Kingdom Collaboration in a Competitive World: A Look at Rooting for Rivals
Savannah Aleckson
Events Director/Adjunct Instructor
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In 1 Corinthians chapter 3, Paul describes believers as “co-laborers in God’s service.” It’s a worthy sentiment, one perfectly at home in a pastor’s Sunday sermon or displayed in a lovely devotional book. While Christians nod their heads in agreement at the thought of every believer working toward the same eternal ends, the practice can get sticky in the non-profit world. Peter Greer and Chris Horst take this challenge head-on in their book Rooting for Rivals. Greer and Horst implore non-profit leaders to link arms in pursuit of a vision beyond the boundaries of their own organizations in order to see the Kingdom of Heaven advance in a strife-ridden world.
From Greer’s and Horst’s own experience in the non-profit realm and in their observation during research for this book, openhanded, generous leadership hinges on a non-profit leader’s answers to these two fundamental questions:
- Do we live in a world of scarcity or abundance?
- Are we focused on our clan or the Kingdom?
A Kingdom-oriented, abundance-driven approach to non-profit leadership is borne out of virtue, according to Greer and Horst. Such an approach inspires leaders to lay down their own selfish interests in the name of the Greater Good and cheer on their “co-laborers” in the fight against social maladies. But every virtue has an insidious opposing vice that must be intentionally combatted lest it crowd out virtue and inhibit collective impact.
To that end, Greer and Horst contrast each of the virtues with its corresponding vice, with practical suggestions for non-profit leaders to uphold virtue in the day-to-day. Specifically, Greer and Horst explore humility and pride, contentment and envy, grace and vengeance, generosity and greed, temperance and gluttony, lust and love, and steadfastness and sloth, all in the context of non-profit leadership.
Unity aids effectiveness. Linking arms across organizational boundaries in pursuit of a bigger cause is key to increased impact. Non-profit leaders interested in seeing real change in social ills should be open to radical generosity, servanthood, and collaboration, even to their “competition” in the space.
Identify ultimate priorities and pursue them vigilantly. What matters most? Is it having a more successful fundraising campaign than your rival, being lauded as the leader in your sector, having efficient and well-managed programs? Or is it about seeing poverty eradicated, trafficking eliminated, addiction defeated, and souls surrendered to Jesus? The effective non-profit leader values the latter over the former and is willing to exhibit radical self-sacrifice to see it happen—even if it appears to be detrimental to the success of his or her own non-profit organization.
Vice is a disordered love, and Christian non-profit leaders are not immune. A disordered love is love that’s misdirected, deficient, or excessive. Disordered love promotes the interests of the self or clan over the interests of others or the Kingdom. To the degree that our love is disordered, it will distort our leadership and, by extension, the function and impact of our organizations. This disordered love manifests itself as vice, which can insidiously embed itself even in faith-driven efforts. Christian leaders need to recognize the dangers and put up safeguards to protect their pursuit of ultimate goals from succumbing to vice.
Specific examples of collaboration, and lots of them! Each explored virtue is coupled with a real-life example of it in action. What does grace look like in the non-profit realm? How about its opposing vice, vengeance? Greer and Horst include plenty of real—but tactful—examples to help the concepts stick. Each chapter is laced with examples of how virtue and vice manifest themselves in different non-profit settings, ranging from large, well-known non-profit organizations to smaller, local efforts.
Practical tips for combatting vice. What practices can non-profit leaders implement to strengthen virtue and counter vice? Each chapter ends with several possible action steps non-profit leaders can implement right away to help stay on the right track. For example, in the chapter exploring pride versus humility, Greer and Horst suggest publishing a “failure report,” candidly sharing the challenges and shortcomings of honest efforts with donors and stakeholders, a practice implemented by several notable non-profit organizations.
Reflection questions. Each chapter ends with a set of questions designed to help you assess your own motivations and organizational structure and envision what positive change could look like in your personal context. These questions work well for individual study as well as for group study.
While the issue does not go completely unaddressed, it would have been helpful to explore situations in which “linking arms” is not wise. At times, the advice seems to be contradictory: Abraham Lincoln is given as an example of gracious leadership, who lifted his rivals and actually ended up appointing some of his adversaries to his cabinet while he served as President. Though it’s a heart-warming and inspiring example, the apparent takeaway is not one that the authors actually recommend: though they don’t elaborate much, Greer and Horst don’t recommend employing people who are significantly opposed ideologically.
Rooting for Rivals is an ideal read for leaders of faith-based organizations. While there is value for non-profit leaders across the religious spectrum, the distinctly Christian premise and tone could be off-putting for non-Christians. With its thought-provoking reflection questions at the end of each chapter, this could also make a great group study for leadership/staff at a faith-based organization.
If we’re able to reject vice and embrace virtue in our nonprofits, our descendants may never know our names or the organizations we led, but they’ll see the fruit of our unified, Kingdom-minded approach.
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