Envy and Rivalry – Matt Nussbaum

“It’s true that some are preaching out of envy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives…”. (Philippians 1:15).

Early Morning Anger

It is 6:15am on a Monday morning. I start the coffee and pick up the morning paper.  A church in my community is highlighted in the front page headline for a significant act of generosity.  As soon as I see the headline, I am jolted wide awake as a sharp flame lights up within my heart. Wow – what is going on inside of me?  This match-on-a-gas-grill flare feels a bit like anger. Anger, why am I angry at such generosity? But yes, I conclude I am angry…righteous indignation – that’s exactly what I was feeling (so I thought). 

One of the fastest growing churches in our community, this particular church, excels in marketing and is known as culturally hip and relevant.  They are really good at implementing all the best practices of the church growth movement. Furthermore, from what others tell me, their Sunday worship service is quite the sound and light show. My heart goes into accusation mode against this church: self-promotional, shallow, and flashy. Surely God does not approve.

But then I remember a young woman who attends this church who, in tears, told me once how much that church had helped her work though deep forgiveness after a hurtful divorce. And I’m sure there are many more life-giving, pain-healing stories from others at this church. Surely the Spirit of Christ is in that place. 

Why Him?

The pastor of the largest evangelical church in our community is retiring soon after 40+ years of faithful ministry.  His successor has already been announced and the transition is in process.  I had the opportunity to have lunch with the new pastor, who is 20 years younger than me, with far less pastoral experience, and theological education than me (…you can see where my heart is leading me). 

Why him?  Why does he get to step into a large, thriving congregation, essentially having it handed to him on a silver platter?  My initial impulse during this lunch is to find some reason to not like him; some reason to be critical of him; some reason to soothe this uneasy feeling of injustice inside of me.  

But I could not find any reason not to like this heir-apparent pastor.  His last church assignment was difficult, he tells me, and he resigned from that church with heavy waves of failure and shame following him.  He, his wife, and daughters had to move into his in-laws basement afterwards. He is gracious, encouraging, and humble in heart. Surely the Spirit of Christ is in this man. 

Counting Cars

A few years ago, a new church started up in our community. From what I predicted at the time they would not be a threat to our church (even using the word “threat” shows the sad state of my heart).  However, over the past few years, they not only grow, but a pipeline flowing from our congregation to their congregation seems to get larger and larger.  Our attendance decline has a high level of correlation with their growth. If you ask me, I could quickly list some of the “reasons” why these people are transferring churches. Sadly, a good number of my justifiable reasons involve impugning the motives of the other pastor (sheep stealing!) and/or diminishing the spiritual maturity of those who left our church.

After our Sunday service one day, I am tempted to drive by and see how may cars are in their parking lot (perhaps similar to David counting the people in his kingdom – likely for the purpose of comparison and pride – see 2 Samuel 24).  Mercifully, God rescues me from this spiritually treacherous out-of-the-way route back home for lunch that Sunday.

So, what am I to think and feel about this church-who-was-not-supposed-to-be-a-threat? I know the pastor, and I know people who attend this church and I know this to be true: Jesus is exalted among them.  They love and trust Jesus. They love and trust the Bible.  Surely the Spirit of Christ is in this congregation.

Envy and Rivalry

 “It’s true that some are preaching out of envy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives,” writes Paul to the Christians in ancient Philippi (Philippians 1:15).   

It seems then logical to establish from this statement from the Apostle Paul that there are two types of pastors: (1) those who preach out of envy and rivalry; and (2) those who preach with pure motives.  And, of course, I quickly assume that I surely am one of the “good guys” who falls into the pure-motive grouping, and thus not part of the group defined by the petty pastoral competitiveness that envy and rivalry incite.

But my heart betrays me.  The three stories I previously mentioned are painfully accurate, painfully embarrassing, and painfully full of envy and rivalry.  Sadly, I could have included more.

