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Team Ministry
Team Ministry In The Old Testament
(part 1 of 2)
Many principles of God can be made clear by the natural things of life. The family is an example. God's design was for a husband and wife to function as a family unit. Just as a wife is a co-leader, so elders are to function with the senior pastor as co-laborers. Co-leadership does not in any way detract from the concept of headship. Just as a wife can be a co-leader and fully acknowledge the headship of her husband so elders and pastor can work together.
Noah and Abraham seem to stand alone as they each defy the onslaught of a pagan world, but once God forms the nation of Israel, Moses parcels out responsibilities to others. You can read about leaders of the community Ex. 16:22, leaders of the people Ex. 18:25, leaders of the Israelites Num. 13:3.
Proverbs 11:14: Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the
multitude of counselors there is safety.
15:22: Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude
of counselors they are established.
24:6: For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of
counselors there is safety.
The wise man Solomon considered it of extreme importance to mention this over and over.
The Threefold Cord
Ecc. 4:9-10, 12 Two are better than one, because they have a good
return for their work. If one falls down, his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up. Though one
may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands
is not quickly broken.
Effective teams utilize group decision making. Prov 15:22 says "Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counselors they are established." Somehow we have failed to transfer the acknowledged truth of that verse to the way we run the church.
Sometimes in emergency situations or when absolute confidentiality is essential the leader must act.
Nehemiah and the city of Jerusalem. Chap. 7 (v. 1-2) After the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the door in place, the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed. I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, along with Hannaniah the commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most men do.
Faithfulness and the fear of God. Much can be accomplished when surrounded by people like this.
Until this point, Nehemiah had been the sole leader. He chose Hanani to assume a role of leadership because Nehemiah knew Hanani well; he was his brother. He knew Hanani was a hard-working man of character. Nehemiah also chose Hananiah to be a leader. He chose Hananiah because he was a God-fearing man of integrity.
The church needs these very same qualities in leaders today. More than the ability to teach, or the ability to organize, or delegate, or be creative, or motivate others, we need leaders with integrity and respect for God - leaders who are motivated by the desire to serve God and please God.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. (Colosians 3:23-24)
Nehemiah appointed leaders because he realized that he couldn't do everything himself. He realized that it would take a team of leaders to manage the people of Judah.
Nehemiah is the team leader who goes into action. He understood a principle we need to understand....
This group of faithful team members held off the forces around them and rebuilt the city.
This is a great illustration of team work, unity, cooperation and many hands playing a part to reach a goal.
This task was overwhelming at the start. Rubbish everywhere. The walls and gates had been broken and burnt and the people in great distress. However he got the job done in 52 days because of team ministry.
Now, Nehemiah Chapter 3 is the kind of chapter that I always want to skip. When you first read it, it seems to be just another one of those lists of unpronounceable names that the Bible has so many of. What we call Bible reading to go to sleep by. But chapter 3 is not a chapter to be skipped!
Along with all these unpronounceable names, this chapter is filled with lessons to be learned about doing the work of God as a team player-member. Lessons that will speak to our lives today.
v. 1 The initiative is taken by Eliashib the high priest, who, along with his fellow priests, rebuilt quite a bit of the wall, a gate and a tower.
The men of Jericho built the adjoining section, and Zaccur son of Imri built next to them.
This phase next to him will be repeated about 25 times through this chapter. Now, what we're reading here is a description of the work on the walls of Jerusalem, section by section, counter-clockwise around the city from the Sheep Gate in verse 1, around the city, and back to the Sheep Gate in verse 32.
Now, notice who's doing the work here in verse 2: "The men of Jericho." In chapter 3, there are workers who come from all over the surrounding area to help rebuild the walls of Jerusalem: Men of Jericho, Tekoa, Gibeon, Mizpah, Zanoah, Beth-Zur.... we read in v. 1 about the priests of Jerusalem working on the wall, but v. 22 says that the priests from the surrounding region also came to work.
The Fish Gate was rebuilt by the sons of Hassenaah. They laid its beams and put its doors and bolts and bars in place. Now, here is a family working together.
v. 5 reads Now, Tekoa was a small town about 16km from Jerusalem. The "nobles" of Tekoa were the wealthy land-owners of that town. And it says that they refused to participate in this work of God. They refused because they wouldn't be placed under a supervisor. These men were rich. These men were employers. When there was work being done in Tekoa, they were the supervisors and others did the work.
Are there people in the Church like this today? Can you picture it? A bank manager, a successful businessman, a person who just built a house being asked to build a wall? Successful people usually do not like to be ordered around by someone else: "You! Work on this section here!"
Let me tell you this: You can never be so successful in this world that God will no longer place you under someone else's supervision. Jeremiah 48:10 addresses this: A curse on him who is lax in doing the LORD's work! A curse on him who is lazy or negligent in doing the Lord's work!
v 6-8, 31 Now, look who's working here: Goldsmiths! Perfume-makers! Merchants. Now this was not their job! Not their specialty! They didn't know anything about building walls!
