Rivalries are a huge part of any sports fan's world.  There is always one team that stands above the others that you want to beat.  We talk a lot about such in our country but it is not limited to American sports.  Soccer teams over in England know a great deal about a rivalry.  Other countries have sports where the passions burn greater for one game over another.  I once read how India and Pakistan enjoy an intense rivalry in the game of cricket.  High School sports often revolve around one game on the football schedule that matters more than the rest.  We had one way back when I played where that one game mattered more than the others.  Sports talkers were debating today on what is the greatest rivalry in sports.  There is no one answer to that question as far as I'm concerned.  But let me share a few opinions with you before reaching any conclusion.

• College basketball doesn't have the usual rivalries as in football.  The one that may stand out over the others is Duke against North Carolina.  These two teams clashed again this evening and have one game remaining in conference play.  There may be a few other schools who have a whiff of a rivalry but none like this one.
• Baseball doesn't lend itself to rivalries of a fiery nature.  There are a few teams who especially celebrate beating another but these teams play each other often in a season.  The one that comes close to that passion would be the Red Sox and Yankees.  You can usually expect a few disagreements on the field during the season when they play.  Sometimes you can even get lucky and a brawl will break out.
• Football is where many of our rivalries take root.  NFL teams usually have one of two teams they play each year where it becomes a matter of pride over who wins and loses.  Your enjoyment of the rivalry depends on your location as well as how long you rooted for your team.  The older a team is will deepen how intense a game becomes.  This means the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers should be the most important rivalry in the NFL.
• College football is defined by rivalries.  Many of them are regional in nature as teams take on a foe that is somewhat close in geography.  Ohio State plays Michigan each year in a big game.  Alabama has Auburn to compete with for bragging rights.  But can there be any larger rivalry than Army versus Navy?  People cheer for their team in the game all over the globe.  This is the one that would receive my vote for biggest rivalry in American sports.

Thank goodness a rivalry is limited to sports.  Or do we deal with such in our church life?  You know as well as I do that competition and conflict are woven too much into the fabric of too many congregations.  People get at odds with another person but choose to act selfish rather than spiritual.  Some even forget what the original problem was as it simply becomes a contest of wills.  There is one difference between this scenario and the sports rivalry.  No one wins in a church conflict.  We all lose as our energy is deflected from doing our divine purpose when we are dragged into a mess.  We know better yet we keep recycling bad behavior over and over.  Rivalries are great fun in the world of sports.  They do nothing to make us more like Jesus in our daily life.  My fear is we will never learn the difference.

Bro. Trey