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This post is drawn from Jan David Hettinga, Follow Me: Experience the Loving Leadership of Jesus (Colorado Springs, Colorado: NavPress, 1996).

“One of the more significant signs of God’s activity can be seen when He turns selfishness into generosity. Turning water into wine is child’s play when compared to changing the hearts of human beings with regard to money and possessions. Religious people give to create an impression with others and leverage with God. Jesus deliberately exposed the inferior motivation behind the giving of the Pharisees and religious authorities of His day (Matthew 6:1-4). Kingdom people give because they’re no longer building their private kingdoms. Part of their worship involves continually transferring ownership of all that they have to their master. The more you see that it is really God’s kingdom you’re building in hearts, and not man’s kingdom, the more your values change. Jesus applauds the practice of “selling all that you have” in order to possess the pearl of great price (see Matthew 13:45-46). It makes no sense to hoard and accumulate for time what you can give away and keep for eternity. When the kingdom is the focus of a believer’s value system, the hold of wealth and possessions radically diminishes.”

This series was originally published as an article in Vocatio, Vol. 8, No. 1, FALL 2005. Vocatio: A publication of the Marketplace Theology concentration at Regent College, offering reflection on the ministry of the whole people of God in the workplace.

“If there is a market, there will be competitors. If there are no competitors, very likely there is no market.”¹ Competition is not a zero-sum game and it is not less Christian than cooperation. It is well-documented in Scripture as part and parcel of the human condition, and therefore subject to sin. However, unless motivated solely by the desire for personal power, competition is appropriate for Christians in the marketplace because competition implies cooperation and community. We witness the redeeming work of Christ in the common grace already found in many competitive relationships. There will always be a tension between people-oriented values and business efficiency. In the end, it is our character, and not our wealth, that God will judge. With proper boundaries, the true spirit of healthy competition ultimately glorifies God.

¹ John Cragin, “The Business of Missions – The Missions of Business,” in On Kingdom Business: Transforming Missions Through Entrepreneurial Strategies, Tetsunao Ymamori and Kenneth A. Eldred, eds. (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2003), 173.

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This series was originally published as an article in Vocatio, Vol. 8, No. 1, FALL 2005. Vocatio: A publication of the Marketplace Theology concentration at Regent College, offering reflection on the ministry of the whole people of God in the workplace.

Competition, Cooperation and Community

Cooperation is the basis for competition. Laura Nash describes the concept applied to competition as coming from a genuine evangelical impulse for benevolence. The terms of competition may be rearranged to take into account the interests of others. The unconditional nature of this thinking reflects elements of Christian love and a worldview based on relational thinking rather than merely legalistic measures. You don’t give up ‘loving your neighbor’ just because it might cost you something.¹ Nash’s Covenantal Business Ethic,² while helpful, is somewhat naïve. Any competition based on long-term vision already operates this way – Christian or otherwise.

To compete used to mean to ‘beat.’ Today, it means continuous interaction with a spectrum of individuals and organizations… Sharing to win and sharing the win have become the hallmarks of the new competitiveness. This requires undoing the behaviors focused on exclusive advantage and adopting those of partnership and collaboration.³

“The need to be more ‘competitive’ is more often than not better cast as the need to be more cooperative.”⁴

While in the competitive field of real estate sales, I often met with top producers in my area. When Larry Hahn⁵ shared his ‘secrets’ with me, I was grateful and astounded and asked why he had been so generous: “First, we are not only competitors, but cooperators in listings and sales. Second, anything I share that improves the image of our profession benefits us all. And third,” he added with a smile, “by the time you learn to do what I’m doing as well as I do, I’ll be doing something else.”

Cooperation is integral to competition, and both are linked to community. A survey of the ‘one-another’ commands of the Bible demonstrates just how highly God holds us to community. Mutual belonging takes precedence over individual desires; cooperation is the basis of competition and not the struggle for survival.⁶ Competition is one of many relationships we have with other members of the community. Corruption of competition damages the sense of community and the underlying cooperation necessary for any successful business activity.

