by Cathy Baker

{ Day 14   }

Would you consider yourself a competitive person? See if any of these five signs show up on your radar, compliments of Story Pick:

1. You get super crazy when you’re about to lose a game. 
2. When you are on the treadmill at the gym you have to go faster than the person next to you. 
3. When you lose, you take it personal. 
4. You fake congratulate your opponent (if he/she beats you.)
5. Your competition doesn’t have an age…kids to the elderly, bring ’em on!

Who needs “Team Gwen” shirts? (The Voice)

It’s fun watching our children compete in sports and competition certainly offers many life lessons hard knocks along the way. Sometimes, though, this competitive spirit can trickle into our churches. If names were stitched on the back of jerseys, some might read:

Dunker 
Sprinkler
Confessor or
Shouter, just to name a few. 

A competitive spirit can even occur in churches who are very similar. 

It’s for this reason (and many more) that I’m grateful to be part of a church that believes in partnering rather than competing. A few tangible ways this philosophy is fleshed out at Summit Upstate:

• Our pastors/elders often pray for other churches within our community on Sunday mornings.
• Summit blesses other nearby churches financially on a regular basis. 
• We are encouraged to pray for the churches passed on our way to Summit on Sunday mornings.

As one of our lead pastors, Jason Malone, points out: one local church won’t reach a city.

Personally, I’m also trying to become more intentional about lifting up Gospel-driven churches if they’re criticized in my presence. I can’t say that’s something I’ve always done, unfortunately, but now I try to find what a church is doing right, knowing they will reach people our church never will, and vice versa. We’re all on the same team!

Staying in Step with the Spirit: Some of us are hands, some are feet—but we’re all one Body in Christ Jesus. When we move as the Body was designed to, we can’t help but stay in step with the Holy Spirit, bringing much glory to God. 

Heavenly Father, may our churches stand firm in truth with our fingers wide open, releasing any spirit of competitiveness in order that we might embrace the blessing of partnership instead. None of us, Lord. All of You. 

#Write31Days past posts:

{ Day 1 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Our Senses
{ Day 2 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Less Clutter 
{ Day 3 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Healthy Relationships 
{ Day 4 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via God’s Creation
{ Sunday }
{ Day 6 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Specific Prayer 
{ Day 7 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs
{ Day 8 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via A Soul Search (with guest Ginger Harrington)
{ Day 9 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via Vulnerability 
{ Day 10 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via God’s Creation, Wk. 2
{ Day 11 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via A Moonlit Sunroof
{ Sunday }
{ Day 13 } Staying in Step with the Spirit Via A Wild Goose Chase