One of the questions I've had on my mind regarding competition is if it inherently puts certain people over others. Is the point of competition to rank people? Students who get the best grades get nice plaques at graduation. Teams that win sporting competitions get trophies. When my friend and tennis nemesis James and I play the winner gets bragging rights for a year since that's how often we get to play.
I think the problem is if competition inherently devalues people based on their inabilities. In fact, the losers of the wealth competition, the poor, are given a position of honor by Jesus. So the losers in the eyes of the world were given extra value by God incarnate. Jesus didn't want to hang out with the winners--in fact he redefined what it meant to win.
The only way I see for competition to really devalue people is if they find their identity in the competition. I just got done watching the Steelers beat the Dolphins and in the post-game interview Nick Saban, the Dolphins coach, looked like his world had just come to an end. Competition was having very negative effects on him, but I think part of the reason for that is his life is largely tied up in the outcome of football games. We are to find our worth in Christ. If we do that I don't think competition needs to be seen as something that assigns value to people.
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