“ON COMPETITION”
“ You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. 16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law”
– Galatians 5:13-18
There is an old saying worth noting… “comparison leads to competition and competition kills community!” Been there? Done that? That’s the question. Then there’s Dr. Phil’s question… “how’s that working for you?” and then let me add… “how’s that working for us?” Life’s a challenge. Faith matters.
At the end of the gospel of John… the disciple whom Jesus loved… recalled the scene after the resurrection where Jesus appeared to the disciples at the shore of the Sea of Galilee asking them if they had caught any fish? It was a loaded question. Jesus knew they had caught nothing and told them they should try casting their net on the right side of the boat. John reports the disciples balked at the request telling the stranger on the shore they’d been fishing all night and hadn’t caught a thing. But what did they have to lose? So they did and when they did… they caught so many fish the boat almost tipped over into the lake. 153 fish was the catch… a good one for any of us on any day… Yet, the scene doesn’t end there. You can read it for yourself in John 21 verse 1 to 25.
After the disciples get to shore… Jesus cooks them breakfast proving that his dead body now resurrected was functioning in the most human way possible. Nothing like some fish and chips on an early morning on the beach by the Sea of Galilee, right?
Then this happened. Jesus pulls Peter aside asking him if he loved him. Three times. And three times Peter tells Jesus he does… to which Jesus replies… ‘feed my lambs’ and a second time… ‘tend my sheep’ and the third time Jesus said, ‘feed my sheep’ charging Peter with the task of making disciples by baptizing, preaching and teaching to the young and old… feeding and tending… as this is what pastors, priests and rabbis do… the work of ministry for people of faith… all the time!
And when we read these last words of John’s gospel we find out as soon as Peter seems to be all in… he deflects his responsibility and asks… “but what about him?” as he points to John… the disciple Jesus called ‘beloved’ … to which Jesus said in very clear words… ‘don’t you worry about him… I’m talking to you… YOU follow me.’ (my paraphrase). And now 2000 years later we know that Peter did… as the Roman church just elected a new pope to sit in Peter’s chair.
That’s the point. Comparison breeds jealousy and jealousy leads to setting up sides and when we set up sides… community breaks down and instead of working together for the common good… efforts are put forth to protect our own camp and ideals… and if you have a minute… google ‘people of faith’ and ‘persecution’ and you will see quickly there are numerous sites and groups reporting how humanity treats itself… the people who are all descendants of Abraham… Christians, Muslims and Jews too often acting like strangers on a dark night in an unknown land… not having a clue as to their destination nor how to get there taking advantage of both our selfishness and kindness. Life’s a challenge. Faith matters. Our turn.
The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Gigee is a long-time resident of Pearland, having pastored four churches over the last four decades in Texas and Louisiana. Read more following Brian’s blog ‘murmurings’ at https://briangigee.wordpress.com/. Send comments and/or questions to godworks247365@gmail.com.
