We live in a culture that is one-up all the time. One-upmanship leads to corporations like Enron, Worldcom and ImClone. On a smaller scale one-upmanship leads to unhealthy interest in material goods (keeping up with the Joneses), backstabbing at the office, and the level of competitiveness in sports.

Take our GrX Hoops league. We Christians can be "oh so civilized" off the court, but get us on the court and it's a different story. Basic Christians concept such as mercy doesn't really apply when the final score tallied 85 to 28. On our team, one of the most competitive guy is our home church's Pastor Andy.

What brought this up was a sermon this past Sunday (Strengh in Weakness). What is the appeal of one-upmanship and how does that fit into the Christian worldview? How can I find the right balance between the contemporary views of one-upmanship and the Biblical views (at least in the NT) of servanthood and humility. The answer lies in Jesus. God gave us a perfect role model in Jesus as servanthood, an example of which takes place at the "Upper Room".

Instead of being one-upped we should just be ONE.