Declare Mortal Combat on Comparison

As a kid I loved playing an arcade game called Mortal Kombat. I always chose the character Scorpion. He was a black and yellow masked martial arts master. I loved his most deadly weapon: a flesh hook with a rope attached. He would throw it at his opponent, blood would squirt out like ketchup from a packet, he’d pull them to himself with a deep-throated command “Get over here!”, and finally finish them off with an uppercut.

Pretty gross, no? I think twelve-year old boys have a sense they were made for combat.
When playing Mortal Kombat, the two characters are locked into a battle to the death. You can’t turn your back on your opponent for a second or your life is over. He is trying to kill you but you must kill him first.
I was unaware years ago that I was in a mortal combat with the sin of comparison. I had my back turned to him and he was absolutely destroying me. I was serving as a missionary in North Africa whose job it was to share the Good News of Jesus. I had a wonderful wife and three fun and healthy kids. I had every reason to be happy but I was depressed and miserable. I was consumed with comparison. I was comparing myself with other missionaries. I was comparing myself with where I had previously envisioned my ministry to be. Comparison was sucking my life-blood.

COMPARISON IS AT YOUR DOOR
Our enemy comparison shows up on the first pages of the Bible at the earliest possible moment: at the birth of two brothers. One was a farmer and the other a shepherd. Both respectable professions. Both brought offerings to God. God accepted Abel’s offering BUT He didn’t accept Cain’s offering. The comparison latent in that statement was attacking the heart of Cain. He was unaware that he was being overcome by comparison. Hate for his brother was growing in his heart. It would turn violent.
Before it turned violent God reasoned with Cain: “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, and you must rule over it.” (Gen. 4:6-7)

Cain didn’t take heed of God’s Word. He didn’t turn around to face this sin of comparison. Instead, he ignored God’s warning, allowed comparison to rule over him. The result? Comparison rose up and killed Abel in a bloody, murderous fury. Maybe if you could imagine the scene in that field for a second, you could understand why I started with such a violent and bloody illustration.
Life is a battle and it will get violent. The question is where will the violence occur. Either we turn against comparison and fight it with violent rage or we allow comparison to infect our hearts turning us violently outward on others.

STEPS FOR DECLARING WAR ON COMPARISON
When God spoke to Cain he gave him every tool he needed to fight comparison and find joy. I find in God’s great wisdom 3 steps he was urging Cain to take in that fight.

STEP #1. TURN AROUND AND FACE IT

God’s first question for Cain is, “Why are you angry? Why has your face fallen?” Cain probably hadn’t considered why he was angry. He hadn’t thought through it very well. He hadn’t talked it out and processed it with a godly friend. The anger and bitterness was rattling around in his brain in half-finished thoughts following a downward spiral.

Have you ever felt the sin of Cain winning the battle in your heart? Have you been surprised by feelings of hatred, bitterness, or disdain for someone else? Maybe its someone who you are jealous of. Maybe its someone who you blame for your perceived failures. Or maybe you find yourself unhappy with your life, your family, and your profession which could create feelings of bitterness even against God? Maybe, just maybe, you have had your back turned to comparison. It crouched at your door and then pounced on you without you even noticing.
The thing is that none of us like to admit we are jealous of someone else. It feels embarrassing; an admission that I am a loser. This is what is so sneaky about comparison. It hides in the shadows and we are afraid and/or ashamed to expose it to the light of day. However, the first step in fighting it is to face it. You need a faithful friend who can hear your thoughts without shame.

It might help you to know that comparison is lurking at everyone’s door, not just the doors of “losers”. No matter how much of a “winner” you perceive yourself to be, there will always be someone prettier, richer, more successful, more loved by others, or even godlier. The categories for comparisons are endless. As soon as you get richer than everyone you’ll realized you aren’t as well-liked as someone else.
Jealousy overcame King Saul and made him deliriously crazy with rage toward David. Saul was a tall man. A successful man. A powerful man. But a profoundly insecure man. He never faced his sin of comparison. Truly successful people will face comparison and declare mortal combat on it.

(Possibly you have been like Abel and David and you have become the target of someone’s rage. Maybe you have been slandered or attacked in some other way. You can’t understand their actions because you can’t hear the demons of comparison attacking their thoughts. All you know is that they have pulled out their weapons against you. Just know that the battle is not between you and them. It is a battle they are losing with comparison and jealousy. Understanding that can free you to not fight that person.)