However competitive a particular industry may be, it always rests on a foundation of shared interests and mutually agreed-upon rules of conduct, and the competition takes place not in a jungle but in a society that it presumably both serves and depends upon. Business life, unlike life in the mythological jungle, is first of all fundamentally cooperative.⁷

“Mutual trust and respect work because they maintain social cohesion.”⁸

Competition, defined by cooperation, is good because it nourishes community. Cooperation is an essential and pleasurable part of being human. Competition validates a theme of excellence in the Bible,⁹ and for enduring success, requires integrity: “competing for consumer confidence is more important than sales profits.”¹⁰ Competition lowers price and raises quality. And competition promotes human flourishing: “It is unlikely that individuals could ever discover their own potential unless they are blessed with good friends and rivals, whose exploits teach them how to push themselves harder than they yet have.”¹¹

¹ Laura L. Nash, Believers in Business (Vancouver: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1994), 89-94. See also Luke 6:31 and Luke 10:27.
² Laura L. Nash Good Intentions Aside: A Managers Guide to Resolving Ethical Problems (Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Press, 1993), 20. The Covenantal Business Ethic subordinates self-interest to other motivations, prominently value-creation and service to others, approaching business in terms of relationships.
³ John Dalla Costa, Working Wisdom: The Ultimate Value in the New Economy (Toronto: Stoddart, 1995), 267.
⁴ Robert C. Solomon, Ethics and Excellence: Cooperation and Integrity in Business (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 8-9.
⁵ Larry Hahn is a realtor with Re/max Real Estate in Edmonton, Alberta, who was earning well over $500,000 at the time of our interview, in the midst of the recessionary mid-eighties.
⁶ Solomon and Hanson, Above the Bottom Line, 399.
⁷ Solomon, Ethics and Excellence, 26.
⁸ Bateson, “Co-operation,” 7.
⁹ See Colossians 3:23.
¹⁰ Peter Quek, “Competition,” in The Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, Robert Banks and R. Paul Stevens, eds. (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1997), 193.
¹¹ Novak, The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism, 347.

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This series was originally published as an article in Vocatio, Vol. 8, No. 1, FALL 2005. Vocatio: A publication of the Marketplace Theology concentration at Regent College, offering reflection on the ministry of the whole people of God in the workplace.

Competition Needs Boundaries

Some passages seem to speak directly against competition: do not covet your neighbor’s possessions; help the stumbled donkey; love your neighbor and your enemies; honor others above yourself. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”¹ God is a God of justice; examples in the economic sphere include rules for the Sabbath year and Year of Jubilee.² These commands identify the dangers of unbridled competition and signal the need for appropriate boundaries. Flaws inherent in today’s free market are recognized and remedies are provided. The approach to economics is laissez-faire, subject to these remedies.³

Just as games have boundaries called rules, business has boundaries called ethics. Without rules, a game is not a game. In poker, bluffing is okay, but a marked deck is not. Friendly competition between basketball players on the same team is tolerable only insofar as it improves overall team performance; it may cause them to play better, or it may jeopardize team cooperation; competition between individual players is secondary to competition between teams. There are limits here too: excessive brutality is not tolerated because it compromises the integrity of the sport. Good competitors view their opponents only as temporary enemies. “Competition is a shared set of goals and rules.”⁴

“Business competition is indeed competition, but it is competition severely restricted within the limits of law and general consensus.”⁵ Earning respect in business is, among other things, ‘playing by the rules’ – not just moral rules, but unspoken rules of fair-play as well. This means seeing ourselves as part of a cooperative enterprise. Self-regulated professions establish clear boundaries – ‘codes of ethics.’ The dental profession, for example, is to be viewed as a “partnership of equals.” Their code describes how dentists should represent themselves; that they must respect the public’s right to free choice; and make no disparaging comments on the procedures or qualifications of a colleague.⁶ Similarly, the Realtors’ code not only limits, but extends to encouraging cooperation:

You should cooperate with other licensees on all of your listings. In cooperating with other salespersons and agents you are furthering the interests of your clients by creating much more interest in the listed property and by obtaining the assistance of other agents and salespersons in trying to sell the property.⁷

Documented ethical codes are merely written versions of existing, but unspoken, rules of fair-play in the marketplace.

