It won't be a stretch to say that anyone who watched "The Last Dance" felt connected to the story; as I watched it go back and forth between 1998 and the beginning of each tale I was subdued by the narrative, and also felt this wish and motivation to have their level of determination. How the documentary explained that era of the Bulls couldn't have been better, because not only did you get great basketball moments, but we were given real human stories. It wasn't just me that couldn't stop binge watching, my wife was hooked too! But as I watched it I struggled to like it--I knew the way Michael Jordan succeeded isn't something that would be admired by God.
A thought that I continued to cringe at was how many pastors, church leaders, business owners, or anyone who is winning at their role would watch this and feel motivated by it to be the best; to be the Michael Jordan in what they do. I know that thought had to be running through at least some of them, because I'm just a teacher and I definitely felt a little fire of competition watching it. But is Michael Jordan the one we want on our team? Or is he who we want to be like? In this world, absolutely. In the Kingdom, absolutely not.
There are for sure redeeming qualities of MJ that every human should try to imitate without a second thought, like his work ethic or his drive to keep going until he accomplished his goals. It was amazing to hear everyone talk about his focus and the work he would put in to make sure he met his goals; there's no doubt that God had to be impressed watching him play his heart out in this sport that He put together for us. But at the same time our Father probably felt sad for him. He knew Michael Jordan's motivation, heart, and view of others will leave him empty. Despite being the best and having the world lift you up as a demigod, we as believers know that still leads to emptiness. No way around it without Christ.
However, he doesn't have to be alone; even us, who have been rescued by Christ, can still fall into that emptiness if we desire to be the best like Mike.
If You're Not First, You're "Last."
"If you're not first, you're last." One of the greatest sports legends of all time, Ricky Bobby, shared this piece of wisdom several years ago and it truly speaks to us. Why wouldn't it? Why else would we compete if it's not for the opportunity to be in 1st place and earn the accolades that come with it: trophy, money, promotion, recognition, bonuses, praise.
Or forget the 1st place prizes and recognition of winning, who in the world wants to lose? Maybe it's pride, but I don't want to attempt something and not do well, to me that's losing. If you invest entire chunks of your life into something and you didn't get what you considered "1st" place, it'd feel like we lost and finished last. It's not only the desire to be the best, but also the hatred of losing that drives us to put in extra hours of work in so we can hone in on the skill that will help us succeed.
However, even if we didn't put in the extra training, the competition itself would strengthen and sharpen us; this is why competition is good and needed for humans to improve as individuals and as a group of people. I know there are those who hate competition and have dubbed it as a type of evil and despise our culture for embedding it, but we would probably be a flabby, minimally productive country without it.
"Competition has been demonstrated to have a performance-enhancing effect on participants over time. Think of the many records that have been set and broken in the world of sports. Why do you think a record takes some time to break, but once it is broken and a new one set, several other athletes are also able to exceed the previous record?
Competition undoubtedly improves your performance because it creates a frame of reference." --https://www.cleverism.com/how-competition-affects-your-brain/
Competition is healthy and necessary for us to do better, which is why our economy is built on it, it's a natural incentive to help fuel the improvement of our quality of life.
However, like everything else in our universe, sin has corrupted competition; what should be a drive to do better than you think you can, is now what leads us to want to be worshipped as the best by having everyone else lose. (of course, not in every circumstance will we see this corrupt version of competition. This writing calls out the prideful type, not the friendly.)
The Greatest Will Be "Last"...
"An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest."--Luke 9:46
I'll be the first to say God wants us to do great at everything we attempt, but the goal to be the GOAT is not something for us to pursue which was a constant theme in The Last Dance. Being the greatest is a carnal desire where we are placed above others, not because of a competitive spirit, but a prideful one. Right now I can hear myself justifying "the reasons" it's okay to be the greatest, I'm sure someone reading this is doing the same, but the reality is there's no room in the Kingdom for our egos when we want to be greater than someone else.
There is someone in every category that is the best, but only to the world is it a good thing to conquer others to be it. Our worldview confuses this approach as "hard work;" our good intentions mislead us to think we're doing a good job, but the greatest will be last not because it's mean to beat others, but it is unfulfilling. Not only for our own souls, but for the communities around us. We add zero value to the world when we are focused on having others see us as valuable.
Again, we know and believe this, nothing I'm saying is new. But look at our churches and us. We are constantly trying to defeat and outdo others. This heart is so ingrained in us that we don't think anything of the reality that we operate our everyday lives and organizations with that intention. We are enslaved to it, but we either can't see it or ignore it.
A business owner who is a Christian shouldn't be motivated to beat the competition; will it happen, yes, but it shouldn't be part of their meeting agendas. A Christian parent shouldn't want to see their kid outdo another kid, should we want to see our kids do great and win, of course, but our praise and attention shouldn't come from them beating another little one at something (no matter how annoying that kid might be). A church and a pastor shouldn't be obsessed with making their little kingdom the most popular in the neighborhood or tell people to check out "ours" instead of "theirs."
We cannot be followers of Christ, who gave his life for others, and look at someone else and think to ourselves we need to beat them so we can be the best. In that world, we are placing ourselves above others. We are saying our well-being is worth more than theirs. We care more about our lives than theirs, instead of trusting God that he will be the one to take care of us. Our identity at that point isn't found in Christ's ways, but opposed to it.
As I write this I pray that we look back at ourselves and reflect on our everyday thinking and any fruits that have came from it. A "beat-the-competition" mindset won't produce fruits that God wants to keep, those accolades will burn in the fire. The greatest won't only be last, due to it being unfulfilling, but because God will brutally resist us.
It's no secret God hates pride and there's several reasons for it, but one of them is it's not a sustainable model for a community. If everyone chases greatness by beating others then we will have a vast majority of "losers" since not everyone starts at the same point. (which is exactly what we have)
In his culture, no joy comes from beating others. All that does is lower someone while lifting ourselves on top of them--very opposite of how Jesus lived. However, that prideful spirit has adapted and hidden itself inside the competitive spirit God has placed in us and is being justified by us in the church. That's a perfect example of the church being formed by the world's standards instead of vice versa.
An Empty House
"He must increase, but I must decrease."--John 3:30
We're bringing this way of thinking into our church agendas. The common philosophy in the American church is: make our church popular "for the glory of God." It's good for us to love our church, but we have this obsession to make our church's name great and be known. We say we want to change the world for God, but sometimes it feels like we want to do it so we are looked at. We aren't outdoing each other in love that well, but crushing it when it comes to marketing, worship experience, kids ministry, outreaches (more marketing in some cases), etc. Which is fine, I know it's done some good for the Kingdom, but that's leaving us open to pursue the wrong thing. It's going to lead to an emptiness despite the building being full.
As believers, we have to remember Jesus got to 1st place by losing. Jesus sacrificed greatness so others could be.
We need to avoid being motivated by Michael Jordan and any other GOAT, because their mind isn't the same that is in Christ. Their mindset is to be the best and the "best" isn't focused on decreasing themselves. We need to avoid that desire to win over others. He won't increase like we think He will if we're trying to increase ourselves too.
Read More: The "Last" Dance 2/2
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