“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever” (1 Cor. 9:24-25).
“You win some, you lose some,” they say. But in reality, more people lose than win. There may be sixty-four teams in the tournament, but only one of them finishes with the trophy. Only one of all the Olympic sprinters gets the gold.In reality, more people lose than win.
But there is no denying that being part of the competition gave everyone a wonderful opportunity and motivation to improve their game.
In our school we enjoy numerous occasions to compete. Students receive academic grades in each subject. There are leadership awards. There are speech contests. There are occasions when we are selective. The reason for all this is that we want to be a community of parents, students, and teachers who are committed to excellence. And stepping back to see the big picture, we can see that the competition helped bring everyone up a notch. A student may not win the prize, but the competition identified something that was important and worth working on and making sacrifices for.
And viewing it this way, we can see all kinds of positive results brought out by the opportunity, even if someone doesn’t get a trophy or certificate. The fifth-place finisher can be just beginning to blossom after years of special effort. It may be that the seventh-place contestant is working his tail off (is that a Darwinian expression?), working against high odds to get to that point. For someone else who has slipped a bit, a fourth-place finish can be a tangible indication that there is more work to be done to stay at the top.
The fifth-place finisher can be just beginning to blossom after years of special effort.
Fearing hurt feelings, we can be tempted to award everyone in the race. Every impulse may have us settling for a subjective nod to all who put forth a genuine effort. After all, the competition in itself does not assess who is the better person, or who is the hardest worker, or even who wants it the most.
But unless you award genuine prizes to the honest-to-goodness top finishers, you lower the bar of excellence. Diluted standards make fuzzy objectives, and do not promote whole-hearted effort and real improvement. It’s better to have an authentic competition, yet also include training in how to win (which may actually happen on occasion) or lose (which happens much more frequently). We should want other “competitors” to succeed as well. We are not to complain about the referee or judge. Winners don’t gloat. Losers aren’t envious. We recognize that God has gifted individuals in a complex myriad of ways. And because of all this training, we are better prepared to serve the Lord in a world where only one applicant gets the job.“To him who has been given much, much will be expected.”
We tell our children things like: “Look at how you improved!” or “You are using your abilities well.” “You have been working diligently on your school work, even though it only shows as a “C” now. Not one bit of that effort has been wasted. With all that hard work you’ve learned a valuable life lesson.”
Sometimes it means we have to say, “I think you could do a lot better than that, don’t you?” Especially when we’re talking about eternal values, we remind them of Jesus’ parable about how the three people invested their talents, and how he said, “To him who has been given much, much will be expected.”
On the pathway to excellence, that is a valuable lesson to learn.
Tom Bradshaw has been serving as Cedar Tree’s headmaster since 2006. This essay was first published in 2009.
