• Editor’s note: “Spiritual leaders answer on…” is a weekly column inviting Kaua‘i’s religious and spiritual leaders to share their doctrines’ perspectives on a suggested subject. Every Friday a topic is printed, inviting a response. Submissions are edited for content and length. Thoughts or suggestions for future topics are always welcome. Next week’s topic is rest. The topic at the end of the column is for the following week.
The Baha’is of Kaua‘i
Competition is a double-edged sword. On one hand, competition can be a negative force that creates stress and pits people against one another. On the other hand, competition within moderation can be a motivating factor that increases productivity. Team competition is the most beneficial form of competition. However, its benefits are derived from the camaraderie and cooperation that it promotes among the team members and not necessarily from the competition itself.
What this demonstrates is that cooperation is much more productive than competition. Competition, if taken to an extreme, can be destructive. The following quote from the Baha’i Writings illustrates this point:
“How much of the energy employed in the business world today is expended simply in canceling and neutralizing the efforts of other people — in useless strife and competition? And how much in ways that are still more injurious? Were all to work, and were all work, whether of brain or hand, of a nature profitable to mankind, as Baha’u’llah commands, then the supplies of everything necessary for a healthy, comfortable and noble life would amply suffice for all. There need be no slums, no starvation, no destitution, no industrial slavery, no health-destroying drudgery.”
Pastor Wayne Patton
Anahola Baptist Church
One of my students asked a simple question: “If Jesus had been a basketball player, would He have charged someone in order to make a basket?” The question was intriguing. Does competition have any validity within a faith-based community? In fact, the word “competition” is not found in the Bible.
There is no common agreement in the Christian community about either the definition or the value of competition. While there are those whose praise of the value of competition seems unabashed, many more seem to feel a tension about both the means and ends of competition.
A full analysis of Scripture regarding the themes of competition and cooperation reveals a decided scriptural bias for cooperation. Competition is seen in Scripture primarily in a negative way.
There is a wonderful illustration of this dynamic of choice found in Genesis 13:8-9. Abraham and Lot had been traveling together for some time. Both had prospered. In fact, they ran into a classic land shortage. The situation was one of what would seem to be inevitable competition. As the elder, Abraham had every right to insist on preference for his herds and family. And yet, Abraham took a very unusual step: “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”
Competition is seen differently if we see the person on the other side as a co-competitor rather than an opponent.
Kahu James Fung
Lihu‘e Christian Church
St. Paul uses the metaphor of athletic competition often in his writings. He watched the highly disciplined runners who trained for the Isthmian and Olympic Games in the ancient Greek world. And he saw how developing our inner spirit is like developing our physical bodies. He talked about how many compete but only one wins. It is the person who puts his all into his training, who runs with perseverance, who runs to receive the crown of glory.
Those who compete in athletics know that sacrifice, training, sweat, pain, dedication are essential if they are to do well. They also know that you don’t win every race you run. They know that there are “off days” and other times when you’re “in the zone” and everything falls into place.
In the race of life we can trip and fall, but if we have a competitive spirit, we get up and get going again. We know the truth reflected in what my track coach used to say, “quitters never win, and winners never quit”.
But the race of life can be tiring. And so we need all the help we can get. This is why one of my favorite passages in the Bible is this: “They who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40: 31).
Topic for two weeks from today
• Will you speak to us on family?
• Spiritual leaders are invited to e-mail responses of three to five paragraphs to afrainier@thegardenisland.com.
• Deadline each week is 5 p.m. Tuesday.
