Beyond Winning
“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.”
I just read the most obnoxious article. I won't mention the title or the author, because this is a devotional, and I don't want to be too mean in a devotional, but... This writer is instructing people on how to be better than other people. The way to make yourself better is to view your life as a performance, and if life is a performance, "Why not take on a winning role?" First, life should be more important and meaningful than a "performance." Further, your life focus should not be on your "winning."
Narcissism ran rampant throughout this article. I want to scream at readers, please stop; this doesn't make you "better." Words like better and winning are wrong at their core. Winning may be important on the football field, but not in life. My 7-year-old grandson has adults screaming at him and his teammates as if their lives depended on a victory. Adults should not base their worth on their child's ability to play a sport! A life of faith focuses God's children on working toward fulfilling God's vision of loving equality. Winning, by its very nature, implies a loser. Working hard to make someone else a loser doesn't make one a winner at life.
As a person of faith, I am excited to share a different paradigm. The paradigm of better and winning ultimately leaves everyone worse off and a loser, because there is always someone more... out there somewhere. God's paradigm is more like a boring gym class where the games don't have winners or losers. Likewise, no one is better or worse; they are unique. In 8th grade, I would have thought that a no-winner focus was lame and would have yelled, "Let's get out there and kick their butts!" But like the Apostle Paul, "I have put away childish ways."
I may be talking like a regularly disappointed Minnesota Vikings fan, but there are some things more important than being better or even being a winner. For a faithful, mature person, we focus more on others than on ourselves. For a faithful mature person, winning is replaced with words like incorporation, hospitality, and mutuality. When you help someone else be successful, it is a great feeling. It is also a lot less narcissistic. Winning is about you! Helping others makes them the focus, and brings other people to you, and brings love, rather than resentment and jealousy. Today, pray for God to shift the emphasis from self-absorption to others. Ironically, that makes us better and a real winner.
