Deadline for Awards
Friday is the deadline for submitting a paper for consideration for an academic award. I have been doing a lot of thinking about whether I could indeed submit an exegesis paper, and still have a modicum of congruence between my values and actions.
If we're just framing it in terms of the petition I wrote about not announcing the names of the award winners at graduation, then there's nothing inherently wrong with me submitting a paper for an award. Because the petition was just about the announcement of awards, not about the giving of awards in general. And besides, one of my professors last semester told me that she thought I should submit one of my papers for the exegesis award. And the fact is, I would *love* to get an award. I would love to have people say, "You know Bethany, after careful consideration, we have determined that you really are the best and smartest exegete in your class." Who doesn't like to be told you're the best? Man, I love it.
But those desires are not coming from a place of deep love for God and for my sisters and brothers in Christ. They are coming from a place of pride, selfishness, and wanting to find my value in being better than someone else.
The reality is, I am against this concept of awards in general within the body of Christ. Even though my petition didn't go that far, and even though I didn't take any kind of public stand against the awards in general, the truth is that I do not agree with a system or structure that makes our brothers and sisters into our rivals--or that compares people to one another in order to choose who is the "best." (Again, to clarify, I am all for honoring each other for the great talents and gifts we have--and for encouraging each other to use them; I just cannot support this being done in a competitive way.) The following pops into my mind:
An argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest. But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took a little child and put it by his side, and said to them, "Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest." Luke 9:46-48
The bottom line is, I cannot in good faith submit any papers for an award. So I won't.
If we're just framing it in terms of the petition I wrote about not announcing the names of the award winners at graduation, then there's nothing inherently wrong with me submitting a paper for an award. Because the petition was just about the announcement of awards, not about the giving of awards in general. And besides, one of my professors last semester told me that she thought I should submit one of my papers for the exegesis award. And the fact is, I would *love* to get an award. I would love to have people say, "You know Bethany, after careful consideration, we have determined that you really are the best and smartest exegete in your class." Who doesn't like to be told you're the best? Man, I love it.
But those desires are not coming from a place of deep love for God and for my sisters and brothers in Christ. They are coming from a place of pride, selfishness, and wanting to find my value in being better than someone else.
The reality is, I am against this concept of awards in general within the body of Christ. Even though my petition didn't go that far, and even though I didn't take any kind of public stand against the awards in general, the truth is that I do not agree with a system or structure that makes our brothers and sisters into our rivals--or that compares people to one another in order to choose who is the "best." (Again, to clarify, I am all for honoring each other for the great talents and gifts we have--and for encouraging each other to use them; I just cannot support this being done in a competitive way.) The following pops into my mind:
An argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest. But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took a little child and put it by his side, and said to them, "Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest." Luke 9:46-48
The bottom line is, I cannot in good faith submit any papers for an award. So I won't.
posted by bethany at 4:20 PM
1 Comments:
Dear Bethany,
Your blog is much more interesting than mine. Rats!
Sincerely,
Kathleen
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