stumbling block for churches and Christian ministries today. Far too often, we view neighboring congregations or similar ministries as if we’re all fighting for the same slice of pie. While I know of some great examples where shared ministry is occurring, these seem to be the exception, not the rule. If you want to change the game, start by changing your attitude toward those you have viewed as competitors. An interesting reality about our German game is that my cooperation may enable someone else to finish with more points and therefore “win” the game. But if I don’t cooperate, I have no chance of winning and the game itself won’t be much fun. The same is probably true for your ministry, so I hope you’ll choose cooperation. It’s easy to receive my blogs by email. Just sign-up on Feedburner by clicking here.]]>