Team Ministry In The Bible

by Cliff Murray

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.

Moses As An Example

  1. Ex. 4:16: "And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people... he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shall be to him instead of as God." This was speaking about Aaron in approaching Pharaoh. Aaron could supply the talents which Moses lacked.

  2. Another time when under the burden of settling disputes as a judge, he took his father-in-laws advice. Read Ex. 18:14-21.

  3. Numbers 11:14-17: The spiritual burden was overwhelming for him.

Moses spoke to God face to face when he needed help. We would be foolish to try and do it ourselves.

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.

Words From The Wise Man

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.

Nehemiah

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....

  1. It wasn't just going to happen because it was Gods will. Someone had to make it happen.

  2. It wasn't going to be easy because it was Gods will. Someone had to pay a price.

  3. It wasn't going to be popular because it was Gods will. Someone had to be willing to begin and stand alone.

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:

  1. What are these feeble Jews?

    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.

  2. Will they fortify themselves?

    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.

  3. Will they sacrifice? (worship)

    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.

  4. Will they complete it in a day?

    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.

  5. Will they revive the stones from heaps of rubbish, the stones that are burned?

    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!!!


Team Ministry In The Old Testament

(part 2 of 2)

Observation 1:

This task required a team. Impossible without a team effort. This must be recognized and accepted. You can't do it on your own. You can't take pride in doing it all yourself. When you leave the church what will happen if you had done it all?? Or tried to do it all?

Alex Haley, the author of Roots, used to keep a picture in his office of a turtle sitting atop a fence. He kept it there to remind him of a lesson he had learned years before: If you see a turtle on a fence post, you know he had some help. Haley remarked, "Anytime I start thinking, 'Wow, isn't this marvelous what I've done!' I look at that picture and remember how this turtle, me, got up on that post."

Our view from the fence post is made possible by others.

Observation 2:

Every team member played a very important part. Takes all of us working together. The more who do not work, the greater the hardship on others.

The President is important, but so are garbage collectors. The strike in New York some years back. It was everywhere and threatening the health of the city. Reagan was shot and the country kept going. The garbage men strike and the city is in deep stink!!!

THE PROBLEM OF FEELING INFERIOR

This is one of the reasons some Christians never express their spiritual gifts in ministry. Look at verses 14-19 of 1 Cor. 12

For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. And if they were all one member, where would the body be?

In verses 15-16, twice we see the statement "I am not a part of the body." The perception that they don't really need me or I have nothing to contribute represents the temptation to believe that I really have no gifts or abilities that are worthwhile. So I sit back and let others do the work of team ministry. You may feel that you don't really matter in your church, that your gifting is inferior and insignificant when compared to that of other people on the team.

The foot and the ear, if we look carefully at the analogy, are jealous of the prominence of the hand and the eye. Look at it from their perspective. All a foot can do is support the rest of the body when it stands up and then cooperate in the body's walking around. And the foot is rarely allowed out in public; it's always covered up with socks and shoes and sort of kept hidden away. Think about the ear. It's nothing more than a receptor, just waiting for sound waves to arrive, and it's not a very attractive receptor at that, so we cover it up with hair or hang attractive jewelry on it to try to make it look better than it really is.

No wonder it feels inferior! Neither the foot nor the ear believes it makes much of a contribution in contrast to the hand and the eye. These are a couple of tremendous contributors to the good of the body. The hand gets to touch anything it wants, pick things up and move them around, use tools. When a vote is taken in a meeting, no one ever says, "Raise your foot"; it's always, "Raise your hand." You can make your own list of why the hand is so superior to the foot. And the eye gets to see everything it wants, watch TV, and so on, and it is able to close at night and rest for a good night's sleep.

