Killing the Competition

I remember meeting Sam Chacko for the first time. We were at Connext (a conference for South Asian ministry leaders) and he had been asked to lead a track on church planting. We met in the hallway after, and I couldn’t help but feel like we immediately began sizing each other up. Now I’m speaking for myself, but it felt like both of us were jockeying and positioning for who was the real church planter. Neither of us was going to hear from the other as much as speak to the other.

Again I don’t think any of this was going on in Sam’s heart (he’s much holier than me!), but this was the wicked dialogue playing out in my own heart.

I went home and was deeply convicted. I had been around competitive Christians. Growing up, I had seen my fair share of churches that thought theirs was the only true Church, their members the only true Christians, and everyone else were imposters. And though I would have liked to believe that I was far above all that, the same ugliness existed in my own heart.

When I got home from Connext, Sam had written to me. I wrote him back.

Sam,

Thanks for the note brother. It means a ton. Just a thought on my heart – my experience with the Indian community has been that we’re not great at encouraging one another. We’re competitive. We’re proud. We’re gossipy. Would love for us not to be that way. But to be humble and to genuinely celebrate and encourage one another in the Lord.

Thanks for doing that.

Sam responded.

Ajay,

No problem. I pray the same thing of our generation and our churches. I pray that we can be a source of encouragement and support for each other. Praying that God does amazing things through you there in Philly. I will be in Philly soon…I would love to meet up if you are free.

God worked in my heart and I’m so thankful He did because he has forged a genuine friendship and partnership with Sam. I’m a huge fan of Sam Chacko and of LOFT City Church. I am in awe of the ways that they are on mission to the city of Richardson and the number of people they have seen come from total unbelief to repentance and faith in Christ! I am amazed by how multiethnic LOFT is (over 20 different nationalities). I am constantly learning from Sam what being a missional church looks like.

Whatever God does in the world of church planting through Advance and whatever role Indian American church planters play in all of that, I’m sincerely praying that we would have a culture that kills competition and creates brotherhood. I’ve recently been thinking about the story of Jonathan, Saul’s son and David’s friend. Here’s a man who is in line for the throne and yet his commitment to God’s agenda is so large that he gladly steps aside to see his friend surpass him.

We need church planters who are so committed to God’s agenda that they would cheer when their brother advances because ultimately it means that Jesus’ church is advancing.