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Being on the Winning Team

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It’s Nice When Our Team Wins

The 2024 Summer Olympics are just around the corner. The Olympics are a sports fan’s dream come true. There are all kinds of different sports to watch. You can root for your favorite team and/or individual as the competition proceeds.

We like it when our team wins. Not so much when they lose.

I grew up playing basketball on our church’s league team. I watched sports, went to games, and enjoyed it.

Then, somewhere along the way, I would find myself getting upset when the team I was rooting for lost. It would affect how I acted and treated others.

This is when I began watching motor sports and became a big NASCAR fan. I’ve thought about this over the years, trying to figure out why I didn’t get as upset watching racing as I did when I was watching other sports.

The conclusion I came to was that even if the driver I’m cheering for doesn’t win, I still find things that I can celebrate.

For example, in this past week’s race, the driver I wanted to win didn’t…he finished second in a field of thirty-seven. Not bad. He also finished first in stage two and got stage points. That’s good.

Even though the driver that won the race wasn’t my first pick, I like him as a driver. And his dad used to be one of my favorite drivers. That’s good.

Then my favorite team also had a good day, with three of their four cars finishing in the top twelve. One finished twenty-seventh with a blown motor, but even with the motor expiring, there were ten cars that finished after him.

So, what does it mean to be on the winning team?

This answer is going to be different for everyone.

Psalms 1 and 2 are the introduction to the rest of the book. Last week, we talked about how Psalm 1 shows us that we have a choice. We can choose good, or we can choose evil.

This week in Psalm 2, we see an illustration of what good and evil look like and what the rules are.

Just like there are rules in sports, there are rules in life.

Much of the time people see these rules as restrictive, like being chained down. A lot of people see budgeting the same way. They feel like it limits what they can do.

With both rules and budgeting we are given a clear direction of what we can expect and what’s expected of us.

In Psalm 2, it’s evident which team—between good and evil—is going to win.

Unlike sports, in life, we get to choose which team we’re going to be on.

Winning is something that we strive for naturally. We want to be on the winning side.

This reminds me of something that was said in Andy Andrew’s book, The Traveler’s Gift. In chapter eight, David Ponder meets Abraham Lincoln.

They’re talking about the Civil War and who’s going to win. David askes the President, “Do you believe that God is on your side?”

Then after a little discussion the President answers,

“So your question was, ‘Do I believe that God is on our side?’ To be quite honest, I haven’t given that question very much attention. I am much more concerned with whether we are on God’s side.”

Andrews, Andy. The Traveler’s Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success (p. 128).
Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

Choose the right team and be on God’s side.

Competition Is a Part of Life, But Not the One and Only Thing

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When Everything is Just a Competition There’s No Room Left for Celebration

Competition is a problem when it’s the thing that gets all our attention. When no matter what we’re doing we’re trying to be better than them, whoever them are. This won’t end in a true celebration.

“Keeping up with the Joneses” was a popular saying when I was growing up. It refers to comparing yourself to your neighbor. It was a benchmark for how you measured up in social class or the accumulation of stuff.

When some of the super-rich throw parties it becomes a competition to see who can spend the most. It’s all about doing it bigger and better. There are times when these events will exceed one million dollars for a one-night party.

This seems like taking competition a little bit too far.

It’s the level of importance we give to it, whatever it is. If in everything we do, we want to beat everyone…everyone becomes the enemy. Making everyone the enemy is not a good plan.

In Luke 14:1-14, Jesus tells a group of people who are having dinner at a Pharisee’s home, to be careful to not set yourself at the head table, presuming that you’re the most important. This is a problem when someone more important comes in and you are moved to a lower place.

We need to keep our egos in check and not let them rule us.

When competition becomes our one and only focus things get out of balance. Everything else begins to take a back seat to our being first and best.

Being competitive isn’t a bad thing in and of itself.

Healthy competition helps us grow and be better. Competition in the right way helps us grow past mediocrity.

Why are we competing? Who are we competing against? Where is our focus? What is the cost?

There was a couple whose life dream it was to own and run a restaurant. After years of working and dreaming, it was coming true…they were just days from the grand opening of their new restaurant.

And then everything changed when a hurricane came through town.

Their building was still intact, but there was a lot of devastation and damage in the area.

One of the existing restaurants, one of their competitors began taking advantage of the situation and raised their prices.

The couple saw this and were shocked. They decided to compete in a different way. They had a freezer full of food and no electricity, so they started sharing it with their neighbors.

Then a strange thing happened. Those neighbors began bringing food and giving it to the couple. The restaurant was full of people. Then neighbors began cleaning tables and helping out.

Who do you think was the winner in the competition between these two restaurants?

Too often competition comes from the perspective there is a limited amount to go around and if we don’t take what’s ours, someone else will get it.

