Don’t Compare Yourself to Others
ByI wrote about this topic a while back and the same conversation came up with a church planting brother the other day so I think it’s worth mentioning again.
It is so easy to compare ourselves to another church or a church leader or church planter. We look at others and benchmark our success (or failures) by what they have achieved. Churches try to duplicate other churches or some of us attempt to be the clone of Mark Driscoll, Craig Groeschel, or David Crowder (goatee and all). But what works for them isn’t going to work for us – not to mention that God has called us to be ourselves in the situation He has given us.
God has uniquely made you. Celebrate it. Live it out loud!
We can learn from others but the best thing we can do for ourselves, our team, and our organization is to be true to who we’re called to be or the vision we have been given…not someone else’s.
I totally agree! God has also not called any of us to be Ed Young, or Andy Stanley, or even Rob Bell for that matter (although a LOT of us try!).
I think that some of these emulations come from two main things:
1. The desire to replicate success, even as an homage to our heroes.
2. Our own feelings of inadequacy.
To posses a little bit of both is, in my opinion, healthy, but when it’s allowed to get out of balance, then we set ourselves up for defeat. Or, at least, success until everyone finds ou who we really are.
Great ideas, man.
Richard,
Thanks for your feedback and these are great points!
This is one reason I ask “who are you really” in my branding interviews – we need to get to their ‘authentic’ core and not as they perceive themselves because other people are going to see the real you first. And they will see it!
Agreed. Uniqueness needs to be accepted and celebrated. Unfortunately, we sometimes fail to do that because we feel inferior thinking that other people are better than us and that is what we regretably aspire to.
Joshua – Great point!
This post was short, concise, and hit the nail squarely on the head.
The way each of us celebrate our diversity in how we honor God is the beginning of truly building your brand in the community and in the world.
Great post!