We have a regular ritual in the Myers household every Monday morning. Once we have all gotten ourselves dressed and ready for the day we all converge in the kitchen. As I work on preparing a fresh pot of one of God’s greatest gifts to mankind, I pose the same question I ask every week: “What should I write about for my blog/column this week?”
The responses provided to this very basic, yet surprisingly difficult, query are usually less than helpful. As a general rule, all of the answers are some form of “I don’t know.” Consequently, I already had that particular idea in my own head, thus, the need for asking the question.
the movie teaches us that we must learn to see beyond ourselves and that there is great value and reward in helping others improve and achieve.
Recently, keeping with the aforementioned custom, and knowing I was unlikely to get a useful answer, I presented my question for consideration. After some prodding, my son, JJ, spoke up and said, “Why should I give you an idea? You didn’t use the one I gave you last week.” What was this nugget of inspiration my loving child provided? “Cars 3…”
Figuring there was absolutely ZERO chance that my teenage son had actually thought critically or long enough about a cartoon about race cars to have an idea with real-world application (because I sure hadn’t), I asked him what challenge or encouragement he believed it provided. He thought for a second, then said, “The movie teaches that it’s not always or only about ‘me.’ We need to be able to see the abilities and value in other people so that we can help them win, too.” His answer had me shook. I had to laugh in order to hold in the tears that threatened to fall. The depth, maturity, and grace of his answer are encouraging and challenging. Kids these days… WOW!
Cars 3 is a movie about a middle-aged racecar on the back end of his career, struggling to find his footing. Lightning McQueen, the once dominant force of the racing world, just can’t win like he used to. In his attempts to regain his winning ways, he teams up with a younger car who had dreamed of being a racecar, but never tried for fear that she wasn’t good enough. In the end, Lightning puts his own ambitions to the side and uses his experience and his own opportunity to help the young racecar realize her dream and become more than she ever imagined she could be. As JJ noted, the movie teaches us that we must learn to see beyond ourselves and that there is great value and reward in helping others improve and achieve.
Our world puts a very high premium on winning. Ambition is often held up as one of the greatest of virtues. “Win at all costs” is a constant refrain in modern society. While it is important for us to always do our best, and there is nothing wrong with playing to win, Jesus demonstrates that winning often goes beyond what’s seen on the scoreboard, the report card, the financial statement, etc. Sometimes, the greater wins are found in the benefit we help bring about in the lives of those around us.
Perhaps the biggest wins in life aren’t the wins we achieve for ourselves, but the wins we help others attain.
This is a principle that appears numerous times throughout the Bible, particularly in the New Testament. The words of Paul in Philippians 2:3-4 dovetail nicely into the illustration in the movie. Paul writes, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others.” The life and words of Jesus set the standard Paul is presenting. In the second half of the Great Commandment in Matthew 22:39, Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” That commandment is amplified in John 15:12 when Jesus said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”
JJ is 100% correct. As we navigate the challenges and competitive realities of life, we must learn to see beyond me to the greater we of humanity. Rather than seeing those around us as opponents we must overcome and outperform, we need to see others with compassion and grace. Others don’t necessarily have to lose in order for us to win. Perhaps the biggest wins in life aren’t the wins we achieve for ourselves, but the wins we help others attain.
