Dominating the Competition

I'm not great at being a Pastor. My fellow Pastors are all 9 years or older and they have much to more to offer in meetings and relationships. To put in perspective, while I am just 8 months on the job, everyone else as 8+ years on the job! I am not used to this dynamic and it's easy for me to feel small. A couple months ago I felt small almost everyday until I had a perspective switch.

Instead of wanting to be the 'best' I chose to focus on being 'better' than the day before. This took all the pressure off as I started to ask for advice instead attempting to compete with the others pastors on staff. Then a funniest thing happened, our community of pastors grew exponentially!

In America, it's all about dominating the competition. We live in a capitalist economy for goodness sake! Capitalism has grown the U.S. to the prominence of today and many lead successful lives because of it; however, Capitalism has bled over to our Churches as an innate need to compete is engrained into our very upbringing. With either co-workers or other churches, we pit each other against one another because...well, that's all we know!

I was one of those people until I realized the only real way to do church is to do it with one another and I can't really do that if I'm constantly competing. 

In America, 'winning' means dominating the competition. 
Capitalism, right?!
But Jesus came and spun it upside down:
Winning means nobody losing in our communities. 
It's the paradoxical reality of Christianity.

In what ways are you pitting yourself against friends, family, or co-workers in which inhibits relationships?