No Competition

 

You may have noticed that I haven’t posted a blog in a few weeks. That’s because I’ve been preparing to attend the Florida Christian Writers Conference later this month. It was this same conference that jump-started my writing efforts last year, and I’m really excited to go back and learn more.

 

The Opportunity

This time, however, I won’t just be a conferee – I’ll be a co-facilitator of a workshop on blogging!

I met nearly 200 writers last year, and I’ve had the opportunity to develop friendships with several of them, including Kristen Hogrefe, a writer of young adult Christian fiction and blogger. You may recognize her as a guest blogger on this site.

When Kristen asked me to co-host a one hour workshop with her on blogging, I jumped at the opportunity. Kristen has been a great mentor to me on this subject, and I look forward to sharing what I’ve learned with other writers.

 

The Example

I’m telling you this because it’s a great example of what we should be doing in the Church body. Too often, we put a wall around our niche area, our skills and talents, our position within the church, or even our role at work or at home, and we fight off others who infringe on our territory. If that means stepping on toes – even Christian toes – we tell ourselves that’s OK, as long as we’re pursuing God’s purpose for our lives.

But that’s all wrong.

The truth is that God called us to Himself and to each other. We’re to love God and our brethren. We’re to bless God and bless others. (See Matthew 22:36-40.)

That means that we should seek opportunities to help others, even if there’s a chance they could take the spotlight from us.

 

The Perspective

The difference here is perspective. We should remember that God has no limits; His storehouse never runs bare. He can give me every blessing imaginable and still have enough to do the same for you – even if we’re operating in the same field, ministry, occupation, etc. (See Deuteronomy 28:12-13 and Malachi 3:10-11.)

In other words, we aren’t in competition with each other.

When we fully realize this, we can stop being afraid that we’ll lack resources, attention, or blessings. We can even start mentoring others by sharing our knowledge and experience.

I’m so glad the people I met at the writers conference last year understood this. When they felt confident enough to share their thoughts and ideas with me, it encouraged me to do the same. Those honest one-off conversations proved as valuable to me as the classroom material.

I’m especially grateful that Kristen is giving me the opportunity to stretch my teaching muscles later this month. Please be in prayer for us, that our class goes well and that we are a source of encouragement for our students. Please also pray that we find favor with publishers and agents as we pitch them our manuscripts. (More on that topic next time!)