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Christianity, Competition, and Chili Cook-offs

About 10 years ago I got into a book called “Strengthfinders 2.0”. It’s a set of books put out by the Gallup foundation. I was impressed by it because it had you focus on your strengths more than your weaknesses. Our annual conference at the time was focusing on the other end of the spectrum. Evaluating churches on their weaknesses. The idea was that you had to find the “hole in your bucket” and use all your energy and resources to fix “the problem”. And once you’d fixed the problem,


you could become a church that overflowed with blessings for the world.


I don’t think that approach ever worked. To be honest, the “hole in the bucket” approach just made all of us feel very small. It caused us to try to be something we weren’t. And all the changes, to me anyway, seemed very unauthentic. Instead of giving the church energy, it created an energy vacuum that took any energy we had away. In a church already struggling, this approach made us more discouraged and hopeless. Not a good place to be.

The “Strengthfinder” program, on the other hand, is the opposite of that. It focuses on something you already have. It makes you feel like you have something to offer the world. In the program, you take a test that helps determine your top 5 strengths and then the goal is to make those strengths even stronger. Theologically, for me, this was a much stronger idea. God gives each of us gifts, and we are called to focus on the gifts God had given us, not on the gifts we don’t have.


But, for some of us, taking the test is an eye opener! It sure was for me. I mean I wasn’t surprised at all that my top strength was “ideation”. I mean I can churn ideas out in my sleep. But the one that surprised me was the third strength: the strength of “competition”. Say what?!? I mean I knew I was inherently competitive. As a child, I absolutely relished the idea of being the underdog. I loved the idea of taking down the hot shot! And the bigger they were the better! But as a Christian pastor, let’s face it, competition seems kind of childish. Competition seems to be about ego, not soul. How can competition be used in the church as a strength? Listen to some of the descriptive lines in the Strengthfinder 2.0 book:


· Someone who is a competitor needs to compare. And if you can compare, you can compete, and if you can compete, you can win.


Yikes! I mean if I were a coach, or maybe even a business owner, competition makes sense. But a pastor?!?! I’m not sure Paul’s “more excellent way” involves competition. Doesn’t Paul say this in describing that more excellent way: “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.” Where in the world does competition belong in a church?


Well, hold on to your hats! I’ve found the perfect place: the annual church chili cook-off! If you want to bring out a church’s real personality, just have a chili cookoff! If you want to know what your congregation is really like: have a chili cookoff! And not only that, the food is amazing! Try it sometime. Compare a non-competitive church potluck with a competition enriched chili-cookoff! There is no comparison! And what I love about it is not only the amount of research some folks will go to, but for some, the extent to which they bend the rules! Yes, it’s true. Some Christians, myself excluded of course, have even been known to cheat!!!


Probably my favorite and most effective leader in one my past churches was so competitive that she actually cheated in order to win a chili cook-off! Let me explain. First of all, the pressure was on. Partly because of her constant chatter. I mean this gal could talk a big game! And second, she had backed it up. She had won the chili cook-off 3 years straight. And because of all her chatter many in the church (me included) were gunning to take her down. And so, on the night of the cook-off the place was not only packed with some of the best chili in the 5-state area, but it was also packed with friends, neighbors, and onlookers! We all wanted to see this gal eat dirt. I even tried to cheat by telling everyone the number on my chili! But, to no avail! She won again!!! And boy did she rub it in!

But two weeks later, there she was in my office. I thought for sure she was there to gloat, but instead with a look of humility in her eye (a rare appearance), she shared that she had actually cheated. You see, that week had been a literal “hell” for her and her family. Her father was terribly ill with cancer and had had a real setback, and so, because of all the upheaval, she didn’t have the proper time to get her chili made just the way she usually did. So, at the last minute, she went to a local restaurant known for their chili and told them to fill her crock pot! She had won on that restaurant’s chili!!!!


To be honest, I never told anyone. I mean who really cared. The fun was in the competition! I told her not to worry about it. I’d take her down next year! I wanted to beat her when she was at her best!


So, back to that issue of competition for a minute. I know it can be kind of selfish, but the Bible does tell us to “provoke each other in love” and in some ways I think that’s what might have been happening at this chili feed? The “friendly” competition brought out the best in all of us!


So, in that same spirit, I am officially putting my hat in the ring! I’m about to embark on the best version of chili I’ve ever made! It is going to be epic, and there isn’t a soul at Bear Creek that can touch me! You might as well just throw in the towel! Mark it in the books, now! Pastor Brook is winning the annual Chili Cookoff! I’m even willing to put some money on it. If I get beat, and I won’t, I hereby declare that I will give $500 to any Bear Creek Mission the winner so desires!


Your friend and pastor, YouTubing award winning chili recipes as we speak, Brook

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