Comparison and Competitiveness

In the last year as part of my study, I began to notice a few trends that made me think, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on why. However, as time went on, this pattern became more and more obvious, and indeed I was able to spot it in my life, and indeed in my experience in pastoral/church work over the past 15 years. It is the pattern of comparison and competitiveness in the life of churches, and particularly leaders. Often we can forget that we are Kingdom collaborators, on the same team to see the glory of God cover the earth. However, when comparison and competitiveness become central to this process, it can lead to detrimental consequences for both individual congregations and the broader Christian community. We can be more about promoting our brand and sadly papering over cracks to place a veneer on who we are and what 'we' accomplish. I have sketched down a few thoughts which explore the dangers associated with the pervasive culture of comparison and competitiveness in church planting.

Distorted Priorities

When churches and their leaders focus excessively on outdoing one another, their priorities may shift away from genuine spiritual growth, shepherding the flock they have, and reaching the people that God has placed around them.

Now of course we would never be as overt as this, but many ‘missional’ churches can be ‘attractional’ without even realising it. I’ve lost count of the promotion of having ‘great coffee’ when services are advertised, or how to make things look more professional on well crafted social media posts. The desire to appear more successful than others can lead to a distortion of the core values and mission of the church and this drift can happen in us without us even realising. I’ve often caught myself chatting to other pastors, and when the conversation turns to our churches, we often lead with metrics of growth rather than depth and maturity when describing the family of faith we belong to. We can try to create an environment for churched people to attend with us, rather than be on mission together for Jesus. On pastor once concerningly quipped, "I don't steal sheep, I just try to grow better grass and invite them to feed here."

Spiritual Superficiality

A competitive church planting environment may encourage a superficial emphasis on outward appearances, numbers, and "success" metrics.

Do we labour over social media posts, sermon bumpers (I only learned what this meant a week ago!), t-shirts, mugs and attendances? Again, this can be sadly subconscious but subtly dangerous. The biggest danger is that genuine spiritual development and the nurturing of a deep, meaningful faith community may be sacrificed for the sake of perceived success. I know a guy who is a coffee expert and an incredibly charismatic person. He opened an amazing coffee shop with wonderful coffee and a beautiful, welcoming environment. Bring up coffee and he will talk your ear off about flavour profiles and processing methods. Yet, one of his saddest moments was a couple coming in, buying a coffee, taking a photo with the cup, setting it down and walking away. When he chased them to bring them the coffee they replied ‘we don’t like coffee, we just did it for our Instagram.’ That concerns me about the culture we might be unknowingly encouraging in our churches. In an area with a lot of churches, we can often check out our 'competition' only to aim to stay ahead of them in what we provide and how we 'sell' ourselves.

Division Within the Community

Comparison fosters an environment where churches become divided into winners and losers, fostering a sense of superiority or inferiority.

I might write on this at another stage, but I’ve begun to dislike conferences. Not because they are inherently bad, but because they make me feel inferior. We might shun a culture of celebrity, but we all know the hierarchy of people who have ‘succeeded’ in ministry. As a pastor of a micro-church in a small rural town in Ireland, my success stories are not about numbers but people. In the past this seemed small for me, but the longer I serve here the more profound it is. Irrespective of how small the fruit we see is, God is doing something wonderful in and through our lives, and it is His glory that we get a front row seat to. Churches are the family of God, and whereas we might have our differences, it is discouraging to see a church planted in a location with other churches because they are bringing their specific nuance into the area. For outsiders looking in it simply looks like another option, another brand, and can cause massive confusion. Yet, that can work both ways, and inferiority can quickly become superiority with a hefty chip on our shoulders. Both aren’t good, both cause division, both grieve God.

Burnout and Emotional Toll

Pastors and leaders may experience burnout as they constantly strive to outshine their counterparts, leading to exhaustion and emotional strain.

Burnout is an all-to-common experience for those in ministry. The pressures and strains on church leaders can be immense, and I’m glad we are seeing both honesty and support for this being more widely available. But I wonder if the pressure to meet unrealistic expectations may adversely affect the mental and emotional well-being of those involved in church planting. Of course, this can be a pressure that we put upon ourselves, with the strive to be bigger, better, more popular. I’ve often (but not often enough!) asked myself the question, ‘who am I doing this for?’ and sometimes been worried by the answer. Like the others, this requires a great deal of introspection and prayer, but for me this is one of the most sorrowful results from comparison and competitiveness.

Loss of Authenticity in Leaders

In a 'competitive' environment, there is a risk of leaders adopting practices solely for the purpose of appearing more attractive or successful, rather than staying true to their authentic beliefs and traditions.

In the last 10 years there have been some major and public examples of leadership failure within the church planting community. This can be attributed to all sorts of different cultural environments, but at their heart I believe that comparison and competitiveness come into it a great deal. Like sports teams, we all seem to have our ‘tribe’ or our specific leader. We may not know them, or have even met them, but we follow the profile. This in turn can shape how we do things, how we think the church should run, how people should be. A few years ago a friend and I attended a conference where a well know leader was asked about how he dealt with ‘problematic’ people in the church? (I can still feel my skin crawl at that question!) The leader answered "get rid of them!" Quick as a flash my friend shouted out ‘but what if you are the problem?’ The leader laughed and so did everyone else. I often think about that moment. We seem to crave celebrities and celebrity as humans. We might not think it but it’s in all of us - the desire to be liked and loved. Sometimes that means shaping ourselves to be more palatable - often without even realising it.

Conclusion

The dangers of comparison and competitiveness in church planting are numerous and far-reaching - probably far more than any of us realise! I suppose the healthiest way to counteract this is in collaboration and distribution, working for the glory of God with others, and serving one another sacrificially as a priority. The longer I am in ministry the more Jesus washing His disciples’ feet impacts me - the humble posture of a slave. Not above, but beneath. Not being raised, but lowering Himself. Not being served, but serving. It is by pressing into this, I believe we can put comparison and competitiveness to death, and see the glory of God work in and through our lives.