Teamwork

Teamwork makes the dream work. John Maxwell

I coached my first soccer game as the head coach last weekend. The team is my son’s, and he plays in AYSO under 8 league. The boys did a great job, in spite of the practices. I’ve got three or four on the team who they seemed to be everywhere but focused on practice. We play 9 kids at a time, so two of the boys had to sit out each quarter (at this age, they play 4 quarters rather than two halves). As I was walking the sidelines, one of the boys who had to sit out was rather antsy, to say the least. He finally yelled out, “I have to get back in there, my team needs me!” I had to laugh. What a great comment! He really felt that he was part of the team, and as a coach, that’s exactly what I want.

As a pastor, I want the same for my congregation. I want everyone involved, and the Bible clearly teaches that all are important (1 Corinthians 12-14, Romans 12) and vital to the fellowship of Christ. The frustration is that too many do not see themselves that way, or don’t want to see themselves that way. One of my ongoing dilemmas is helping everyone to see that there team needs them. Too many easily fall back into the trap of “what’s in it for me” or “what have you done for me lately”. I believe the key is serving, doing what Jesus did. I try to continually talk about that, and I try to model that. Sometimes we (the church) do well, sometimes we don’t. But we are making progress.