[Course 3 Index] [Prayer-School Index] [Prayer Mini-Series Index ] [Prev Lesson] [Next Lesson]
Team Ministry
How To Build A Team
(Part 1 of 2)
Look at verses 20-26: of 1 Cor. 12
But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; or again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body, which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our unseemly members come to have more abundant seemliness, whereas our seemly members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, that there should be no division in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
In verse 21 the statement "I have no need of you" occurs twice. The perception is that we don't really need other people to accomplish ministry, because we're so highly qualified. This is pride, independence, an attitude of exclusivity. It is a self-important attitude. The eye and head telling a hand and foot that they can get along just fine without them.
That is self-deluded arrogance. You can imagine the eye and the head saying, "We don't need the motor skills of you distant members. We can see and think and talk and eat and hear. What essential contributions do you have to offer? We combine the higher senses, the cognitive skills." I have this vision of two feet and two hands taking them seriously and, skittering off in different directions, leaving the body sitting there with no hands or feet all day long. About dinner time it realizes it's in big trouble - how is it going to get what it needs to survive?
A local football coach was talking about how difficult it is to get kids to come out for team sports like football, basketball, and volleyball, but how amazingly successful the club sports are in a wealthy area. Club sports are golf and track and tennis and swimming - sports that require individual effort, training, and preparation. You can take private lessons to learn to do all those things, and you can buy your own equipment. It ends up insulating and isolating people and developing a sense of self-sufficiency. These kids who have all the resources don't want to play the team sports; they'd rather excel in a club sport.
It struck me that, sadly, this can happen in the life of the church and in the team. We see the same tendencies toward independence. It's fairly common for people who have been gifted with more prominent abilities to become self sufficient, even selective in who we will surround ourselves with and the kind of friendships we will develop, to become a lone ranger in ministry. And it's very possible, if you've been gifted in a significant way, to overestimate your own importance and to undervalue the contributions of other believers. That is just as grotesque and foolish as the eye's and hand's views of themselves in Paul's analogy.
The reality is that the weaker members are absolutely necessary. That's the point of verse 22. Paul's logic seems to be that some of the more prominently gifted individuals in the church or team aren't nearly as indispensable as they think they are, and, in contrast, the less notable parts that seem to be weaker (it's a matter of perception) are essential to the life and health of the team. And what Paul does in verse 22-24 is intensify the language and strengthen it as he describes these individuals in the body whom we might judge unimportant or unnecessary for the good of the whole. In verse 23 it's people we've judged to be less honorable, less valuable, or unseemly (unattractive). At the end of verse 24 it's members who "lacked."
We can all be so guilty of this kind of sense of superiority. We look at people based on physical appearance or what they physically have to contribute to the body, and we can make these same kind of ugly judgments of superiority. If we want to avoid dissension in the body, we must repent of any sense of superiority toward other people. The question we ought to ask ourselves is, "Who have we marginalized? Whose quiet, unassuming presence have we ignored or denigrated?"
Verses 25-26 make very clear that if we slight those who have less prominent gifting or ministry, then our church or team will suffer. We will be spiritually impoverished. The diversity of spiritual gifts leads to disunity when we compete with one another, but this diversity leads to unity when we care for one another. And how do we care for one another?
By functioning according to God's will, accepting where he has placed us, being led into ministry that he determines for us, and also by helping one another function as God wills, encouraging one another, praying with one another, listening to one another. If one member suffers, Paul says, it affects us all; if one member is healthy, it helps the rest of us to be strong.
An elderly lady who died in her eighties had spent the last ten years of her life in a wheelchair, a victim of diabetes and a series of strokes that had affected her hearing and vision. Her name was Emma Williams. If Emma were here among us, it would be very easy to undervalue her, to assume she had very little to contribute. She was an elderly black lady in two predominantly white churches. She wasn't totally "plugged in" during service. As a matter of fact, one of the pastors who officiated at the memorial service, said that if Emma was here today, she'd be dozing off every so often, chatting with the people on either side of her, sort of oblivious at times.
But she was also a lady who after the service would tug on her pastors sleeve and either encourage him or correct something in his preaching. She was always very aware. Many people came to the microphone to give testimony to her faithfulness in exercising her spiritual gifts in their lives.
They called her a prayer warrior, a woman of vision. She could see things in people that they couldn't see in themselves. A tremendous encourager, she helped young mothers learn how to mother, and loved to hold babies. She would light up the room with her presence. One of the health care workers who cared for her in the rest home the last three years of her life said, "You know, Emma came to a place where old people come to die. But she didn't come to die, she came to serve and share her life and encourage people, and she was serving clear to the end." Again, on the surface, she had very little to offer physically, and yet she was convinced of her giftedness, in love with the Lord Jesus, and expressing those gifts clear to the end. Two different church families rose up together and called her blessed, and said they had a sense of loss that she wouldn't be there any more.
It is the duty of the leadership ministry team to rule, feed and train the saints. Eph. 4:11-12 says: "And He gave some apostles and some, prophets, and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry."
