Competition

There’s an old saying in the bird dog world that some dogs hunt for you and some dogs hunt against everybody else.

Lately I’d been trying to hunt old Gunner with the younger female, Belle, hoping she might pick up a little wisdom from the veteran. Gunner’s one of those seasoned dogs that’s got enough experience to write a devotional book and enough scars to prove every chapter. Belle on the other hand is young, talented, fast, and just competitive enough to start an argument with her own reflection.

What I quickly discovered is both of them are what hunters call “game hogs.” Meaning neither one trusts the other around a bird.

Now if I hunt Gunner by himself, he’s fine. Hunt Belle by herself, she’s fine. Hunt Gunner with most other dogs, no problem. But put Belle with Gunner or another dog and suddenly she acts like every quail in the county is part of a Black Friday sale.

If one dog points, the other starts creeping. If the bird flushes, both launch like missiles. And when the retrieve starts, Lord help us all.

One day Belle grabbed a bird and took off running the opposite direction like she’d just robbed a bank. Gunner ran after her growling like an old deacon defending the last bite of banana pudding at a church supper.

Meanwhile I’m standing there hollering commands nobody’s listening to while the bird’s feathers are floating through the air like ticker tape at a parade.

Most times Belle gets so worried another dog will get the bird first that she’ll rush in too early and bump the covey before we’re ready. Birds explode. No shot. Opportunity gone. And the sad thing is she’s actually hurting herself. Because I can’t guide her with other dogs much yet, she gets used less than she could. Her competition is limiting her usefulness.

Sitting there frustrated one evening, it hit me how much we as Christians and churches can act the exact same way. Some folks get nervous when God starts blessing another ministry in the church. Some get uncomfortable when another church grows. Some start creeping, comparing, competing, and trying to protect territory like kingdom work belongs to them.

But Paul dealt with that spirit a long time ago. The church at Corinth had started bragging about who led them to Christ and who baptized them. One crowd said, “I follow Paul.” Another said, “I follow Apollos.”

Paul finally stepped in and basically said, “Boys, y’all are acting like bird dogs fighting over one quail.”

He wrote: “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” 1 Corinthians 3:6

Then he follows it with this:

“So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.” 1 Corinthians 3:7

Paul was saying: Quit competing for credit and acting jealous because God used somebody else. Quit bumping birds trying to make your name bigger.

If Christ is the Handler, then we’re all hunting for the same kingdom.

Some plant.

Some water.

Some reap.

Some encourage.

Some preach.

Some sing.

Some witness quietly one-on-one.

Some churches reach people other churches never could.

But if somebody truly gets saved, heaven doesn’t split the scoreboard up by denomination or location and hand out trophies.

It’s one for the team.

The Pharisees struggled with this badly. Instead of rejoicing that blind eyes were opened and sinners were being saved, they got competitive with Jesus Himself. Imagine being jealous of the Son of God while claiming to serve the God who sent Him.

John the Baptist had the right attitude though. When people started leaving him to follow Jesus, John said: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30

That’s maturity right there.

A young dog says: “I’ve got to get the bird before everybody else.” A mature dog says: “As long as the bird gets to the Handler, we’ve done our job.”

Friend, none of us can save a soul. Only God can do that.

We’re just called to stay faithful in the field, work together in line with scripture, and trust the Master with the harvest.

Because when we spend all our time competing with one another, all we usually end up doing is bumping birds and giving God a black eye.