Next Post: Competition, Cooperation and Community

¹ Exodus 20:17, 23:5; Matthew 5:43-44; Romans 12:10; and Philippians 2:3-4.
² Leviticus 25.
³ Geoff Moore, “Beyond Competition,” in God and the Marketplace: Essays on the Morality of Wealth Creation, Jon Davies, ed. (London: IEA Health and Welfare Unit, 1003), 116.
⁴ Robert C. Solomon and Kristine R. Hanson, Above the Bottom Line: An Introduction to Business Ethics (Toronto: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1983), 111.
⁵ Jones, Business, Religion and Ethics, 66.
⁶ Canadian Dental Association, Code of Ethics, 1990.
⁷ Peter Watts, Real Estate Practice and Ethics (Vancouver: The British Columbia Real Estate Association, 7^th ed., May 1991), 54.

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This series was originally published as an article in Vocatio, Vol. 8, No. 1, FALL 2005. Vocatio: A publication of the Marketplace Theology concentration at Regent College, offering reflection on the ministry of the whole people of God in the workplace.

Competition and the Human Condition

No presentation of the problem of competition is complete without considering the human condition and the reality of sin. Everything God created for good is subject to corruption.¹ The free market is society’s most efficient instrument for utilizing resources and effectively responding to human needs by assuring the lowest prices, proper supply, and adequate labor at reasonable wages, as well as the wealth of the society.² An ethicist of modern economic theory once confronted the Socialist agenda:

With moral conceptions in many respects far ahead of the existing arrangements of society, they have in general very confused and erroneous notions of its actual working; and one of their greatest errors, as I conceive, is to charge upon competition all the economical evils which at present exist.³

By avoiding competition, monopolies and cartels undermine free enterprise, resulting in oppressive pricing of goods and services.

There are real challenges associated with competition in the marketplace. As unvarnished history, the Bible records competitive activity: Cain and Abel; Jacob and Esau; Joseph and his brothers. In Luke 22:24, a dispute (philoneikia – ‘love of strife, eagerness to contend’) broke out among the apostles over who was greatest among them. Much of 1 Corinthians deals with competition between groups in the church vying for superiority in spiritual status – following Paul, Apollos, Cephas, or Christ. Chapter 9 concerns Paul’s apostleship and, in 2 Corinthians 11:5, he compares himself with the ‘super apostles.’

Humans seem compelled to compete. Never satisfied with the status-quo, we are images of God. The parables of the ten virgins, the talents, and the prodigal son reveal that “God is not committed to equality of results.”⁴ Yet, for all our striving, we are reminded that God is sovereign: “It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.”⁵ One must be cautious when constructing doctrine from the silence of scripture. Some passages place limits on the competitive nature, while others clearly prohibit the seeking of dominion over other human beings, yet God seems never to condone, nor specifically condemn, competition. Although we have limited record of human interaction prior to ‘The Fall’ or in eternity, it is difficult to imagine the work, given by God in the creation story,⁶ bereft of healthy or playful competition. Christ is certainly capable of redeeming competition in all realms of life.

Next Post: Competition Needs Boundaries

¹ See Psalm 53:3; 14:3 and Romans 3:10.
² First described by Adam Smith in Wealth of Nations.
³ John Stuart Mill, “Private Property and Its Critics” in On Moral Business: Classic and Contemporary Resources for Ethics in Economic Life, Max L. Stackhouse, Dennis P. McCann, et al. eds., (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1995), 224. Excerpts from Political Economy (1848), pp. 201-20, 746-94.
⁴ Novak, The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism, 345.
⁵ Romans 9:16.
⁶ See Genesis 2:15. Further, if God is Ruler or Judge, what is it exactly that he will preside over in heaven?

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This series was originally published as an article in Vocatio, Vol. 8, No. 1, FALL 2005. Vocatio: A publication of the Marketplace Theology concentration at Regent College, offering reflection on the ministry of the whole people of God in the workplace.

Competition Corrupted

The enthronement of competition, motivated solely by individual desire, is destructive. “The fashionable philosophy of individualism,” writes Patrick Bateson, “draws its respectability in part from an appeal to … the Darwinian theory of evolution by natural selection.” Biology is believed to be all about competition – and that supposedly means constant struggle. Drawing examples from biology he concludes: “those who team up are more likely to survive than those that do not.”¹ The self-interest model simply doesn’t work.

