I confess that I take some time every week to look at other church web sites. Nothing wrong with that, you can learn a lot from others and using your neighbor’s good ideas is an entrenched part of the culture of churchworld.
But, if I were entirely honest I would have to admit that there was a period of time, not even so very long ago, when visiting other church web sites, I found myself looking for their attendance information. When I found a church with larger attendance than ours, it made me feel bad. And when I found a church with smaller attendance, sad to say I took some satisfaction in it. Eventually the Lord impressed on me that this wasn’t helpful for my over all perspective or healthy for my heart.
How often do we visit another church or find ourselves in conversation with a colleague from elsewhere, secretly sizing ourselves up against them?
There is a big difference between unhealthy comparison, which leads to pride and/or envy and healthy competition.
Comparisons, it is said, are odious. And that’s because they always create opposition, with winners and losers.
Healthy competition occurs when we have a clear sense of mission, vision, purpose and are committed to serving them to the utmost of our ability. That happens, in turn, when we set goals for the team and for individual team members, and then stay focused on those goals, consistently and honestly evaluating what’s working and what’s not.
Competition, that is healthy competition, among churches and within a church staff can unify your team, and create momentum, productivity, and excitement.
The objective shouldn’t be about beating or besting anyone else, but being our best selves. We should always be about serving our mission as successfully as we can, perhaps in a way that encourages and inspires others.
For another take on this check out vanderbloemen.com
