My Church is Not The Best

I’m not going to lie, the first time somebody told me I was the “best” pastor or that our church was the “best” church, I was pretty happy. Yes! Fist pump! In your face, Rick Warren! Take that, North Point! How ya’ like me now, Furtick?! Did you hear that? We’re the best!

You see, I grew up with a strong competitive streak. Everything was a competition. I’m not just talking about sports or Atari games (80′s shout-out), I’m talking about everything. My school was better than yours, my team was better than yours, my girlfriend was better than yours, my family was better than yours, and my church was better than yours. That’s right, I said, “my church was better than yours.” Whether it was true or not, that’s what I believed. We’re awesome; you’re not. We’re the best.

But God has been dealing with my competitive streak lately. In 2 Corinthians 10:17 Paul said, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” Did you catch that? He didn’t say, “boast in your church,” he said, “boast in the Lord.”  Since when did churches start to boast, “we’re the best”? Since when did our churches begin to compete? It’s not Scriptural. It’s not even smart. Instead, it’s a common, man-made, dumb assertion.

As a matter of fact, believing that my church is the “best” is beyond dumb, it’s dangerous.

My church is not better than your church. My church is not trying to beat your church. That’s not what the Kingdom of God is about. Our churches aren’t competitors. We are partners. We are fellow soldiers. We are teammates. I want your church to succeed. I need your church to succeed. Because when you win, we win. When you make a difference, we make a difference.

So I’m learning to refocus my competitive nature. Don’t get me wrong, I still love to compete. I still hate Duke with every fiber of my being; I still take pleasure out of beating kids half my age in basketball; I still  refuse to battle my son in Pokemon because he destroys me; I still race strangers to the check-out line in Wal-Mart, but I’m just learning to keep competition in those places where it belongs. And one place competition never belongs is in our churches. [Tony's note: Please disregard Bryan's comment about Duke.]

My church is great. It really is. The people are wonderful. The music is passionate. The growth is exciting. The vision is contagious. It’s a hot place to be each weekend. But it’s not better than your church. It can’t be. I won’t let it be. Your church is great, too. And it’s when we are together – and only when we are together - that we are all truly at our best.

__________

This is a guest post from Bryan Roberts, Lead Pastor of Church Relevant in Bern, North Carolina. Here are the details if you’d like to contribute an article as well.