I have seen the spirit of competition in operation within the Church today. This spirit is cunning and will quickly chain and prevent you from moving into the fulfillment of your destiny. I have seen things like, “You did that, but I can do it better.” There is even a competition of who can gather the most social media followings. Or even how to draw people to fill your seats while emptying the seats of other congregations (flock stealing).
This topic really upset me and has been on my mind for some time. There are posts released by some churches trying to fill their sanctuaries under the pretext of being united. They show pictures of different ethnic groups, and “say come and join us because we are united.”
This is a ploy to play on the hearts of people saying well we can do things better so let’s use this to our advantage to bring people in by playing on their emotions. Other methods will be like come to our church, our worship is better, or we will not shove righteousness and holiness down your throat. We will preach what you want to hear because we care, while at the same time they are preventing you from fulfilling God’s destinies on your life due to living in sin.
Other cases, it brings attention. Did you see what I did? I prophesied to so many people. Did you hear the word that I released? I really knocked that sermon out of the park. Look at me and put me on a pedestal because that is where I belong.
If you ask me, it is all junk and needs to be called out. How can someone walk in humility when the people they have around them keep their egos puffed up? This isn’t helping the body of Christ but rather hindering it. It is causing a major issue and leaders are getting caught up and chained to Leviathan (Father of Pride).
The spirit of competition is cunning. Getting wrapped up in it doesn’t happen overnight but rather it is a process through time. Many that fall into its trap and become ensnared by this spirit were probably very humble at one time. They fell prey because of this spirits mind-bending thoughts. They became relaxed in their thought lives, which opened the door for this spirit to enter. Once the door was open, other chains and shackles began to form, and before you know it you were bound with no knowledge of what was going on.
“The spirit of Competition is a liar”
The spirit of competition will lie to you and tell you that you are the one that is right, and you are doing this to better the body, when in fact you’re hurting the body. What do I mean? Your prophecies become selfish instead of from God. You will prophesy things that will draw attention to yourself rather than giving God the glory. You will prophesy out of head knowledge of a situation rather than what the Holy Spirit is saying. Many will add “THUS SAYS THE LORD” to it because it makes it sound good even though it is from the flesh.
We need pastors that will preach the meat of the work instead of watering it down. Some don’t want to bring forth conviction in order to cause growth but rather, they give them the milk, in order to tickle the person’s ear. In return they get praised for their amazing sermon that spoke right to them or hear the that word today was so up lifting. Without the meat of the word, people will leave church and engage in the same sinful activities they are accustomed too. Why? Because there is no spiritual growth.
The Lord showed me that there were 4 main characteristics behind the methods of the spirit of competition. You could look at these as chains that bind an individual, but Jesus has the keys of Death, Hell, and the Grave. These keys can unlock the chains and release them from the bondage of the spirit of competition.
Humility is the key that will unlock the chains of bondage from this spirit. Let me explain the chains first, and you will see how the key will release a person bound.
The chains:
- Jealousy
- Ego/Self-Promotion
- Lies/Deceit
- Pride
We see that Absalom, King David’s own son, operated with a spirit of competition. Today you could call the spirit of competition an Absalom Spirit. Absalom had a root grounded in bitterness towards his father for not avenging the rape of Absalom’s sister. Absalom promoted himself among the people because he didn’t agree with how his father was running the country. He eventually overthrew King David’s throne and caused him to run for his life. Someone who is in operation with a spirit of competition will see their own way as the way to victory . It is because they have to control the situation.
The fall of Absalom
Absalom’s ego got the best of him. His hair was the best in the land and that puffed up his ego. He thought of himself better than the rest, and he could see himself running the kingdom better than his father. He was in operation with a prideful spirit. While out riding, Absalom got hung up in a tree by his hair. The thing that people worshipped, and the root of his pride ended up killing him.
We see more scripture about pride.
Before destruction the heart of man is haughty. But humility goes before honor. Proverbs 18:12
Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, is sin. Proverbs 21:4
The Hebrew word for Haughty is defined as to be high, exalted, arrogant, be proud.
A prideful heart
Basically, it is a prideful heart. Pride is self-exalting on-self, and being arrogant. Only humility will unlock the chains of self-competition and release the person free. Humility doesn’t operate in jealousy, but rather gives praise for another’s accomplishments. It doesn’t promote itself but rather if gives the credit of success to another. Humility knows that telling the truth sometimes isn’t easy, but it won’t lie to get out of a wrong.
Pride cannot rise up if the heart is humble and realizes that it is God doing all the work rather than the person. It has a mindset and gives God all the glory rather than himself. When we walk in humility we can see more from God.
We see in James 4:10, Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
There are several places where the Bible talks about pride and humility. If we want to see more glory, more signs, wonders, and miracles, then we need to cast aside the spirit of competition and put on humility.
It is time we as the church stop comparing ourselves to each other and start walking in unity for the greater good of salvation. It is time we stop trying to promote ourselves over our fellow believer and rather praise and allow them to shine. We need to be happy that God is calling and opening doors of ministry rather than finding ways to promote oneself.
As believers, we are all in the body of Christ and we all have different functions. Some are sent to the nations, some are called to our nation, some are called to a state, and some are called to be pastors, evangelists, apostles, prophets, and teachers. Some are even called to support the 5-fold and do other types of ministry. We need to focus on the kingdom work rather than trying to outdo someone’s ministry that God has called them too.
It is time to walk in humility.
God Bless,
Eric Schroeder
You can follow us on the following social media sites:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/radiantnewlife
Parler: www.parler.com/rnlm2222
Twitter: www.twitter.com/radiantnewlife
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuBDALk73yMBiTOU-Yex5wg
Good word!!