The error of rivalry

I was speaking with leaders of the congregation I serve about how we view ourselves with respect to the other UCA not too far away. I came across these reflections from "business".

The trouble is that human competition is more in the nature of rivalry. We are obsessed by the behaviour of our competitors, which is not the same thing as being seized by a desire to win the comp.

The first rule of business success is to focus on the customer, not your competitors. But rivalry is all about focusing on your rivals, on what they are doing and what you must do in response to what they do.

There are more than enough "customers" for us and every other church. What we in our congregation need to do is to not put our focus on what the others are doing but, rather, what is God calling us to be and do with the varied constituency passing by our doorstep. Trying to be like, match,etc. our rivals will sink us. In many ways we cannot compete with the new buildings and so on. But we have lots going for us. Let's go with the lots we have!