Does God approve of competition (no rubbish answers please)?

Question

Scarcity had not existed since the creation of the world until humankind sinned. God decided that humankind shall no longer enjoy unlimited resources from the Tree of Life and they must face the problem of scarcity and struggle hard for survival from then on. Competition for limited resources among humankind began as the planet's population increased. In a society of competition people are divided into classes and they do their best to get promoted to a higher class, leading to hatred, violent deeds, conflicts and wars. As Karl Marx pointed out in the Communist Manifesto, 'the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.'.

Without scarcity (and thus competition) the world would be a perfect place - no sadness, no suffering, no evil, no crimes, no tears. True?

What did Jesus say about competition? Did he approve of it? It seems sharing and socialism are much preferred in the Bible to competition and capitalism (Mark 10.43f, Acts 4.32).

Answer 1

The pursuit of wealth and material possessions is discouraged because when you are focused on gaining wealth and power you are not focused on God and His work for your life. At the same time we are also taught that if you are not willing to work then you should not be given money.
Those who have been blessed with money should help care for those who can't provide for themselves such as widows and orphans.
Competition never lead to good things in the Bible, so I don't think it is a quality that Jesus approves of. However, being the best you can be at your job and handling money responsibly it taught - a lot.
Socialism is also not encouraged by the Bible. Government running everything and distributing wealth as it sees fit is not in line with the way the Bible addresses the handling of money.
It is possible to get ahead in life without having a heart of competition

Answer 2

What Karl Marx taught has nothing to do with what Jesus taught, he taught, that we should treat everyone the same way we would like to be treated, sharing was done because of a person's love toward another, [principled love] being kind forgiving, this has nothing to do with a being compelled to share everything that you have, even in the Marxist society, there were those who had higher rank than others, that is socialism, capitalism is no better, the only way that the system of the bible is to b e set in place is when God's Kingdom, becomes the ruling faction on this earth, that time is getting closer, but it will be done in His time not ours.

Answer 3

I discovered the sin in competition by playing golf for about 40 years. There are some that handle it pretty good(on the golf course anyway), but many are terrible at it. I thinkJesus warned against it with "turn the other cheek", go the extra mile", "give your shirt". Its in mans nature to compete to make us feel good about ourselves at the expense of someone else. I don't think God approves of competition. You're the only one besides myself that I have ever seen or heard that thinks maybe its wrong(as a Christian)

Answer 4

What? Scarcity - whether by drought, fire, meteor impact - has been part of the life cycle for billions of years. Just look at the last biggie - the K/T extinction event - which caused death in many ways, including scarcity, as far as it looks.

There are many thing other than scarcity to make this world imperfect, including floods, fires not causing scarcity, war and more. And who cares if the Bible prefers communism - that one's been tried and it doesn't fly.

Answer 5

God does bless people. But what do we really need?
Ps 37:25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

Answer 6

Jesus asks us to love one another and help each other out when we can.

He asks us not to rely on riches here on the earth because we cannot take anything with us. : )

Answer 7

It exists, and I believ he accepts that. Satan will compete 'till the end of time.