But Paul makes the point in verse 17 that such thinking is ridiculous. If everybody felt that way in the church, the body would be just one big eye, which could see terrifically well, but it wouldn't be able to hear anything. Or if the body was one giant ear, it would hear very well but it wouldn't be able to smell anything. Paul is parodying those of us who say, "I don't have a certain spiritual gift, so I'm not really a part of the team," or, "My gift is second-rate and unimportant. I've got nothing to offer. So why should I participate?"

This section makes clear that in reality everybody is needed, and disclaiming that responsibility doesn't remove it. Drawing back from functioning as part of the body doesn't make us any less a part of the body. Paul says this twice, at the end of verse 15 and at the end of verse 16. There are no inferior or insignificant members of the body of Christ or members of the team.

I got the following from Steve Hill at Brownsville three years ago. It shows that we all, without exception, are team members.

Everybody, anybody, anyone, him, her, them, they, those, me, you, us, ourselves, themselves, you'uns, us'uns, you-all, me, we'uns, youse guys, all, each person, that individual, all the people, kids, adolescents, old folks, young folks, city slickers, farm boys, home boys, hamburger flippers and ice cream dippers.

Teeter totter riders and fearless sky divers, short order cooks and collectors of books, smart people that teach and moochers that leech, Michiganders from Kalamazoo and citizens of Timbucktoo. Butchers, bakers and candle stick makers,

We are talking everybody.... Got it yet??

Big, tall, small, short, full headed, grey headed, bald headed, headed for bald headed, big bone, medium bone, small bone, blond hair, black hair, red hair, green hair, purple hair, gross hair, red, yellow, black or white you are precious in His sight.
You can be sort of bad, sort of real bad, really bad, really, really super bad, badder than bad or king of bad.
You can live up town, down town, out of town or in the suburbs. A big house, little house, no house, jail house, or little house on the prairie.
A penthouse in Pittsburgh or Days Inn in downtown Dayton.
You can be from West Africa, Australia, Ireland, Japan, Germany, France, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, South Korea, Virgin Islands, Canada, Scotland, Norway, Italy, England or Mobile Alabama.
A Jew from Jerusalem or Gentile from Jacksonville.
You can play the banjo or be named Joe and play in the band.
You can be so smart you can say the ABCS backwards or be so backwards you never learned the ABCS............................

GOT IT YET?? Stick with me and you will.

You can hold the Guiness Book Of World Records for eating the most live slugs, or have a collection of the world's most colorful bugs.
You can be enjoying revival like everyone otta, or come from Boston just to get a drink of wata.
You can be patriotic wearing red, white and blue or sitting by your friend that has a big tattoo.
You can make your living churning delicious homemade butter, or spend every day collecting cans from the city gutter.
You can play the guitar and be an international star or be a clown in a circus driving the worlds smallest car.
You can be the tidiest person this world has ever known, or live like a pig with garbage in your home.
You can keep up with the Joneses or be the Joneses housekeeper or be the coolest dude in school with the largest florescent beeper.
You can smell like chanel and live like a queen or make your abode in an alley wearing tattered Levi jeans.
You can drive a BMW and wear flashy Italian suits or ride an appaloosa sporting pointed cowboy boots.
You can be a shepherd from the hills or a pusher of pills.
A wise man from afar or a soap opera star.
You can be a reporter from Rochester with a notebook in your hand, or a kid from Kentucky eating a sandwich made of spam.
You can be a Methodist from Montana or a Jew from Japan, a vegetarian from Virginia or a connoisseur of spam.
You can come from Texas in a Lexus with spurs on your heels or be a fly fisherman from Frankfurt with 15 shinning reels.
You can be a snot from the south a nerd from the north look like a beast from the east or be the best from the west.

THE LAST PHASE......

You can be a pastor in revival laying on the floor or a scared deacon from Denver running out the door.
It doesn't make a difference if your happy or your blue.
Just call upon the Lord, whosoever ... that's you!!!