Perhaps the Envy/Rivalry vs Pure-Motive categories are not so clean and neat as I would like them to be.  Yes, I believe God gives me a new heart and a new spirit (Ezekiel 36:26) 

birthing in me an increasingly growing fountain of pure and life-giving motives. So, no self-condemnation here. I have a good heart.  A very good heart.

But, this I also know: “I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway” (Romans 7:19) – and included in my pastoral wrong-doings are the heart attitudes of envy, rivalry, and selfish ambition – which stand blatantly in the way of me loving my fellow pastors the way that Jesus passionately prayed for in John 17.  So yes,  I don’t want to do what is wrong…but I know I can harbor envious and ungodly competitive attitudes toward other pastors and churches.

So, I live in the tension of having a supernaturally transplanted good heart, yet still quite capable of selfish motives and deeds. .  

And that’s OK for me today. I’m still a work in progress. But it’s not OK for tomorrow. I want the freedom God promises.

Peter tells us that we are to “get rid of all evil behavior.” and that we can “Be done with…envy,” (1 Peter 2:1).

I cannot get rid of envy unless I acknowledge it’s place in my heart. No other way.

I have to stop masking envy in my own heart by labeling it “doctrinal correctness,” or “faithfulness to Scripture.”  I have to stop pointing out the selfish-ambition-speck in my fellow pastors’ eyes, and first, identify and remove the ugly twin- logs of envy and rivalry in my own eyes.

Jesus prayed for a type of oneness among his disciples that would rock the world.  A revolutionary unity. So powerful that it would open the eyes of the spiritually blinded world allowing them to see the reality of Jesus and the reality of God’s life-giving love for them. Flowing from the trinity in and through our lives toward one another:

“…that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” 

John 17:20-23

Envy and rivalry are the nasty clogs that drastically limit the life-giving flow of genuine love, encouragement, and support from my own heart to other pastors in my community.

And tragically, this roadblock-to-unity also insures that those who walk in darkness continue to walk in darkness, and neither know nor experience Jesus sent from God or God’s intense love for them.

So I understand “why?” I am exhorted to “be done with envy.” Not merely because the Holy Spirit exhorts us to through Peter (which is reason enough). But for the sake of evangelistic breakthrough.  However,  the harder question remains.  How?  How do I go about “getting rid of” envy in my good-but-not-fully-mature heart?  

Actions do indeed speak louder than words. And deeper still, actions speak louder than my own good intentions. Of course most, if not all pastors and leaders, have the good intention to love one another, and to seek the complete unity that Jesus still prays for.  But envy and rivalry have such a gravitational pull on our hearts, that we often find it crashing back into the core of our hearts.

If actions speak louder than words, then perhaps sacrificial actions shout loud enough to disrupt the normal gravity of sin.  

For example, my wife and I send one-third of our monthly tithe to another Christ-centered church in our community, a habit we have maintained for over 15 years.  In addition, every month we send a different pastor a $25 restaurant gift card (from personal funds, not church funds) with a note of encouragement included. We have a list of over 40 churches/pastors (not exhaustive) so you can imagine we are not exactly “on the same page” with all 40 of them. You can also imagine that I am not good friends with all of the pastors, and some of them, frankly, are harder than others to genuinely enjoy being around.   

However, all of them are Christ-centered – and would affirm that there is no other name apart from Jesus given under heaven for salvation.  All of them have high regard and trust for the Bible. We share those universally true “same-pages,” which provide an enormous starting point and foundation for unity. But, of course,  there are disagreements in other lesser points of theology, style of worship, and how and how often Communion/the Lord’s Supper/The Eucharist/The Mass is celebrated. 

Some stamped envelopes with our tithe checks and restaurant gift cards to other churches/pastors are more difficult to release into the mail box than others.  But every time I release our “financial sacrifice” into the mailbox, something in my heart also relaxes and releases.  Remember Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21), and in an incremental way, my envy dissolves as my heart goes out with my money to each of these churches, to each of these pastors who are my brothers and my allies.

Holy Spirit, let the “be-done-with-envy” revolution begin. Amen.