WHAT MAKES A TEAM FUNCTION TOGETHER?
In his book, Follow the Wind, Radio preacher, Steve Brown, tells the following story:
“A man ran his car into a ditch. He needed help, found a farmer, and asked if the farmer would use a horse or a mule to help pull his car out of the ditch. The farmer said that he had only one mule, Dusty, and that the mule was blind. ‘But,’ said the farmer, ‘we can try.’
Dusty, the old, blind mule, was taken to the ditch and hooked up to the car. Then the farmer yelled out, ‘Pull you mules! Go Dusty! Go Sammy. Go Billy!’ Sure enough the old blind mule pulled the car out of the ditch.
The man who owned the car thanked the farmer but had one question: ‘Why did you refer to Sammy and Billy when there was only one mule?’ ‘Oh,’ said the farmer, ‘Dusty couldn’t have done it if he thought he had to do it by himself.’ “
I have to admit it has always intrigued me how some teams churches work together and pull off this thing we call ministry. I have read of a church that has been in existence for about 50 years, is now one of the biggest churches in the country, and has never had a split. How does that happen? I think Ephesians 4:2-3 gives us the formula for that milestone:
HUMILITY
This attitude is foundational to all the other virtues about to be mentioned. How do you define humility? I have heard it as “not so much thinking less of ourselves, but more of others.”
GENTLENESS
Some translations use the word “meekness,” which is often equated to weakness. But the word literally means “power under control.”
PATIENCE
This word means long-tempered. This person endures negative circumstances and never gives in to them.
BEARING WITH ONE ANOTHER
It is true some people are bears to live with, but that is not what this phrase means. 🙂 This kind of love throws a blanket over sin, not to justify or excuse it, but to keep the sins from becoming more than necessary.
UNITY
The ultimate outcome of the other four characteristics. Paul is not speaking here of other denominations, but rather the local body of believers. This is not uniformity, but unity! Unity is not where everyone is expected to fit into a cookie cutter.
These are the characteristics that keep a church body together and help make a lasting impression on the community. Let me ask you: do you feel you have these characteristics? If you have them, in your mind, which stands out as your strongest contribution to the togetherness of your church family? Which is the hardest for you to practice? I’d like to hear from you.
Patience is the hardest…for me at least. When I want results, I want them quickly, but in community that doesn’t always happen.
That is hard for many of us Michael. We tend to see what can be or should be and want to move forward, sometimes too quickly. You are wise recognizing it. Thanks for the comment today.
The one after this weekend that this church needs to improve on is bearing one another. We have a situation where one group thinks things should be done one way and another where another group thinks it should not be done at all. One group is trying to push the envelope too far in my estimation which I confronted yesterday evening with the person leading the charge. It has the potential to breakdown the unity we have built recently and the team atmosphere.
Ouch! I should never be surprised at what the enemy wants to do when a church is moving forward and is united. He moves in to break it up. I will be praying for your situation Jim. Thanks for sharing that.
It depends on the day. Sometimes I’m great at these and other times I suck at more than one on the list. It is so easy to sabotage what God is doing at a church to push our selfish agendas. Great thoughts today!
I think your key thought Rob is pushing our agenda. That will sabotage things quickly. (Lack of humility with that one for sure). Thanks for the input.
If I were to say that I excelled at all of them I guess that would cut out the humility one eh? 🙂
I would like to say that I have a slice of each. Unity is a big one for me. I’ve been a part of a church that fell apart years ago because of sin in the camp. When the leader fell, the unity in the church disintegrated. My radar goes off when I sense unity is being attacked.
I can’t stand gossip & don’t appreciate negativity. My take is if you want to talk about it, then please have a solution ready to offer. Otherwise, keep your opinions to yourself. But I get to say that out loud since I’m not a pastor or paid staff member. Doesn’t matter if I ruffle feathers 🙂
If you have seen something fall apart it is easy to see why unity is a big thing to you. churches need more people who hate gossip and negativity. And hey, say what you want! 🙂 Thanks.
