Kan Posted June 26, 2016 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 10 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 1,661 Content Per Day: 0.49 Reputation: 1,292 Days Won: 2 Joined: 12/21/2014 Status: Offline Share Posted June 26, 2016 The curriculum of most schools demands competition on many levels. We are familiar with compulsory sport which is pure competition. Competition is rife in the academic fields as well. Debating, prizes, and levels and achievements are battled out in education, on an individual level, in classes, teams and whole institutions. Society is based on a continuation of these attitudes in attaining social status, heights in career, ambition and making money. As a nation we have an ideology that we are prepared to fight for - even with weapons of destruction. Does competition belong in a Christian school? Should Christian schools ban the competitive spirit, or should Christian schools strive to win over their state funded competitors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcelo Brüderlein Posted June 26, 2016 Group: Members Followers: 1 Topic Count: 1 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 35 Content Per Day: 0.01 Reputation: 30 Days Won: 0 Joined: 06/22/2016 Status: Offline Share Posted June 26, 2016 Excellent topic! My son was kicked out from a "Christian" school because he had ADHD and would kind of disrupt the classes. The school was worried about winning awards and wanted all students to be "perfect". So we took my son to a non Christian school where he was welcomed with open arms, love and patience. If that "Christian" school had such a competitive mentality you can imagine its influence over the students: most of them were worried about winning medals and counting them. I think Christian schools should basically aim at building a cooperative spirit among their students, but they must also prepare them to face this competitive world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Running Gator Posted June 26, 2016 Group: Royal Member * Followers: 8 Topic Count: 91 Topics Per Day: 0.03 Content Count: 10,596 Content Per Day: 3.70 Reputation: 2,743 Days Won: 25 Joined: 06/16/2016 Status: Offline Share Posted June 26, 2016 6 hours ago, Kan said: The curriculum of most schools demands competition on many levels. We are familiar with compulsory sport which is pure competition. Competition is rife in the academic fields as well. Debating, prizes, and levels and achievements are battled out in education, on an individual level, in classes, teams and whole institutions. Society is based on a continuation of these attitudes in attaining social status, heights in career, ambition and making money. As a nation we have an ideology that we are prepared to fight for - even with weapons of destruction. Does competition belong in a Christian school? Should Christian schools ban the competitive spirit, or should Christian schools strive to win over their state funded competitors? We were given a competitive spirit by God, it should be not banned, but nurtured so that it can be a force of good and not bad. Being competitive goes all the way back to Cain and Able, and we see what happens when it was not properly channeled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1to3 Posted June 26, 2016 Group: Royal Member Followers: 22 Topic Count: 137 Topics Per Day: 0.04 Content Count: 4,172 Content Per Day: 1.22 Reputation: 3,070 Days Won: 0 Joined: 11/28/2014 Status: Offline Share Posted June 26, 2016 When someone becomes your competitor in a way they become your adversary, because you are competing against them to WIN. you don't share what you learned to advance with your competitor, because in the competing spirit you always want to be above your competitor, have a winning edge over your competitor. Salvation is not about winning and edge over another person, it about learning to working together, share together, help together and unify together in the spirit of Love and peace. Satan wanted to compete with God and God put him in his place. I left a church because it was All about completion from which child in Sunday school new the most with competition games, memory games to witch member gave to most, did the most, had control over the most. It was not even fun to bring deserts or food because that also became a competition on who baked the best cake, bread, food dish... and even if you brought something great, and if someone found you to be a threat to their glory , they would find a way to criticize, put you down, enough so to perhaps discourage you. The attitude of the church was pride and the congregation, when outside the church took that with them, condescendingly looking down at people. It is not a church that has grown, but remains a clique with the few members it has. In my own family, my mother always tried to bring the spirit of competition between my brother and me. I refused to play the game as I could see very early on how destructive and cruel it is. My brother from that spirit learned to always try to take things away from me if he could and he did. He went to all kind of means and measures to do it. Mental abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, dishonesty. That spirit of competition has made him a very wealthy and successful person in the World, but did nothing for Him spiritually. He is an atheist and looks down with contempt at anybody with faith in God. For my own preservation and mental health I have to stay as far away from him as possible because all he seeks is to completely overpower and destroy his adversary. And I just happen to be one of them. I do pray for his salvation though, but from afar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Patriot21 Posted June 26, 2016 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 28 Topic Count: 338 Topics Per Day: 0.05 Content Count: 15,696 Content Per Day: 2.46 Reputation: 8,515 Days Won: 39 Joined: 10/25/2006 Status: Offline Birthday: 02/27/1985 Share Posted June 26, 2016 I think to a certain degree, theres nothing wrong with competitiveness-but like anything, it can be taken way overboard. Like in sports-I was always taught always do your best work as a team, and always work to win-but when the game was said and done, we still went over to the other team and shook hands and said good game-and meant it, regardless of the score. We were competitive, but we realized it was just a game, and we enjoyed it. Now we have huge rivalries, poor sportsmanship, and everything else going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ezra Posted June 26, 2016 Group: Royal Member Followers: 16 Topic Count: 134 Topics Per Day: 0.04 Content Count: 8,142 Content Per Day: 2.36 Reputation: 6,612 Days Won: 20 Joined: 11/02/2014 Status: Offline Share Posted June 26, 2016 6 hours ago, Marcelo Brüderlein said: I think Christian schools should basically aim at building a cooperative spirit among their students, but they must also prepare them to face this competitive world. Well said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kan Posted June 27, 2016 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 10 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 1,661 Content Per Day: 0.49 Reputation: 1,292 Days Won: 2 Joined: 12/21/2014 Status: Offline Author Share Posted June 27, 2016 Evil creeps in by legitimate doors doesn't it? Should we close those doors, or channel the competitive energy into good? Where do we draw the line for the spirit of competition? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HisFirst Posted October 23, 2016 Group: Royal Member Followers: 21 Topic Count: 315 Topics Per Day: 0.11 Content Count: 3,491 Content Per Day: 1.26 Reputation: 2,582 Days Won: 3 Joined: 09/25/2016 Status: Offline Share Posted October 23, 2016 Competition is healthy if the competitors are on a level playing field - if not, it is unfair to those who dont meet the mark from the get go. ADHD children benefit only from schools that have staff trained in that area, whether private or public- a lot of patience and awareness are needed for children with special needs. If an elite school does not provide the necessary environment and help your child needs, change schools regardless of the schools prestige. Your child's needs come first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remnantrob Posted October 23, 2016 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 6 Topic Count: 100 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 1,029 Content Per Day: 0.15 Reputation: 261 Days Won: 0 Joined: 03/25/2005 Status: Offline Birthday: 02/23/1982 Share Posted October 23, 2016 On 6/26/2016 at 5:15 AM, Kan said: The curriculum of most schools demands competition on many levels. We are familiar with compulsory sport which is pure competition. Competition is rife in the academic fields as well. Debating, prizes, and levels and achievements are battled out in education, on an individual level, in classes, teams and whole institutions. Society is based on a continuation of these attitudes in attaining social status, heights in career, ambition and making money. As a nation we have an ideology that we are prepared to fight for - even with weapons of destruction. Does competition belong in a Christian school? Should Christian schools ban the competitive spirit, or should Christian schools strive to win over their state funded competitors? Let me preface my response by saying that I already know that it won't be a popular one but I'm not concerned with that. Here's one definition of competition. Quote Competition- The activity or condition of striving to gain or win something by defeating or establishing superiority over others. One of my favorite books in the bible on this topic is Philippians. In chapter 2 beginning with verse 3 it states: Quote 3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Now keep in mind that the question is in regards to a Christian institution. Whatever the world does is what they do. Christians are called to the standards of the bible and to raise kids to rely on competition to become successful in life isn't a good decision in my opinion. Notice that the text says "Let nothing". What does that include? Also it says strife or vainglory which is the basis of competition. Think about something simple as the championship game about to go on in baseball. The fans are usually riled up against each other for their teams and for what? the vainglory of a championship that will be forgotten about in years following for another vainglory championship. How many competitors esteem others better than themselves? If they did it would be a pretty boring game wouldn't it. That could be applied to all games that involved a rivalry for who's better. Remember the definition said that you're establishing superiority over others but the end of verse 3 admonishes us to esteem others better than ourselves. And this seems to be related to the mind of Christ because he put God the father before himself though he is equal to him. He put lowly human beings ahead of him, though he is the creator. I've heard the statement that God's kingdom is an upside down kingdom because in order to lead you have to serve...but how can you serve if you're striving to be better than others(in a healthy way)? My mind goes to Lucifer and his mind. The complex that he had seemed to be competitive. In Isaiah 14:12-15 it says: Quote 12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. There are a lot of I's in there. And the bible says in Proverbs 16:18 says: Quote Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. I love basketball and have been struggling with this issue for years. Do you know how good it feels to drain a shot in someones face and the temptation it takes to not boast about how much better you are than them? What about if you dunk on someone? Pride comes in big time. I'm not telling anyone what to think, I'm just sharing what has been shared with me in the bible. These are principles that I believe would help us get closer to having that mind that Christ has. I don't remember him striving with anyone in the bible to somehow show "hey look, I'm the son of God". He always did for others. Most of the scriptures I've seen speaking about strife have not been in a positive light. This is where I would begin on the subject of competition in christian schools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Running Gator Posted October 23, 2016 Group: Royal Member * Followers: 8 Topic Count: 91 Topics Per Day: 0.03 Content Count: 10,596 Content Per Day: 3.70 Reputation: 2,743 Days Won: 25 Joined: 06/16/2016 Status: Offline Share Posted October 23, 2016 2 hours ago, Giller said: One thing to really focus on whether in a Christian school , a business , even sports , does there truly need to be competition ? Or can the just live by faith in all things ? The only way for a business to survive and thrive is to be better at what you do than the others doing the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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