Never lose sight of this vision or goal. Our purpose is to bring everyone to a high level of maturity.
On day 6 of the ill-fated mission of Apollo 13, the Astronauts needed to make a critical course correction. If they failed, they might never return to earth. To conserve power, the on board computer that steered the craft had been shut down. Yet the Astronauts needed to conduct a thirty-nine second burn of the main engines. How to steer?Astronaut Jim Lovell determined that if they could keep a fixed point in space in view through their tiny window, they could steer the craft manually. That focal point turned out to be their destination--earth. As shown in the 1995 hit movie, Apollo 13, for 39 agonizing seconds, Lovell focused on keeping the earth in view. By not losing sight of that reference point, the three Astronauts avoided disaster.
Scripture reminds us how to finish your life mission successfully, "Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith." (Heb. 13:2)
The same principle applies to team work, ministry and team mission. Read Col 1:27-28 and 4:12.
The Biblical purpose for having elders must be kept before us: mature the sheep for ministry.
The leader has to know what is important to the team...
Example: In basketball the players on the team recognize that scoring is what is important so they can win. So this is their focus. A player may be a wonderful ball handler. He may be able to dribble circles around everyone. But if that is all he does every time he gets the ball until the shot clock runs out, he is not helping the team. He may be the best dribbler in the world and his efforts may give the fans great joy, but that is not the purpose of the team.He needs to know that this ball handling ability is a tool to help the team score.
John Maxwell in his book "Developing the Leader Within You" tells why animal trainers carry a stool when they go into a cage of lions. They have their whips, of course, and their pistols are at their sides. But invariably they also carry a stool. It is the most important tool of the trainer. He holds the stool by the back and thrusts the legs toward the face of the wild animal. Those who know maintain that the animal tries to focus on all four legs at once. In the attempt to focus on all four, a kind of paralysis overwhelms the animal, and it becomes tame, weak, and disabled because its attention is fragmented.
The New Testament clearly teaches that there are many different gifts that have been given to the church. (1 Cor. 12; Rom. 12)
There is a pressure to conform within a team rather than operating in your gift for the good of the whole. For example, my gift is exhortation and not administration. The strength of a team is diversity and variety.
Football team... Each has a role, a talent and gift. The lineman must not feel they need to be the QB.
Grace is a word that dominates much of the writing of the New Testament. This is the oil that will keep the team running smooth. Allow for mistakes. Give each other room.
Our team will not be like the "Dream Team", the U.S. Olympic basketball team of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, John Stockton, Carl Malone, Clyde Drexler, Chris Mullen and other greats. There was not a question of whether they would win or not, but by how much. The players on the opposing teams were asking for their autographs.
GRACE IS LOVE IN ACTION!!!
We all need to grow. Paul talks a lot about abounding more and more. Consider these verses:
Refuse to be outdated in methods and ideas. Set the example in growth. Develop professional skills and spiritual fruit and character.
Attend classes, training sessions, seminars, maintain the intimate relation with Jesus that keeps the fire burning hot.
Make use of technology to stay informed and keep others informed.
At a recent graduation ceremony of a small liberal arts college the number of graduates was rather small, so they were allowed to make a statement or two as they received their diploma. One comment that got the best response was when a new graduate waived his diploma in the air and said, "It's time to stop learning and start living!!"
We can all understand that feeling. Now is the time to reap the benefits of the hard work. However, learning must never stop for a good team member. Jesus called His followers disciples which means, a learner.
Again, look at Paul. The most influential Christian in the history of the church. He wrote more than half of the New Testament. He started several churches and help spread Christianity through out the known world. He never said, "I have arrived." In fact, in Phil 3:10-16 we see where his heart and mind was. He wants more, he wants to press on.... v. 12 says "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me."
He is saying, "I am still learning. I am still a student."
We all need teachers....
John Elway is one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game of football and yet he has a coach. He still needs someone on the sidelines giving him direction and offering leadership.
Michael Jordan, who is without doubt the best ever to play the game of basketball has a coach. When the last shot is to be taken he will yield to what the coach says. Couple of years ago he passed to Steve Kerr for the winning shot against the Jazz. He was told to look for him as soon as they came at him with the double team.
Being a good team member means we never stop learning, never stop growing, we never stop becoming.
A good team does not happen by accident. It is built through a combination of prayer, practical skills and methodologies and good leadership. Each member on the team plays their own crucial role and all members of an effective team should be made to feel that they are an important part of that team.
Each team will have its goals and purpose. The leader must never sacrifice the members for that purpose. They are not pawns to be used but parts of a living body jointly fitted together. Seek to build up each member and help them to become all that God has ordained them to be and make them effective in what God has gifted them to do. As each member is built up and encouraged to step into their their God-appointed skills/roles, the team becomes stronger and more effective.
Remember that each team member is uniquely and wonderfully made with their own giftings and skills. Encourage diversity so that the members can function as they are most effective rather than trying to become carbon copies of someone else or of their leader. Also remember that each is an human being, who is developing and learning and growing. Encourage that learning/development process in each member, and give them room to make mistakes so that they can learn/grow from their mistakes.