When the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard about the greater crowds coming to him than to John to be baptized and to become his disciples—(though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them, but his disciples did)— he left Judea and returned to the province of Galilee. John 4:1-3
Can we ever get away from the comparison game? Can we ever be confident in our own merits and the merits of others? Can we ever accept that everyone is doing what THEY are called to do in their own way? Can we ever understand that a huge platform does not mean greater impact. Can we just seek a deeper meaning into our existence and not get ourselves involved with shallowness.
The Pharisees had the wrong idea about how life was supposed to be lived. It was a constant battle of showing off or discrediting any teaching or way of life that did not mirror theirs. It was constant competition.
Can we see this happening even today? With all the strides we have made encouraging each other to be independent while being inspired. Postulating our uniqueness and the fact that we all have our own messages and way in which we will bring across this message. At the end of the day we are still caught up in the game of measuring ourselves against each other and keeping score.
WHY DO WE KEEP SCORE?
Is it that we are convinced or have convinced ourselves that in all situations there is a singular definition of the word winner. Can I put a spin on this by saying winning is relative to one’s state of mind and the expectation in any situation. Jesus got up and left when He realized what the Pharisees were doing, clearly He was of a different mindset. They were essentially keeping score of the baptisms that Jesus and John did (even though it was Jesus’ disciples were baptizing persons)so at the end of the day they could declare a winner and one that was superior to the other. But Jesus knew that there was more to life and His mission. Only He knew what He was to accomplish at the end of the day.
Quite recently I was a spectator at a track meet for primary and high school athletes. As I waited to enter the venue I saw a young man, he could have been 18 but he had the body of maybe a 10 year old. He was decked out in his track suit and was walking around looking quite serious and focused. He was obviously a special needs child. At no point did I think he was a participant in any of the races. I am now in the stands and watching the races; if my memory serves me correct, the under 20 men’s 100 meter dash. And who do I see running his heart out and competing with guys who could quadruple him in stature, the special needs guy from earlier. He ran a dead last, but in that moment, I saw him as a winner. At what point does keeping score matter here?
I guess the point I am trying to make is that in life and in some situations we must absolutely see the irrelevance of keeping scores. Usain Bolt, it is quite obvious was made for running. Michael Phelps was made for swimming. Simone Biles for gymnastics. Does it mean we should not compete against them? No, but understand that if we do then we compete in our own way. It does not diminish or devalue who we are as a person and what we are called to do.
That special needs kid is a winner because guess what, he was able to finish a race competing against guys who were deemed bigger and better than he was. Some of us would not even want to be him but it is clear that like Jesus the race was more about his mission and not how we would interpret the situation (like the Pharisees did). Perhaps in the same way I was impressed and encouraged, there was a another special needs kid watching that he has managed to inspire and encourage. Surely that makes him a winner when compared to the person who actually won the race.
John knew his mission, it was different from Jesus’. John was a waymaker ushering Jesus’ coming, preparing the minds of people for what would be a great and significant change to how they knew life. There was nothing to compare his job with Jesus’. But the shallow minds of the pharisees did not realize this truth. Instead they opened themselves to being used to bring strife to a situation that was mutually exclusive. The question now is, are we engaged in a similar behavior today? Are we caught up in keeping score in situations that are independent of each other after all we are on different paths.
If I am allowed to engage in a bit of comparison to drive home the point a bit more (and this is one case where it is okay to compare). Recently I became curious to find out who was the writer of a series (Greenleaf) that I enjoy (I once thought it was Tyler Perry) and discovered it was a gentleman named Craig Wright who also wrote another series called LOST which I absolutely loved too. I then thought about Tyler Perry and immediately accepted them as two gifted writers who are doing what they love in their own way and are achieving success. Not once did the thought enter my mind as to who may be the better writer. Not once was I led to think along those lines, which in effect leads to keeping score.
There is no need for us to keep score of each other to the point of us becoming rivals. Too much of that is going on in the world today. We are wasting precious time and I know a lot of this takes place in business, corporations but I pray today that we will stop and change focus. Allow our priorities to change thereby facilitating excellence in ourselves and what we are called to do and be!
To create a bit of balance… keeping score may be something we will never rid ourselves of but as with anything that is more negative than positive we can turn it to our favor. If we must keep score then let us ensure that we are profiting from our score keeping. Let it be that we become more driven to be our best or that we are highlighting the great attributes that someone has so it becomes beneficial to others
OTHERWISE …
