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The House Program is a competition that allows students to take responsibility and achieve together.
Competition, responsibility, and achievement are all great things, but all of them can also be warped and misused. In light of Wilberforce’s House Cup win, this article will examine how we process and understand competition. Wilberforce students now need to reflect on why competition is a good thing, and how it can be misused.
Why competition is a good thing
Wayne Grudem writes, “God has created us with a desire to do well, and to improve what we are able to do. Competition spurs us on to do better, because we see others doing better and we decide we can do that too.
Competition brings many opportunities to glorify God, as we try to use our talents to their full potential and thus manifest the God-like abilities that he has granted to us, with thankfulness in our hearts to him.
Competition also enables us individually to demonstrate fairness and kindness toward others, even those with whom we compete.”
Wilberforce students, ask yourselves - is competition driving me to do better? Am I thanking God for the gifts and abilities He has given me? And I loving those I am competing against?
But we know competition can also be misused…
The dangers of competition
Con Campbell writes, “While there is a place for healthy competitiveness, there is a difference between being spurred on by someone else to do better, and just wanting to crush the opposition. There’s nothing wrong with looking to high achievers for inspiration, but ugly competitiveness wants them to fail while you succeed. If we are secure in Christ, we can rejoice in others’ successes.”
Grudem gives a similar warning, “There is a difference between trying to do a job better than others, on the one hand, and trying to harm others and prevent them from earning a living on the other hand. There is nothing wrong with trying to run a better car repair shop than the one down the street, but there is a lot wrong with lying about the other mechanic, or stealing his tools, or in my heart seeking to do him harm."
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/is-it-wrong-to-compete-and-want-to-win/
In Pursuit of Excellence: A Biblical-Theological Exploration of Achievement By Dr Constantine R. Campbell
Wilberforce students, ask yourselves - is competition leading everyone to do better, or am I seeking to tear down and destroy? Am I taking joy in everyone’s success, or do others need to be crushed? Am I taking a healthy approach to competition that leads to high standards and engagement, or am I dragging others down with me?
We are Wilberforce Warriors, we make no apologies for playing hard and playing to win. We see others do well and that spurs us on to do better, but that does not mean we seek to tear them down and destroy them. As we compete we still love and care for others, we still take joy in their victories, and we rest secure knowing that all our victories pale in light of the true and final victory Jesus won on the cross for us. Jesus did not just defeat other houses, he defeated death, the devil, and the power of sin over our lives.
Mr Nicholas Lindeback
Christian Studies Coordinator
