The Dynamics of Team Ministry

In our last lesson, we looked at some desirable character traits for team members. These included being motivated from love, having a servant's heart, exhibiting faithfulness (being one who the others and rely on), being available and ready to minister and being teachable. In this lesson, we will look at three more important character traits for team members:

• humility
• meekness
• corporateness

Humility

Humility is another example of how the Kingdom of God works very opposite the natural domain. The Apostle Paul wrote: "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him" (Phil 2:3-9).

Notice the dynamic; the way up is the way down, and the one who humbles himself is exalted. This concept is reiterated in 1 Peter 5:5-7, "...and be clothed with humility, for 'God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.' Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."

It is the humble that are exalted and the proud become abased. If we attempt to lift ourselves up, we stumble; if we get low, we will be exalted by God.

Paul told this to the Christians in Rome. He said, "For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith" (Rom 12:3).

Humility is not just absence of pride, which is thinking more highly of yourself than you ought. Nor is it low self esteem - thinking more poorly of your self than you ought. That is still a focus on self and is actually a form of false humility, showing up as a reversed pride that says "I should be doing better..."

Humility is absence of self, all-together. It is an absence of self focus; absence of personal ambition; absence of a need for recognition. A minister must be dead to self. Otherwise, his ministry vaunt self, attracting others to him rather than to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Meekness

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" (Matt 5:5).

Meekness is not the same as weakness, but is characterized by a humble reliance on God's power and strength. Those who are meek exhibit a sensitivity to others. They are approachable and teachable instead of hard and not entreatable. They are not arrogantly independent, but rather recognizes his/her need for corporateness and dependence upon God.

Moses is a wonderful example. Moses was called, at the end of his life, the meekest man on earth. But we also see that he went through the God's "school of brokenness" to obtain this meekness. Through the years, he came to the point of relying on God's power, instead of on his own. Let's look at how God developed this trait in him. We see an unbroken Moses after forty years of secular training in the finest leadership schools Egypt had to offer. His efforts at that point to dilemma his people from the Egyptians only ended in failure and he was banished to the desert.

Then we see him after another 40 years of desert tempering. Finally, at 80 years of age, we see a man who was called the meekest man on earth. Now he was ready to be used of God in a mighty way. Now we see Moses, not defending himself to his accusers, but rather falling on his face in intercession while God moves dramatically to defend him. Meekness and dependence on God was the difference.

When a person allows God to work meekness and deference into their soul, that person is no longer marked by the hallmarks of a carnal man: obstinacy, hardness and sharpness.

Corporateness

Ministries who will not receive the grace from God to become corporate will be, at the least, limit their ability to be optimally effective. And at most, they may find themselves sliding into delusion and error. God designed us for relationship; for inter-dependence. This is an essential attitude for those who would become team members and team players. We do not want an unhealthy dependence (born out of fear of man, people pleasing, and fear of rejection), but nor do we want independence (born out of pride and rebellion). Rather God is after inter-dependence or corporateness; the humility to recognize our need for one another.

Independence and isolation are sure signs of unhealthiness or immaturity. Proverbs 18:1 states "He who separates himself seeks his own desire, he quarrels against all sound wisdom." Instead we are to "Grow up in all aspects into... Christ... from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love" (Eph.4:15,16).

In order to be corporative, it is essential that the team minister be able to be submissive and yield to spiritual authority. Scripture speaks very directly to this issue. Hebrews 13:17 puts it this way: "Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you." And 1 Peter 5:5 says, "Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'"

James tells us that divine wisdom is exhibited in a willingness to yield and be gentle and peaceable. "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace" (James 3:17-18).

For instance, let's consider a person who feels he has a word from God. He stands up in a meeting and declares a directive word without regard to the ones who have spiritual authority and responsibility in the meeting. He tells the congregation that everyone in the church should come to the front and kneel at the altar and cry out in repentance "right now." The individual has "taken control" of the service and has created a dilemma for the pastor. What if the Pastor felt that the Lord was leading the meeting in a different direction? If the pastor tries to follow the leading God gave him, he will appear to "rebel" and "resist" the word of the Lord and His "directive." Now it looks like the pastor is being rebellious to the "Word of the Lord" when, in fact, he is merely obeying what God spoke to Him. This can automatically cause others to look upon the leaders as insensitive, closed to the moving and direction of the Spirit of God, etc.

It is imperative that prophetic people be sensitive to the God given responsibility that pastors have, and respect the authority God has given the pastor in the local church. That prophet should have submitted to the pastor the "sense" he or she had. The prophet should ask permission before releasing a word that may end up redirecting the flow of the service. Deference to leadership is essential for effective team ministry.