Why it is a virtue, and why it is sometimes a neglected one, is worth asking.
Selflessness and altruism are virtues, and competitiveness, if misunderstood or twisted, can lead to selfishness. But one can be competitive in the interests of others.
Imagine competing to raise more and more money to help the poor. Judah Smith writes:
I think there should be a passion in our hearts to be excellent. In fact, I think that’s part of being human. I think there’s something innate in our DNA that wants to win, and I think that desire comes from God, the ultimate champion of the ages. God is a winner, and we were made in his image and likeness.
God is competitive, and therefore human beings, shaped by Him in His image, are competitive. Sometimes our competitiveness is tainted by our sinful nature. But sometimes it can be used to benefit those around us.
God’s competitiveness displays itself when Moses and Aaron confront Pharaoh’s advisers - his ‘wise men,’ sorcerers, and magicians - and Aaron’s staff, having become a serpent, swallows the serpents of the competitors.
Competitiveness is at work when Elijah confronts the prophets of Baal. It’s a head-to-head, side-by-side contest. God wins handily.
Jesus is competitive when debating the Sadducees, Pharisees, and scribes. He scores points in intellectual combat.
Why has competitiveness been underplayed as a virtue? David Murrow hints at the answer: we’ve often mistaken Jesus for a wimp, and His followers as wimpified. Is Jesus merely a soft and cuddly nice guy?
Murrow notes that counselor John Gray has catalogued a list of ‘masculine’ virtues, including:
competence, power, efficiency, achievement, skills, proving one’s self, results, accomplishment, objects, goal orientation, self-sufficiency, success, competition
Correspondingly, virtues conventionally perceived as ‘feminine’ are
love, communication, beauty, relationships, support, helping, nurturing, feelings, sharing, relating, community, loving cooperation, personal expression
Considering those lists, it becomes clear that our culture sometimes misperceives Jesus and His followers as effeminate. The ‘feminine virtues’ correspond to a popular notion of what it means to follow Jesus.
But close reading of the text of Scripture leads to the view that Jesus is equally an exemplar of the ‘masculine virtues.’ We need to reexamine our concept of Jesus to ensure that we’ve included all the virtues, and not merely the ‘feminine’ ones.
One can formulate plausible arguments for the thesis that God is neither masculine nor feminine.
But its is clear that Jesus is masculine and is, in fact, a man. Masculine virtues are, therefore, a priori part of His constitution.