Hi Bill,
I’m going to say ‘humility’ for my strongest attribute from your list here. I think ‘obedience to God’ is a good definition of humility. If a person strives for this, there will be lots of opportunity to lay down the pride of our flesh.
I’m not a team player in the world. I get into trouble pretty fast, because I am outspoken. God is trying to help me with this. He’s being VERY PATIENT and LONG SUFFERING in his efforts to help me balance this flaw/gift?
I like to talk about the ‘white elephants in the room’ so to speak and try to get things resolved as well as possible. Sometimes this works sometimes the results are quite surprising.
I think this is where Solomon excelled with his words of wisdom. Nations came from thousands of miles around to hear him speak. Solomon didn’t always say and do what people wanted but they were unable to dispute the wiseness of his words.
Another thought. If a church has saved and unsaved people coming regularly, unity is going to be impossible. You will please the one or the other but not both. Choices have to be made.
In my mind it’s a no brainer. The saved have the priority in the church. This is without question the reason believers gathered together in the book of Acts.
Several things stand out in your comment Linda. One, I am not sure (personally) I would equate humility with obedience. Obedience would be a result possibly of humility but I would not say it is a definition. Two, I would not suggest anyone be a team player with the world in the sense of adopting the standards and values of the world. I do think we can get along with people though. Three, the church can be made up of only saved people. Within the group meeting at the church building there will be both saved and unsaved. In matters of heart and decision, the saved obviously need to be considered. sometimes though, they are so entrenched in “their way” that they do not see other ways might be better. It is then the leadership needs to pray and make a decision on what is best for the body. I welcome you coming back on this or or anyone else weighing in on it. Thanks for the comment.
Hi Bill,
What I am thinking is that ministry in the church should be mostly for the saved people. This is the purpose of church gatherings in my mind. My thinking is that the whole NT shows this in the letters to the churches by the apostles.
Believers need to be taught and instructed on the ways of God. In my thinking true unity occurs through the love of God for one another. This love has to be sincere.
Church teaching and preaching in my mind has little or no responsiblility to baby the unsaved in their midst. If God has put them there then they will be able to tolerate good godly instruction and admonition along with the believers. If they are there through a misunderstanding of what church is, then they will leave.
Churches may find that those whom they were confident were saved may not be. These unsaved people or disobedient believers may be some of the ‘entrenched’ hard heads you speak about here. Paul had some admonition for these types of people.
I think if you have true humility then the other attributes follow relatively easy. I can’t say humility has been a strong point for me in my life. In fact that’s the one issue that God has used to bring me to my knees more than once.
I also think that true humility cannot be found without seeking diligently after the heart of God. When I miss a study time, I’m much more susceptible to the flesh and all of it’s ugliness.
A church that has never split is a miracle all by itself… They must be doing something right…
I did mention that in my message floyd about humility being the foundation of the other 4. Good point. Certainly agree with you about true humility being found by seeking God’s heart. And yeah, I think they are doing something right. Thanks.
Bill,
Fist of all, I loved the story of Dusty. Secondly, I do not like practicing nor hearing the “P”word… patience. Lately, I have been finding that one of the hardest things to do is to wait on God and not move ahead of Him. Ahhhhhhhh
Hearing and practicing the “P” word is tough Michelle…for most of us. Waiting is not always fun. Thanks for the honesty.
I see these characteristics in my life but need help in the area of patience.
Though I’m a volunteer at my church. I often become inpatient when other would be great volunteer leaders chose not to step up and serve. I never push anyone but encourage them to serve and be used by God.
Great post and keys to having a successful team.
Hmmmm even volunteers get upset? Whew I thought only full-time pastors did. 😛 Keep encouraging Dan. Thanks for coming by.
Yes even volunteers get upset:)
LOL
I think we all struggle with these at various times. What’s bad is when we are struggling with ours and someone else is struggling with theirs. I think this leads to not having that last one.
So true Larry. That last one comes from the other four. Thanks for coming by & commenting