We saw in verses 1-11 that every Christian has been given spiritual gifts, which are supernatural capacities to serve others in the body. And verse 18 reminds us that God is the one who gifted and placed the members in the body as he wills. So the quieter, less sensational working gifts, such as helps and giving and mercy, are just as important in the overall scheme of things as the more public speaking gifts or leading gifts. People use gifts of encouragement, exhortation, and wisdom in one-on-one relationships, in small group settings. Those "feet" and "ears" are just as important to the good of the whole here as the more prominent "hands" and "eyes."

Feeling of insignificance can be a prison.

Norman Vincent Peale relates in one of his books about an incident in Hong Kong. Passing a tattoo shop he sees one called Born to Lose He enters and asks if anyone ever wants that one? It struck him with such force that anyone would want that on their body. He was told sometimes they do. I can't believe anyone in their right mind would do that. The Chinese man simply tapped his forehead and in broken English said, Before tattoo on body, tattoo on mind.

We must not allow our minds to be tattooed with thoughts that I'm not good enough.

This is not saying that all we have to do in this life is think positively and all will be roses.

Like the guy falling off the 15 story building. As he passed the 7th floor he was overheard saying, so far so good. All the positive thinking in the world will not save him.

We are responsible for our attitudes.

The day we take responsibility for our own attitudes is the day we grow up.

"You Are Not Insignificant!"

Insignificance is a more common description of the image men and women and even children have of themselves. Feeling insignificant, feeling trivial, can result from many different things. It can result from feeling that your own gifts and abilities are far inferior to the gifts and talents of others around you. It can result from past experiences of abuse or neglect. It can result from the feeling that, in this great big world, and even more, in this great big universe, in the long run what I do isn't going to matter one bit either way.

Here is the logic behind the reason some people feel that way: It is "rational thinking." "What science seems to say." And what we can note here is:

Reason tells us that we are insignificant! Reason, and traditional science, traditional astronomy and anthropology, tell us that we are but "blips" on the screen of time; that we are but specks of dust on the whole stretch of the created world and the created universe.

"Reason" tells us that our church is but a tiny body in the midst of a world that stretches for thousands of miles, a tiny entity in the midst of a universe that's more vast than our minds can comprehend. The cosmos, the universe, these things are beautiful to behold; and it's awe-inspiring to know that all of these things were created by God, by the living Word who is Christ Jesus, who according to John had a hand in all things that have been created, such that "there is nothing that has been created that was not created by him." But at the same time it can be a bit intimidating to think that in the midst of all this, God has a special place in his kingdom and a special role in his will for me. "Lil' ol' me."

If God's hand really is at work in the creation and continuation of stars that are so distant it takes hundreds of years for their light even to reach my eyes, is it not a bit presumptuous or even egotistical for me to declare that God is even personally interested much less that God wants personally to be involved in my life?

(Just this week new galaxies were discovered that are about 100 billion light years long).

That is human logic!!!

The Word tells a different story. He created the world for us and came down to live with us and calls us to cast our cares and worries upon him. Phil. 2

Consider these facts:

  1. There are billions of possible ways that a planet could be constructed out of the elements that we know; but ours is one of the few, some believe the only one, that has the parameters that will allow life like ours to exist.

  2. It's scientific fact that the universe is slowly expanding. But if the rate of expansion were smaller by a millionth of a thousandth of a millionth of a millionth of one percent, then life couldn't survive in it. If the rate of expansion were greater by a millionth of a percent, life couldn't survive here.

  3. It's scientific fact also that atoms and molecules, the building blocks of our world, are made up of positively charged particles and negatively charged particles. If the rate of attraction between those particles were even a fraction stronger or weaker, the universe could not exist.

  4. (perhaps the most telling): Our human brains are made up of "synapses," connecting bridges between nerves and points in our brains. There are a hundred trillion of these synapses in your brain, and the number of possible ways of connecting them, that is, the number of possible thoughts you can have, is greater than the total number of atoms in the universe. There's a higher level of organization and creative richness in one person -- in you -- than there is in a thousand galaxies.