Competition is corrupted, and becomes dehumanizing, when the focus is on personal power or honor. “If one’s economic drive represents the desire for a higher status than one’s fellows, it is a drive toward isolation.”² “Where competition involves the search for dominion over another human being…, then violence is done to the values of the Christian gospel.”³ When Jesus warns the rich,⁴ he is condemning not their wealth, but the thirst for power apart from God that their possessions induce.

War and sport-based metaphors used in the marketplace malign the true nature of economic enterprise as a human activity. If sport celebrates the myth of success, the morality of self-reliance, and reward of hard work, it becomes a ‘microcosm of meritocracy.’⁵ Competition is corrupted when its goal is the crushing<⁶ of another.

Next Post: Competition & the Human Condition

This series was originally published as an article in Vocatio, Vol. 8, No. 1, FALL 2005. Vocatio: A publication of the Marketplace Theology concentration at Regent College, offering reflection on the ministry of the whole people of God in the workplace.

When I play checkers with my six year-old nephew, I play to win. Ryan is a good checker player and I honor him when I give my very best in the spirit of competition. I do not, however, take unfair advantage in order to win, for if I did, I fear I would lose a worthy partner. Ryan and I play by the rules (which sometimes include pointing out an opportunity for a double-jump).

Although competitive struggle is accepted in sport, is it appropriate for Christians in the marketplace? [These posts pursue] a biblical theological perspective on the challenge of work in competitive environments. Common misunderstandings and corruption of competition are inevitable consequences of the human condition. With proper boundaries however, competition glorifies God, because it presumes rather than precludes, cooperation and community.

Competition Misunderstood

Competition is a word of paradox. Derived from the Latin com, ‘together’, and petre, ‘to strive or seek’, to compete literally means: ‘to seek together although against.’ It is translated as such only three times in the New Testament:¹ in 1 Corinthians 9:25 (agōnizomai) it refers to running in “such a way as to get the prize”; and twice in 2 Timothy 2:5 (athleō) where the context is competing “according to the rules.”

Must competition be perceived as a zero-sum game in which there are only winners and losers? Surely Paul was not suggesting that only one will get the prize.² The premise of zero-sum games is competition for limited resources, yet this need not be the case in the market environment. Stewardship is a Biblical theme, but scarcity is not:

Among the things for which humans compete, money is neutral and may be used in wise stewardship or foolish…A money economy is inherently dynamic. What one wins in the competition is not…taken from others, for the original sum is invested so as to be added to, and its investment opens new opportunities for others. …it is in the real interest of those with money to see others prosper along with themselves.³

Must competition be polemic to cooperation, where one is evil and the other good? Professional ministers often possess congenial temperaments appropriate to their role as conciliators. Expecting the same of all, regardless of profession, amounts to idolatry of the pastoral personality. God’s creation is described as a “vast array.” The body of Christ is composed of many different parts.⁴ There is no single Christian personality. Cooperation and competition coexist without being opposite.

Is competition synonymous with conflict? This view charges that business, being essentially competitive, puts a premium on conflict, and is thus morally reprehensible, promoting an enemy attitude, as opposed to benevolence. Competition can become truly unhealthy – even immoral, when the drive to win comes at the expense of others. But strong personalities at odds need not constitute evil – witness the disagreement between Barnabas and Paul.⁵ All human activity is competition and conflict, with all the ambiguities of conduct this implies.⁶ “A non-competitive world is a world reconciled to the status quo.”⁷

^{Next Post: Competition Corrupted…}

¹ All Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version. Copyright 1974, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
² 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.
³ Michael Novak, The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1982), 348. This quotation is taken from a section on the theological doctrine of competition.
⁴ Genesis 2:1 and 1 Corinthians 12.
⁵ Acts 15:36-41. Barnabas was a land-owner with a bias for action (see Acts 4:36).
⁶ Donald G. Jones, ed., Business, Religion and Ethics: Inquiry and Encounter (Cambridge, Mass.: Oelgeschlager, Gunn & Hain, 1982), 65.
⁷ Novak, The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism, 348.

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Sandy is a Night Walker – one of hundreds of children who live on small farms with their parents, yet journey every evening to huddle together for the night on a concrete slab in the centre of Kitgum, in an effort to avoid abduction.

