Mike 
I love watching a variety of competitive sports. It’s exhilarating to see the pivotal moments that decide winner and loser in a clash of well-matched teams. But in my favorite sport, the one in which I participated through high school and college, the meaning of “competition” is a little different. I was a long-distance runner on the track team. Even though I “competed” with other runners in my races, the real competition was the clock.
A classic sports story illustrates this idea. Roger Bannister became the first person to break 4 minutes in the mile at an otherwise inconsequential track meet. There were only 6 people in the race, including Bannister, and two of the others were there simply to pace Bannister through the first three laps. By the time Bannister entered the home stretch, he had a commanding lead and was simply racing the clock. If he had focused on beating the other runners, he might have coasted to the finish without accomplishing the more significant goal, a sub-4 minute mile.
What does this mean for leaders? It’s possible, even likely, that you have misguided ideas about who or what you’re competing against. For example:
- Do you see yourself competing against other ministries and non-profits for the financial resources of potential donors? Or do you see yourself competing against attitudes of materialism that stand in the way of their generosity?
- Do you think that your competition is other programs that offer tutoring or educational enrichment for children? Or is the real competition video games and parental apathy?
- Are you competing with the other churches in your area in an effort to get more people in the pews? Or are you competing against a belief that churches are irrelevant?
