"GO YE THEREFORE.... AND COMPETE?"

When I was a young aspiring athelete the one thing that I never shyed away from was competition. Any person(s), or team that was deemed to be the best at my level automatically became my target and my goal. I've always believed in the old adage, "if you want to be the best; you have to beat the best"... My competetive nature eventually spread to other challenging contests such as chess, cards, checkers and many other board games. The bottom line being that I simply wanted to win; a loss or tie was not an option for me.

Today I still loathe the thought of losing, but there is one arena inwhich my competetive nature will not rear it's head; and that arena is, "The Body of Christ".....you know; Church.....

Oh...you say the church is not an arena or a place of competetion?

Well incase you haven't noticed, the church as we once knew it has changed...."Drastically".... Sure, services are still being conducted regulary on Sunday mornings, and evenings at many churches. Pastors, Elders and Ministers are becoming more learned spending many hours studying the Bible and in the presence of God seeking a "Rhema" word for their respective congregations. There are still weekly Bible studies and prayer sessions being held, however attendance is often low. Those who are responsible for carrying the Gospel still labor Sunday after Sunday to deliver a message they hope will lead their membership on a path to righteousness, and effect change within the community and the world.

But let's face some very discouraging truths here....

Somewhere between "Thy kingdom come and Thy will be done" the purpose of not forsaking ourselves the chance to assembly together for the sake of the cross and winning the lost has developed into a competition of Olympic size proportions...

Let's begin with the first category:

1. Member Enrollment aka. "Recruiting": First let me start by saying that there is absolutely nothing wrong with desiring to see your church membership grow; I believe that every congregation should seek to reach every soul in the community that their assigned to. But when churches purposely venture into other areas with a message that says we're better; and post billboards advertising their services directly across from another congregation, it boasts of arrogance, and speaks very loudly to their true motives. While the race isn't to the swift or the strong, its also not a contest of who's better or who can acquire the most members. Every Called Out Assembly is commanded to make disciples, while also being the life support and blessing to the community....If you've enlisted into this warfare to compete against another pastor, preacher, or congregation, then you have lost focus on your God given assignment.
2. Choir Competitions aka, "Church Idol": Taking pride in the skill and anointing of your choir's and praise teams is nothing unusual, nor is there anything wrong with it. Music plays a very important role in our praise and worship service. Colossians 3:16 clearly states; "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and adminishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts To The Lord... So how is it that every single year church choirs are encouraged to compete in nationwide contests to name the best choir in the country while winning an enormous monetary prize?

Is this how we are to demonstrate the joy we have in our Lord and Savior, or am I just being much too puritanical?

I think not...

Those songs of praise and worship are not to be trivialized to the level of obtaining earthly gain in a choir competition. Praise belongs to the King of kings, and Lord of lords. I submit to you that when Jehoshaphat led the kingdom of Judah against their enemies putting the singers on the front line of battle, it was not for the purpose of competing within the kingdom for a prize. This warfare was of a spiritual nature and those songs of praise that went up before the Lord prompted Him to fight their battle
(Ref. 2nd Chronicles 20)

The church is failing in it's duty to spread the gospel, it's failing in holiness, we're losing the "Five Fold Ministry" of the church and concentrating on competing from within the body... 

We must realize that every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every house divided against itself shall not stand...(Matthew 12:25) We are not called to be in competition with each other; we were chosen to stand together and prevent the gatesof hell from prevailing, separate ourselves from the way of the world, and demonstrate what it means to live victorious in Christ...

Get Back On Post Soldiers of the Lord!"

We are in it, to win it, by holding up the Light; not by beating up on each other for the root of all evil.