We live in a country where competition is a high value. We compete in every sport imaginable; we compete for grades in school; we compete for being the favorite sibling with our parents; we compete for sales and products; we compete with other countries; we compete in war. You and I are born into competition in most everything we do for profit, prize, or status.

Competition is a commodity of which we have plenty. We pride ourselves in having the wisdom to compete in all we do. It is the American way. One writer declares that "Competition is the battle that is waged between businesses who seek to win our acceptance and loyalty. The free-enterprise system ensures that businesses are able to make decisions about what to produce, how to produce it, and what price to charge for the product or service. Competition is believed to be the foundation of the free-enterprise system. Having more than one business competing for the same consumers is thought to provide more goods and services with better quality at a lower cost than if there were no competitors. In other words, competition should provide the consumers with the best value for the money; and this is often the case.

But competition does not always produce the positive results we expect. It has its drawbacks too. One disadvantage of competition from a business perspective can be the loss of local jobs, particularly in the manufacturing industry. As competition lowers the price of goods, firms may move offshore in search of cheaper labor in order to stay competitive, as in the outsourcing we now experience. This can lead to some firms exploiting people in less developed countries and in extreme cases even produce child and or slave labor.

Competition, although good at some levels, can lead to selfish ambition. We can lose sight of its value and this can promote disorder and conflict instead of peace. We can so easily be consumed with what we want or what we think we deserve, that we can harm others. We are easily influenced by the majority, sucked in by the ways of the world. When everyone is "doing it", as we say, we are persuaded that it is right. But most often it needs to be tested against God’s definition of wisdom.

In today’s passage, James reminds us that there is a stark difference between the world’s wisdom the wisdom of God. God’s wisdom is about relationship instead of goods. God values the person over commodities; whereas competition puts the product or service first. God gives us a fulfillment that the world cannot offer.

When we hear the word wisdom we first think of someone who has considerable knowledge, multiple degrees perhaps; who approaches life from a scholarly stance; a person of intellect. Wisdom is not about possessing great knowledge or being valued as one with intellectual prowess. Wisdom is not about getting good grades or belonging to Mensa. It is not about having a position of status or power.

"Real wisdom," writes Eugene Peterson, "God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor."

God’s wisdom is about modeling peaceful living. It is about offering mercy rather than negative competition. It is about lifting the others up instead of drumming them into the ground.

Negative competition is contagious. If we surround ourselves with selfish people we can become that way too. If we fill our heads with violence we can accept it as normal and slip into violent behavior ourselves. If we only listen to a radio station that tears others down, whether politically, economically, or socially, we can soon believe it is truth and begin talking that way ourselves. There is no question that human behavior is contagious; all the more reason to protect ourselves with what is right and true.

God calls us to a better way. When the people in our lives exhibit such qualities as peacemakers, considerate, open to reason, sincere, full of mercy; it rubs off on us. We can compete in a positive way by practicing a similar behavior. These are the qualities that come from God that are ours for the asking. Divine wisdom has no ulterior motives. It is gentle with a sincere concern for others.

James is reminding us, calling us even, to remember that to be friends with the world is to turn our backs on God. Christians are always to walk differently than the world. We are not called to follow the example but rather to be the example. And God promises to help us to do that if we ask.

But beware of the intentions of good works. Some do good things for all the wrong reasons: either for praise or a raise, for status or honor. This is not Christianity. Such behavior is not motivated by faith. As Christians we strive to practice tolerance, kindness, love and patience, as a sign of our belief in God. We are not able to do this on our own, but with the help of God we can.

Competition may produce an increase in products and money, but it can also destroy people; our most important commodity and God’s most valuable creation. I recently came across a story of competition gone badly. It took place in Dadeville, Alabama in 1996. Gabel Taylor, 38, the brother of a preacher, got into a shouting match with another Dadeville resident as to who knew the most Scripture. They began fighting over one particular passage, and the fellow who lost the contest went into his house, got his gun, shot Taylor in the face and killed him. Just knowing your Bible isn’t enough.

True wisdom, divine wisdom is about gentleness, born out of humility and meekness. These are not the qualities that are upheld in our competitive world. The world sees meekness as timid, weak, and unworthy. But God sees humility as not putting the other first.

