Collaboration Over Competition
I hope to use this article for clarification of a past article. If you’re a regular fan of our ministry here at the Millennial Spark, you know that we previously mentioned the importance of ‘spiritual leadership.’ In such a case, we used a metaphor of the “Beaches of Normandy.” It was a tale about ‘not arguing about rank or recognition, but rather removing our self-interests for the sake of getting the job done.’ Soldiers and infantrymen are known for this. It’s what makes them into the heroes that they are. Unfortunately, this example has been misread. And the negative effects are significant. So let me explain…
I’ve had several great opportunities to work with content creators within the online community. I have friends and friends of friends who can help me just as much as I help them. Among these individuals is a minister named Chuc Osegueda. It’s been such a long time since we’ve last talked, but he has such a unique and powerful message in sharing the love of Christ. In one instance, we collaborated. He made a video for me. It specifically regarded our mission of God’s calling. It was about how we can start this mission. In fact, that was the name of the video: “The Start of A Mission.” I have one quote by Chuc that is significant enough for me to hold today. This is what he said:
“I know this world is a dog-eat-dog world. You hurt people to get ahead. You do whatever you have to do — you don’t care. Because it’s all about your success. In the kingdom of God, it is not so…”
In this world, we obsess over selfish gain. We desire for more stuff, more money, more control, more recognition. On and on… But in God’s kingdom, it’s about seeing the pain in another’s eyes. It’s about picking up our cross and carry the burdens of all those that God loves — which is all people. It’s about sincerity, not public recognition.
I’ll say one last thing for this article: If you continue to think that it’s about more recognition, more control, more stuff and more of whatever, you’re completely wrong. You’ve missed the point. And frankly, it’s not a Bible blog specified towards you. You’re deceiving yourself and misunderstanding the basic principle of God’s love. Us among the online content-creator community have a saying: “ It’s about collaboration, not competition.” It’s about building things up, not tearing them down. To broaden the public dialogue, not shutting people up. To bring in more customers, not to divide the number in half. It allows for infinite growth.
Our God-given mission is not one of selfish motives. Rather, let’s be sincere. Let’s be authentic. Spread the news of Christ. And let’s have a heart that’s open to those in need. As Christian, we can do all this together. We can love each other and collaborate — not compete. So let’s do just that. This is the reason why we are called the body of Christ. We’re all in this together.
As I said before, I have collaborated with Chuc Osegueda in the past. He made an amazing video for me regarding our motivation to start our God-given mission. His video is attached below.
As a fellow brother in Christ, I appreciate every one of you. God bless you all.
