Lessons from mismatched rivalries

If you watched any of the football over the last weekend of August before the international break, then like me, you might have been invested in the Britain’s two biggest rivalries.

North of the border, Celtic hosted Rangers in the season’s first Old Firm clash at Celtic Park. Later, it was red against red and Dutchman against Dutchman in the dugout, as Liverpool travelled to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United.

These two fixtures are the biggest matches in their respective nations; they feature the biggest two clubs in their leagues, two passionate fanbases who have no love for each other, and are played in some of the greatest stadiums in Britain.

However, both contests also have something else in common; they are great rivalries in little more than name and history just now, with one club in the two pairings being considerably better than the other.

As a lifelong Rangers supporter, it gives me no pleasure to admit that my team is currently miles behind rivals Celtic, and it was very painful to watch yet another derby defeat, this time a particularly bad 3-0 loss, taking our recent Old Firm record to one win in 12.

Things can’t feel much better for Man United supporters, who also saw their team soundly thrashed by their fiercest rivals, and in their case, at their own stadium.

Once great rivalries, now mismatches

The reality is that these two once great fixtures are now mismatches. The passion of the supporters and the build-up remain, but the quality on the pitch faded long ago, with Rangers winning one title since 2011 and Man United still searching for their first Premier League crown since Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013.

The problem for both clubs is that they are always measured against their rivals, and the fact that their rivals are consistently strong makes gradual progression difficult. Rangers and Man United could have solid seasons of progression, but it will be viewed as failure if Celtic and Liverpool outperform them.

This has led to desperate approaches from both clubs over the last decade to find a silver bullet to immediately bridge the gap, inevitably leaving them further behind. Panic has been the common factor in the recent strategy and recruitment of both, despite it being clear that calm, discerning heads are what is needed in both cases, able to look past the surrounding noise and hysteria and see the bigger picture as they rebuild the foundations of the clubs.

The trap of comparison

There are lessons to be learned here concerning how we navigate our journey as Christians. Once saved, we aim to become more like Christ everyday. We are called to fix our eyes on Jesus and follow His path. But isn’t it so easy to measure ourselves against others?

Comparison rarely enhances the Christian’s perspective, yet we fall into it’s trap so easily and often see ourselves in the wrong way because of how we compare to others.

Sometimes we see ourselves as better than other Christians because their habits are not as good as ours, preventing us from growing in Christ, as we just settle for not being the worst in a room.

On the other hand, sometimes we compare ourselves to the godliest Christian we know and view ourselves as useless because we feel we are so far behind them. This can discourage us, leaving us more susceptible to neglecting key elements of our faith, like regular church attendance, reading our Bibles and prayer.

We should try to avoid comparing ourselves to others, as while it can be healthy to aspire to mirror positive traits and take advice from more mature Christians, what others are doing in their walk with God will not ultimately determine our salvation.

Unlike the clubs currently on the losing side of mismatched rivalries on the football pitch, who ill-fatedly plough countless resources into catching up with their rivals only to fall short anyway, let us aspire to (while still taking example, advice and inspiration from mature, trusted Christians) try to ignore unhelpful outside noise which can set us back, and focus primarily on our personal walk with God, by sitting under the regular preaching of His Word, reading His Word and prayer.