But they did what needed to be done. God didn't need a thousand masons and carpenters to rebuild the wall. He needed ordinary people who were willing to work together as a team. It's the same way in Gods Kingdom today -- these people are the opposite from those who say, "I'm too good to do this kind of work."
v 12... The women were helping
Look at verse 13 Hanun was working along; working hard, building, building, building... but when he got to the Dung Gate, he stopped. Very often, there will be something unpleasant that needs to be done in the work of the Church. Many times, we're willing to do the work of the Church, as long as its pleasant or fun or exciting. So they say, "Well just let someone else take care of that."
But someone has to repair the Dung Gate!
Oh, sure! Everyone wants to repair the Tower of the Ovens (v. 11) that's where they baked the bread in Jerusalem! Its easy to find workers for the Fountain Gate (v. 15). No problem when the wall next to the King's garden needs work ... But who's going to fix the Dung Gate?!!
We still have "Dung Gates" in God's work today. That is, there are unpleasant jobs to be done for the Lord's work right now. But who cleans the toilets? Who cleans the baptistry? Who visits the old woman? Who goes to the jail? Who picks the drunkard up off the road when he's laying in his own vomit? Maybe God is waiting for you.
Lets skip down a bit to verse 20:
Next to him, Baruch son of Zabbai zealously repaired another section, from the angle to the entrance of the house of Elia-shib the high priest.Now, this is amazing! What an amazing description! All of these workers were working hard. Neh 4:6 says that "the people worked with all their heart." But, in a crowd of hard-working people, Baruch stood out from the rest.
Baruch worked with Zeal. What is Zeal?? It is Fervor; Enthusiastic diligence; passion, a fire in the soul; to glow, grown warm, blaze up. He had passion!!!
What we're missing today are wise young believers and zealous old believers. We need people like Baruch who say, "Never mind what everyone else is doing, I will do my very best."
His name Baruch in Hebrew means "to bless God in worship".
He really got into it and no doubt this attitude affected those around him. He would be singing as he worked.
This reminds me of a "Far Side" joke. A guy is in hell pushing a wheel barrow whistling with a smile and the demon standing guard says, "I just don't think we are getting through to this guy..."
Wayne Jacobsen in Leadership magazine said, "If I had a choice between getting all the people in my city to an evangelistic crusade or having a lay person with an infectious love for Jesus work beside each of them at their jobs for one week, I'd certainly choose the latter."
Colossians 3:17 says "Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus." If you do, you'll stand out from the rest no matter how hard they are working.
v 21 Next to him, Mere-moth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired another section, from the entrance of Eliashib's house to the end of it.
This is interesting. When I was studying this chapter, I noticed that many of the workers were repairing the wall in front of their own homes:
v. 10 Jedaiah...made repairs opposite his house...
v. 23 Benjamin and Hass-hub made repairs in front of their house; and next to them, Azariah made repairs beside his house.
v. 28 the priests made repairs, each in front of his own house.
v. 29 Zadok...made repairs opposite his house...
Some people are like this when they're working for the Church too. They'll do the work as long as they find some value for themselves in it. Their attitude is "If it's going to help me, I'll work for God; Otherwise, forget it!" (no one would ever say that out loud, but our actions show that this is exactly what we're thinking.)
v 27 Next to them, the men of Tekoa repaired another section, from the great projecting tower to the wall of Ophel. (See also v. 4 & 21) Remember the men of Tekoa? Their nobles wouldn't work under their supervisors. These men of Tekoa, common, ordinary men, finished the section of the wall they were working on, then they went to work on another section. Some people, when doing the work of God, would finish their work and say, "Okay, I'm done! Hurry up you guys!" But what an example the men of Tekoa are for us.
But we're never finished.
When you complete one job for the Lord, don't just sit back as if you've fulfilled your ultimate responsibility as a Christian and now there's nothing else for you to do! As long as there is work to be done in God's Kingdom, there's work for you to do. That is the mind set of a true team member. Always willing and ready to go the second mile and do double duty.
Remove any of these names and you have a breach in the wall.
4:1-2 The enemy hates it when God's people join together in teams. He knows the power of teamwork and the weakness of individualism.
Five statements are made here in attempt to remove hope:
It is a sad fact that many team members are feeble and weak. It is not fun being weak and having sand kicked in your face by the bullies of life. Refuse to stay that way. Work at being strong. Strong team members make for a strong team.
Do you really think that you can become strong enough to keep us out? Others may, but not you. His plan is to intimidate. The answer is YES!!! We will fortify ourselves. We will become strong team members.
He comes against their relationship with God. Look what has happened to you. Worshiping is a waste of time. A team member must guard his or her personal relationship with Jesus above all else.
The job may look too hard... the path may appear too rough.. The enemy will try to "play on it" or discourage us when we don't see quick results. Refuse to get weary.
In cross country each team has several runners and score points according to their finishing position. If part of the team drops out because of weariness the chances of the team winning are greatly reduced.
This is an attack against your past. Your failures and stumblings. Don't listen. Learn from your past and let it motivate you rather than discourage you.
He prayed and then in v. 6, So built we the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.
Team work is both team and work!!!