Suppose Bob and I enter a race, winner gets $50.
Bob wins a tough contest and collects his money. The race director approaches and shakes hands with both of us. “Great race! You guys put on a great show.” Then he hands me a $50 bill.
Bob’s angry, grumbles under his breath about how this “everybody gets a trophy” attitude is what’s wrong with America, says it’s not fair that I get 50 bucks when he beat me.
What do you think?
I agree with Bob. A race should be a real competition. Not much point, I think, if everyone “wins.”
The problem arises when our hyper-competitive culture tries to transform every situation into a competitive, zero-sum game. We behave as though every circumstance requires a winner and a corresponding loser. Too often we adopt a scarcity mentality which falsely says the only way to get something is to take it from someone else.
Life Isn’t A Game
A simple example: curb cuts. Yeah, those required places in the sidewalks for wheelchair accessibility.
Originally, some folks grumbled about curb cuts. They thought in terms of scarcity, as though “giving” to accessibility meant taking dollars away from everyone else. But a funny thing happened. When curb cuts became common, lots of folks benefited. Moms with strollers. Skateboarders. Cyclists. Delivery men with carts. Turns out those dollars made the world easier for just about everyone.
Most situations in life work out that way. Seems like resources are scarce and we have to grab and scramble for every scrap, but that’s nearly always the short-term view. Long-term it’s always better to collaborate, share, and operate from an abundance mentality.
I know a guy who described this perspective. He talked about workers hired early in the morning to work in a vineyard. Others were hired at noon, still more later in the day. At day’s end, all received the same pay.
When the all-day workers grumbled, the owner replied that they received the wage they’d agreed to. Then he asserted his right to be generous with his own money.
Jesus ended the parable with: “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Jesus didn’t condemn competition. He simply said most situations work best when we approach them the way they were designed. The Designer intended generosity, abundance, cooperation, sacrifice, and encouragement as central features of life in His kingdom. Fighting for first place isn’t the best strategy when “the first will be last.”
How about a New Year’s Resolution to think more in terms of abundance, collaboration, and long-term?
Stuff I need to work on, stuff that might allow us to help others follow their God-sized dreams.