Running to Win # 12

Running YOUR Best

By Dr. Greg Wiens

I have always been a fairly decent runner. But running competitively for these past forty-three years has taught me something pretty profound: There is always someone better! There is always someone younger, faster, smarter or stronger than me. As much as I don’t want to admit it, I really am not that good. Though I have won my age bracket in a couple of smaller races, if the race is big enough, there will simply always be someone (even in my old age bracket) that is better than me.

That may not sound too revolutionary for some of you; however, for me this realization came as a major disappointment until I fully grasped its implications. Accepting this fact, meant that I no longer needed to compare myself with others. I realized that I should compare myself with myself! Again, not too earth shaking for some of you, but for a competitive person like myself, this was tough. This fact didn’t discourage me from running; it only allowed me to be a little more sober about my opinion of myself.

Paul says it clearly in Galatians 6.3-5; ” ³If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. ⁴Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, ⁵for each one should carry his own load.” (See also Romans 12.3) Paul does encourage us to run in such a way as to win in 1 Corinthians 9.24. But, notice he doesn’t say that we should GET the prize; he says we should run in SUCH A WAY as to get the prize. I believe in life and ministry we should always run to win. In other words, we should do our very best to do all that we can do to win. If I run my best and push myself, I probably won’t win; but I will have run to win.

This is important because in ministry there are always going to be bigger or smaller churches; or churches which have grown faster, have better small groups, better worship, bigger budgets, more staff and deeper pockets in the congregation. There will always be pastors who are smarter or better communicators or more effective leaders. I wish I had a nickel for every time a pastor has told me they wish they only had “_________”, (you fill in the blank) like another pastor/church has. Often times, we won’t say it, but we think it in our hearts.

The lesson I have learned from running is that there are always going to be better churches (and worse ones as well). There are always going to be better pastors. Our goal should never be to compare us to others, but always to compare ourselves to ourselves. In which direction are we headed? Are we doing better or are we doing worse than we were before in making disciples of lost people? Are we a better pastor this year than we were last year? The idea is that by doing this auto-examination, we can be more effective in our ministry. Growth never has to stop. For example, this week my eighty-eight year old mother-in-law asked me to explain Wi-Fi to her. She is still learning and growing!

So the challenge in life is to compare ourselves with where we were last year, not with anyone else. If we practiced this in ministry, I believe it could revolutionize the way we, as pastors, treat each other. We really could celebrate when other churches are growing rather than criticize them or try to discredit their growth. We would be much more willing to help other churches/pastors to grow and be willing to share our resources with each other. We would be much more open to constructive criticism on how we can improve our leadership or ministry.

For me this has come with age. I now have less to prove and more to produce. I am truly willing to be open to help others and have them help me. I know I can run to win and be okay with not winning.

Before I close I will answer to those of you who often believe that someone IS really the best. You will say that someone is actually the fastest or largest. But others eventually better even World Record holders. All records are eventually broken. For a Mark Spitz, there is a Michael Phelps, and there will be someone else better yet someday. Why did Spitz have a difficult time celebrating Phelps? Possibly it was because he had trouble admitting to this truth.

We all need to do our very best in life. The way to do it is, not be comparing ourselves with others, but rather to take deep and honest inventory of our own lives and ask are we better than we were last year. That is why I set goals and have others such as, coaches and elders, who will honestly give me feedback. These are two ways I have of knowing the answer to that question.