There is a story of a father who went to visit his son’s preschool. It was a day when dads were invited to visit. But when he arrived he was shocked to discover that only a handful of fathers had come to be with their children. Later on that morning the children were sitting in a circle on the floor and the teacher asked the children to tell the group something about their father that was special. One little boy said, "My daddy is a lawyer. He makes a lot of money and we live in a big house." Another little boy said," My father is very smart. He teaches at the college and a lot of important people know him." Finally it was time for this father’s son to say something special about his dad. The little boy looked up at his father, looked around at his friends, smiled proudly and said, "Well, my dad…my dad is here!"

It is not what we accomplish in life that matters most; it is who we are inside that is true wisdom. It is not how much we earn, our title, or having a large house that matters most. These are things that matter to the world, they are things of competition, but are not of importance to God. What God cares about is mercy, kindness, compassion, and love. It is not the regular kind of competition. It is rather God’s contagious competition that excels.

I enjoy watching the Olympics each time they come around. I admire the discipline, the years of training the athletes have devoted to their sport and the fierce drive to win that they must have to enter and compete.

One of the stories that has stuck in my mind over the years is the dramatic story of Derek Redmond, whose story made news around the world in his Olympic competition. I found the story and would like to share parts of it with you. Derek was a young British runner, who had sky rocketed to fame by shattering his country’s 400 meter race at the age of 19. But then an Achilles tendon injury forced him to withdraw from the 1988 Olympic Games, followed by 5 separate surgeries.

By the summer of 1992, Derek was aching for a medal, as were some 65,000 fans who had gathered to witness what was billed as one of the most thrilling events to watch. His Dad, sitting in one of the top row seats, had attended each of Derek’s world competitions. On this day he was elated with Derek’s seizing the lead position immediately and holding it.

With only 175 meters left in the race, Derek was a shoo-in. But then Derek hears a pop. It is his right hamstring. He pulls up lame looking as though he’s been shot. His leg quivering, he begins to hop and then falls onto the track. The medical personnel run toward him as he writhes on the ground.

At the very same moment, there is a stir at the top of the stands. Jim Redmond, seeing his son in trouble, begins to race down from his top row seat in the stands. He pushes past people as fast as he can to reach the track. He has no credentials or permission to be on the track, but is intent upon getting to his son to help him up.

The camera is focused on the track where Derek realizes that his dream of an Olympic medal is gone. He is alone. The other runners streak by him and Derek appeared orphaned, a lonely figure on the track and devastatingly alone.

Tears pour down his face. The stretcher arrives and Derek tells them, "There is no way I’m getting on that stretcher. I’m going to finish my race. He pulls himself to a standing position, and ever so slowly he starts hobbling down the track.

The crowd watches mesmerized, suddenly aware that Derek isn’t dropping out of the race. He isn’t limping off the track in defeat, but is actually continuing on one leg, fiercely determined to make it to the finish line. He is competing with his injury.

One painful step at a time, Derek limps onward, and the crowd begins to cheer for him. The fans rise to their feet and their cries grow louder and louder building to a thundering roar.

At that moment, Jim Redmond reaches the bottom of the stands, vaults over the railing, dodges a security guard and runs out to his son, with two more security guards trailing. "That’s my son" he shouts back at his pursuers, "and I’m going to help him."

Jim reaches his son at the final curve, about 120 meters from the finish line, and wraps his arm around his waist. "I’m here, son" Jim says gently, hugging his boy. "We are going to finish together."

Derek puts his arms around his father’s shoulders and sobs. Together, arm in arm, father and son struggle toward the finish line with 65,000 people cheering, clapping and crying, just like us at home watching our screens.

Just a few steps from the end, with the crowd in a frenzy, Jim releases the grip he has on his son so that Derek can cross the finish line by himself.

"I’m the proudest father alive," Jim tells the press afterward with tears in his eyes. "I’m prouder of him than I would have been if he had won the gold medal. It took a lot of guts for him to do what he did." Together they kept a promise they had made to finish the race no matter what.

This story is about contagious competition. It is also a description of God’s wisdom. This kind of wisdom is full of mercy. It is not about knocking someone down to win; it is about helping someone to stand. It is about competing in all the right ways, and this is the contagious wisdom of God.

Amen