This is the wrong perspective. There is plenty to go around. If we approach things from a scarcity mentality, we will never win. We will always be battling to take. This will leave us feeling empty.

If our focus is always on winning, we will never have time to celebrate the things in life that are truly important.

It’s Jesus Inside of Me That Makes Me Want to Do This

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What Does Jesus Working in You, Make You Want to Do?

Now there’s a question for you to think about.

Pastor Lee shared a story about Trevor Ferrell, who at 11 years old was moved to help homeless people in Philadelphia in the 1980s. His story garnered a large public support and Presidential recognition. In an interview he was asked what made him do this work, he responded…

“It’s Jesus inside of me that makes me want to do this.”

Jesus wants to work in and through all of us…if we will just let Him. The problem is, most of us think we’ve got this. We don’t need any help.

In Mark 9:30-37 Jesus and His followers are on their way to Capernaum. Along the way some of the followers were arguing about who was the greatest. They were looking at it from a selfish worldly perspective. They weren’t thinking about what they could do as a team, with Jesus and each other.

Jesus told them that to be truly great they needed to be focused on helping others, not what was in it for them. It’s so simple kids can do it (Mark 9:36-37).

We need to be focused on what we can do for others…not what’s in it for me.

Putting other’s first doesn’t mean that they are more important than we are. It means that we have been given certain skills, abilities and insights that will make the world better if we share them with the people who need them.

The Disciples were competing amongst themselves, each wanting to be the greatest. We are competitive by nature. This can be a good thing if we are clear on what we are competing for.

Pastor Lee told another story about a medical student who was extremely competitive. He consistently scored at the top of his class, but it was beginning to take a toll. He was feeling overwhelmed and burnt out.

During a school break he went on a mission through his church. While on the mission he found a new and refreshed since of purpose and decided to take a semester off and continue working in the mission.

In a letter home to his parents, he wrote about how nice it was to not feel the pressure to be the best. He went on to tell how great things were. He said, currently he was ranked second and if things continued the way they were, he thought he would be first in a couple of months.

He was seeking greatness. I’m not sure that he was clear on what that was. We’re all seeking it and many of us aren’t clear on it either.

Greatness isn’t about me, it’s about God working through me.

Throughout history God has used normal people to do great things. He has given each of us something that is special to us. It’s up to us to find that thing and use it to make the world better.

It’s Jesus working inside of me that makes me want to do this.

Competition vs. Cooperation, does it Have to be One or the Other?

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Finding the Balance of These Two Things is Like Walking a Tightrope

On the surface, competition and cooperation seem to be opposites.  I think they are two different things pulling in opposite directions providing the tension needed to keep the bridge of negotiation held up and safe to cross.

Most people see negotiation as a conflict.  As either a win or lose proposition.  This is a competitive perspective.  Depending on the people involved and the circumstances…it can be a pretty intense battle.

Some people love the battle.

Other people want to avoid conflict at all costs.  They are willing to be used as a doormat, rather than to stand up and fight for what they believe.  These people will compromise and avoid uncomfortable situations.  It’s just easier.

Some people will avoid the battle any way they can.

The reality is that negotiation is a part of your everyday life…whether you like it or not.  I’m currently going through another Business Made Simple University course, Negotiation Made Simple. This course teaches that negotiation doesn’t have to be like haggling with a used car salesman. It can actually be a win/win when done right.

By nature, I’m not competitive.  This lends itself to my being a doormat.  As I have matured and through my wife’s encouragement (by nature she’s very competitive), I’m more willing to stand up for what I believe in.

The whole competition/cooperation thing was made abundantly clear to me a few days ago while watching a NASCAR race.

NASCAR is different than other sports. In other sports competition is one on one or two teams competing against each other.

In NASCAR there is a combination of these two.  While there are thirty or forty individual cars on the track racing for the win, there are also multi-car teams.  This makes for an interesting dynamic when two drivers on a multi-car team are battling for the win.

In the race I referred to earlier this was the situation.  In this scenario on a late race restart there was an opportunity for one driver to let another driver win which allowed the winning driver to make it into the championship playoffs.

These types of decisions can come from a variety of places.  Maybe this is what the team owner had mandated.  Maybe it was the driver’s personality.  Ultimately, in NASCAR these types of decisions are made in a split second.

This is why it’s critical to know ourselves and our priorities before we enter into the negotiation.

The competition/cooperation of construction projects is like racing.  On one hand there is a construction company trying to make a profit.  On the other, the customer trying to get a project done as inexpensively as possible.  You throw into the mix subcontractors and suppliers.  They are trying to balance multiple projects and also trying to be profitable.

These construction negotiations can be wins for everybody if handled properly.

Thankfully we don’t normally have to make the decisions in a split second like racecar drivers.

Ultimately, once we understand that competition and cooperation work together to provide the best bridge between contractor and customer…everybody wins.