STEP #2. PULL OUT YOUR WEAPON

The second question God asked Cain was about how he relates to God: “If you do well, will you not be accepted?” This was a rhetorical question. The answer? Well, it might sound like this: “Yes. I know that you are a good God. You are not pitting me against my brother in an octagon, only loving and accepting the winner. In fact, I do know that you have room in your heart for all of those who come to you with a pure-hearted offering. I know that you accept sheep or wheat, you love shepherds and farmers. You will accept me based on me, not based on my comparison to Abel.”

What is this weapon described above? It is an idea. It is a theological idea. The idea is that God does not judge us in comparison to any other human being. God is not choosing the best for his backyard football team. No. God has made each and every one of us in his image. He has made each of us unique with our own beautiful mixture of giftings. Then he has given each of us a unique role in life. None of us has the same role as another. Maybe I am a pastor just like someone else, but no one else is a pastor of the people God has given me using the gifts and personality and experiences that he has given me to pastor them with. He has made me and my role in his creation unique.
These are things that God is judging me on: Am I bringing all I am and all that He has given me as an offering to him? Cain didn’t. He brought the scraps. But why? He needed the great majority of his crops to prop up his self-esteem by showing his success. He couldn’t afford to sacrifice too much, and certainly not the best, to God the way Abel did.

Cain never responded to God’s second question as far as we know. He didn’t take this second step. He didn’t pull out his deadly weapon against comparison. Instead he pulled out his weapon against his brother. Fueled by comparison’s hate, he killed his brother.

STEP #3: SWING YOUR SWORD IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
God’s third sentence to Cain wasn’t a question but a statement: “If you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you and you must rule over it.” God was calling Cain to identify areas in his life where he was not doing well. Abel had brought the firstborn of his flock. Abel had brought the best parts of the sheep: the fat. But Cain, by contrast, had brought the left-overs. Maybe he had brought what wasn’t good for food for himself. And when he brought his offering, he did so as a competition. We can see that because he wasn’t focused on pleasing the Lord with his offering. He was focused on beating his brother. He wanted to be the best.

The reality is that most people want to be seen as being good. They don’t actually want to be good. At my worst I am glad to hide my secret sins, my half-hearted worship, my selfish motivations as long as hiding it maintains the illusion that I am better than my brother, that I am good, that I am the best. When I am operating like this it is not me operating but the sin of comparison operating in me. I have lost the battle I didn’t know I was in.
And I swing my sword against my brother. Cutting him down becomes necessary for me to raise myself up. Maybe I slander him through gossip. Maybe I sabotage him. or maybe I just go on hating him in my heart hoping for the day that he falls. Then I am secretly delighted. I am violently swinging a sword against my brother.

But imagine I took all that energy, that emotion and I swung against what I am not doing well. What if I actually I examined my own areas of failure or weakness whenever I saw a contrast between my and my brother? What if I could learn from him and improve? What if I allowed my brother’s good example to help me be better? What if I turned my sword against all the “not good” in myself and in the way I do things not against my brother. Then both of us could come before God with offerings acceptable to God. Our relationship is strengthened. Instead of blood and violence followed by curse and loss, my life is full of beauty and blessings. But first, I have to turn the sword in the right direction.

CONCLUSION
Imagine I am feeling jealousy giving birth to bitterness toward my brother. He has a bigger house than me, a nicer truck (or a truck at all since I don’t have a truck), a better job, bigger muscles, whatever. I am tempted to compete. As I surrender to comparison I need to start pouring my efforts, all my resources into catching him in this area of wealth. I don’t any longer have space for anything else. Suddenly in an effort to win the secret comparison battle in my heart I am destroying my marriage, wasting time with my children, and holding back giving from God. I am not able to enjoy the beautiful gifts and moments God gives me. When comparison dominates me it makes me a completely unbalanced person and destroys me.
But, what if I fought comparison when it creeps into my heart with this idea: God does not judge me in comparison to my brother. God has made me unique and given me a unique role in this world. He requires that I bring to him the offering of all I am and all I have. Then I am able to put things in order: God first. My family and job second. I can turn toward God in my affections and I am accepted. I learn to enjoy Him and all of his good gifts not in comparison to what He has given others but in the abundance of what He has given me.
The bitterness I feel toward my brother fades. Instead of a broken relationship with him I experience a growing appreciation and brotherhood. I have destroyed comparison and not my brother. I declared mortal combat on comparison and my reward is deep contentment and lasting relationships. Praise be to God who accepts each one of us based on our unique gifts and circumstances. Repent of the sin of comparison. It is the best thing you can do for yourself.