Why Are We Competing? Collaboration Over Competition in the Kingdom

Can churches truly collaborate rather than compete for attention and resources? Join me, Todd Rhoades, as we explore this provocative question in the latest episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. We unpack the often-overlooked issue of competition among churches, drawing insights from Paul's letter to the Philippians. Discover how Paul faced similar challenges in his time and how his perspective on preaching with impure motives can inspire us today. You'll learn about the delicate balance of acknowledging theological differences while celebrating the shared mission of spreading Christ's message.

Together, we'll navigate the path from rivalry to partnership, focusing on the bigger picture of advancing God's kingdom. Embrace the unique strengths of your church and learn how collaboration with other congregations can amplify your impact. From celebrating successes to practicing generosity, we discuss practical ways to foster unity and build meaningful relationships with fellow church leaders. Whether you're grappling with competition or seeking to strengthen community ties, this episode offers valuable insights and actionable steps for transforming the way churches interact.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:07

Hi there, welcome to the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. I am Todd Rhodes and I am your host and one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffingcom, and today we're tackling a topic that might make some of us a little bit uncomfortable, but you know what I love to make people uncomfortable. We're going to talk about competition between churches. It seems strange, doesn't it? We all share the same fundamental goal Hopefully we do, at least to make Jesus known, and yet we often find ourselves vying for attention and for resources and even people, if we're honest. So let's dive in today on why this happens and how we can move forward towards a little bit more of a collaborative mindset. Okay, let's start here. It's easy to fall into the trap of comparison and competition. We see another church growing, it's launching new programs or it's attracting young families. Maybe we've lost a couple of families to this kind of new growing church in town and we feel a sense of pressure to keep up right, and we might even start to view other churches as rivals rather than partners in the gospel. And this is true Every church. Maybe you've got a church that believes a little bit differently on some doctrine, some theological issues, and maybe you don't agree with them theologically at all, but you still look at them as kind of competition. But this competition, this competitive spirit, I think really goes against the heart of the gospel, doesn't it?

Speaker 1: 1:39

Jesus prayed for unity among all of his believers and Paul urged the early church to work together for the sake of the kingdom. In fact, paul addressed this very issue of competition in his letter to the Philippians, in Philippians 1, verses 15-8,. Paul acknowledges that some people now, this was a long time ago, but see if this doesn't sound like maybe how you feel about some people at other churches Paul acknowledges that some people were preaching Christ with impure motives, ouch, ouch. Some people, paul says, were preaching Christ driven by jealousy or competition Okay. And Paul says that some people were preaching Christ because they even had a desire to cause trouble for him personally Ouch. But he also recognizes that others were preaching out of genuine love and concern for the gospel. But what's his response? There's good players, according to Paul. There's people that maybe are a little bit suspect in their motives, but what's Paul's response? Paul's response, you know what it was he rejoices that Christ is being proclaimed, regardless of the motives. He sees the bigger picture, that the message of the gospel is being spread, and that's what ultimately matters Now.

Speaker 1: 3:02

This passage it's a powerful reminder that God can use even flawed individuals to accomplish his purposes, even people we don't like, even people that may not like us, as Paul says, and it challenges us to examine our own motives and ensure that we're serving God with a pure heart and a genuine desire to see his kingdom advance. So how do we move forward from this kind of mindset of competition to one of collaboration, and at least not viewing people as competition? We don't have to collaborate with those that we have major theological differences with, but here are some things that maybe would help. First of all, just to remember the bigger picture our primary goal is not to build our own individual churches although that's what we spend our lives doing but really we need to advance the kingdom of God, and when we focus on the bigger picture, we can celebrate the successes of other churches and see them as our allies, not competitors. Secondly, let's embrace our unique strengths. Every church, your church, has its own unique strengths and gifts, and you know what? The church across the street or across town, maybe the church that you don't agree with totally? They have their own unique strengths and gifts as well and, instead of trying to be everything to everyone, just focus on what we do better and partner with other churches when we can to meet those diverse needs of our community. So embrace our unique strengths. We need to practice generosity. Instead of hoarding our resources and ideas, let's be generous in sharing them with other churches. We can learn from each other and support each other and work each other with each other to make a greater impact in our cities, and then foster relationships. Build relationships with pastors and leaders from other churches.

Speaker 1: 4:51

Do you know the church that you feel like is a competitor or the church that you feel like is that you're in competition with? Do you know their pastor? Have you met them? Have you tried to build a relationship with them? Get to know them if you can. If not, pray for them. Look for ways to collaborate, maybe on an outreach event or a community initiative, without compromising your theological stance on things, but foster those relationships and, at the very minimum, pray for them. You can pray for them even if you don't know them. I heard about two churches once in the same town that were constantly trying to outdo each other with Christmas decorations. It became a local legend. People driving by both churches just to see who had the most extravagant Christmas display, and eventually the pastors of both churches came to their senses and realized the absurdity of the situation and decided to collaborate on a joint Christmas event and focused on the true meaning of the season.

Speaker 1: 5:52

That's what we're talking about here. Not everyone is our competitor. Matter of fact. There should be very few competitors to our church or the competition. We should all be moving people toward Jesus, even if we have a little bit different tribe. But here's your bottom line Competition. Really, it really doesn't have a place in the kingdom of God. So let's embrace the spirit of collaboration when we can, let's celebrate the successes of other churches when we can and let's work together when we can to make churches known.

Speaker 1: 6:24

So here's what I'd love for you to do this week, and this may make you a little uncomfortable Reach out to a pastor from another church in your community, somebody that you don't know. There's probably a pastor at a church in your community that you don't know. Maybe they're brand new or maybe you're brand new. Reach out to them, invite them for coffee, share what God's doing in your church, ask them what God is doing in your church and explore ways that maybe you can work together in some way for the sake of the gospel. It could really make a difference. It could be a game changer for you.

Speaker 1: 6:57

All right, that's it for today. You can always reach out to me anytime podcast at chemistrystaffingcom and I read each and every email that comes my way. I'd love to hear your input. Maybe you've got something you'd like me to discuss or tackle on the Healthy Church Staff podcast. As I said, I do that. I like making people feel uncomfortable sometimes, so we'll tackle even some hard topics here. So if you've got a hard topic you'd like for me to talk about, just reach out to me. Podcast at chemistrystaffcom. I hope you have a great day, a great week, and I'll see you next time.