Sometimes I think it would be nice to sit in front of the television or computer screen and watch hours of Olympic contests. I am awed by the pageantry surrounding the athletes from the countries of the world as they compete in a wide variety of games. Each must feel the pressure as he or she gives the very best effort to make their families, friends, and country proud. Their best?
Two stories have come out in the last twenty-four hours that make the observer wonder about the integrity of some athletes. We have become accustomed to the doping scandals. This year we are hearing more about trying to decide just what is female and what is male. These two problems can be classified as cheating to gain an advantage over a competitor or simply biological hurdles that we must face as we learn more about the human body and its sometimes malfunction.
But what about those athletes who give less than their best to gain an advantage? In one day we see Michael Phelps push his body to the nth degree to break a long-standing record for the total number of medals won by one athlete. He succeeded by earning his nineteenth medal and now holds a new record replacing one that had stood for nearly fifty years. During the same day eight badminton players from three countries were disqualified for trying to LOSE their games in order to move into an easier bracket in their sport!
Some athletes feel they have to cheat to win. Here are athletes who felt they had to lose to have a chance at winning. Is there any wonder that they were booed by the spectators due to their lackluster and seemingly incompetent efforts? What else about integrity will be sacrificed to gain what some would feel is an advantage in the march to the gold?
We are always in some form of competition. Maybe it is a move ahead in our jobs. Perhaps it is a self-imposed competition such as the number of books we will read or the number of internet courses we can take. Perhaps we have set a goal in exercising or weight loss. In all such cases we are competing against something if only the idea of succeeding in reaching our personal goal.
Integrity in competition says that we know the rules that everyone is following and we will follow them as well. Competition with integrity says you give your very best without making use of materials that create an unfair advantage be it tactics, chemical, or genetic. (See the old syfy short story, "The Mickey Mouse Olympics")
Do we get into competition as Christians and churches? Do we see the need at times to try tactics that would put us in better light than our neighbor or neighbor's church? Have we decided that we are in competition with sister Christians to reach the wandering souls around us?
Integrity in competition says first of all you know who your opposition is. For the Christian it is not other Christians, but the evil of this world. Just like an Olympic relay race, there are multiple runners, but they are all on the same team. Integrity says we work together. We are on the same team. We give our very best with the abilities God has given us developed into the best we can make them. We don't try to succeed with the tools of the world. We don't try to outdo other Christians especially at the other's expense. We compete even against evil with integrity. We reflect the nation we represent, the Kingdom of God.
There can be no competition among followers of Christ. There can be no divergence from the rules God has given us. We support the same goals. We serve the same Master. As the old saying goes, "There is no competition between lighthouses."