After an emotionally exhausting day in the camps, our group returned to Kitgum and, that evening, visited the Night Walkers. We were somewhat surprised by their enthusiastic welcome. These kids were clean, well-dressed, orderly, educated, healthy-looking, beautiful, gentle, and joyful.

I was tired and found a place to sit on a concrete wall. I remember the warmth of the wall and the warmth of the bodies around me. The black children seemed to fade into the blackness of the night. I heard a voice beside me: “My name is Sandy.”

We just sat there. Sandy’s fourteen. She sleeps on the veranda and has a twelve year old brother named Jacko. She showed me her school books and math homework. A ten year old entertained us. I played and teased with others as they crowded around. But I sat with Sandy.

Not far off, I heard voices that sounded like fun. I asked Sandy if she’d like to see what was going on, but she was clear:

“No, I just want to sit here with you.”

After a trying day, and in the midst of commotion, here was a friend who just wanted to sit with me. I couldn’t move. I wanted to stay there forever.

I don’t know how long we sat there, but eventually someone came to tell me it was time to go. I stood, and reluctantly said good-bye. I moved away from the wall and waited for the others.

But as I stood there I felt something. The breeze? My imagination? A gentle touch on my shoulder?

It was Sandy: “Mr. Jeff, are you coming back tomorrow night?”

I wouldn’t recognize Sandy to see her. It was dark, and she was dark. But she had a rich and gentle voice. I would remember that voice.

“I just want to sit with you.”

“Are you coming back?”

I met Jesus in Kitgum. Her name is Sandy. I don’t know what she looks like, but I’ll never forget the sound of her voice.

Four years ago, my friend David Collins, founder of Canadian Food for the Hungry, invited me to join him and small group of adventurers on a Vision Trip to Uganda.

Uganda is in east Africa. The northern part of the country has been ravaged by an ongoing, brutal, and senseless civil war. After arriving by airplane and spending a few days in the capital city of Kampala, we boarded a much smaller aircraft and headed north to Kitgum.

Kitgum is a tiny dusty town just south of the Sudan border. Home to numerous relief agencies, it’s a bit of a safe haven for victims of a war that has recruited thousands of children and forced them to serve as soldiers, porters, or looters.

Just before dark, we settled into our accommodations – a sagging mattress, a torn mosquito net, well-worn furniture, and a cold shower. I was a little apprehensive about sleeping in that room, but it was far better than what we would witness the next day.

In the morning, as we piled into our van, we heard rumours of recent ambushes on the route we’d be travelling. For the price of a case of cookies, we were in good hands – eight armed guards rode in the truck ahead of us.

That day, we visited two IDP camps and interviewed three brave survivors. IDP stands for Internally Displaced Peoples. These are like refugees – in their own country – who have been moved from homes scattered throughout the countryside in an effort to avoid attack from rebel forces. The theory is that there’s safety in numbers. The problem is that it’s almost impossible for these people to support themselves in camps.

One of the camps we visited was Padibe. A fire had recently torn through this camp, devouring the grass roofs of tiny huts that provide shelter. These people had lost everything – and then lost that too!

At Padibe, we heard from a young woman – now in her mid-twenties. Guilt and fear prevented her from speaking in much more than a faint whisper. Through a translator she told us how, as an adolescent, she was walking with three other girls from her village, on their way to work in a field, when they were ambushed by rebel soldiers. The soldiers warned them not to show fear, and in a twisted attempt to prove their point, shot and killed two other children in front of them. All four girls were terrified. Their punishment was that this young woman and one of her friends were ordered to beat the other two girls to death. From the lips of the translator we hear three dreadful words: “…and we did.”

The survivors were taken to a nearby rebel camp. But in the middle of the night, the beaten girls regained consciousness and crawled toward the sound of voices, looking for help. Our survivor and her friend were told to finish the job – “…and we did.”

For over twenty years, children have been abducted and forced to do unthinkable things. Girls are recruited as porters, looters, and concubines. Ten year old boys are lined up across from one another, given guns, and told to shoot the boy across from them. Those who survive become soldiers; those who don’t are called cowards. The threat is always the same: “After what you did, you can never go back.”

The broken young woman addressing us in the IDP camp eventually escaped during a raid and hid two nights in the bush before arriving in Kitgum.

But that’s not my story. My story involves another young girl: Sandy…