Are you feeling insignificant, tiny, worthless, inferior today? You need not feel that way. God didn't create you that way, and no matter how much you sin and rebel against God, no matter how messed up your life may get, no matter how untalented you feel that you are, you'll never be worthless or insignificant in God's eyes. God created a whole world, indeed, an entire universe, with just the right conditions you need to live in... and to make a mark that will count for something.

We must resist the negative feelings and approach all of life with a positive attitude or we will never be what God has called us to be and do what He has called us to do.

Martin Luther King Jr. said "everybody can be great because everybody can serve." You don't have to have a college degree or make the subject and verb agree. You don't have to know Plato and Aristotle. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity. You don't need to know the theory of thermodynamics in physics. You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.

Observation 3:

Each step required deliberate cooperation from everybody to pull this off.

Two ladies who had had strokes on opposite sides of their bodies were in a nursing home. Both had played the piano, and now they each play with their good hand. They play beautifully together. They had to have the other to do that.

Look at an operating team. Doctors, nurses, assistants, several others around the table. You have the head surgeon. He is calling for equipment and giving directions. For a team member to violate his authority or fail to fulfill his role would not be good news for the patient.

Observation 4:

Each person believed the sacrifice they made individually was worth the goal of the whole.

The Celtics won 11 out of 13 years NBA champs in the 60s. They were known for their team work. Never had a player that was individual scoring champion. Red Aurbauch, their famous coach had a saying..... "Winning is a 'we thing' not an 'I thing'." Bill Russell said he considered that his value to the team was that they all played better when he played.

There is a famous story of the days when Sir Christopher Wren was building St. Paul's Cathedral, London. On one occasion he was making a tour of the work in progress. He came upon a man at work and asked him: 'What are you doing?' The man said: 'I am cutting this stone to a certain size and shape.' He came to a second man and asked him what he was doing. The man said: 'I am earning so much money at my work.' He came to a third man at work and asked him what he was doing. The man paused for a moment, straightened himself and answered: 'I am helping Sir Christopher Wren build St. Paul's Cathedral.'

Do you see your work as helping Lord Jesus build his kingdom?

The third guy had the full picture. As a team member that is what we need to see.

Observation 5:

You must have a cause and purpose.

When trouble comes and the bullets are flying, you are going to need more that the expectation of a pay check at the end of the day.

I don't like Doberman Pinchers. They scare me. If I were to look out my window and see one on my front lawn, I wouldn't like it. Suppose I see him prowling across the grass. His hair is standing up on his back, his teeth are bared, he is snarling, and he's fixing to set in on something. I look over in that direction and I see a stray cat. What do you think I will do? I would close the blinds and say, Good-bye, kitty. You won't walk on my car anymore. I like cats. I am just making a point.

Now imagine that same Doberman, prowling across my front lawn. His hair is standing up on his back, his teeth are bared, he is snarling, and he's fixing to set in on something. I look over in that direction and this time I do not see the kitty cat, I see my eight year old son.

What do you think I'm going to do now? I wouldn't even take time to find a bat. I would be out of that house, taking on that dog with my bare hands. What is the difference? The difference is that there is a cause. There is a purpose. Equivalent to the cause is the courage thereof.

When you go to college, your objective is not just to be a student. You want a degree to pursue your career. Paul's objective was to be like Christ. He wanted to know the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His suffering.

Acts 14:19-20 Read (After being stoned and left for dead, he gets up and goes back into the city).

He had an objective and he was not going to quit. You have to have a purpose and a mission. He had a task that God had called him to and he wasn't going to give up until he completed it.

Quote from a college basketball referee at the final four. When asked what makes the difference between the good and great officials. He said, It is the ability to stay focused on the game while tuning out the constant criticism of the crowd.

Consider William and Catherine Booth... By all accounts the most obvious example of Christian social compassion and practical concern in contemporary history....the Salvation Army. Her brilliant preaching affected hundreds of thousands. Her written tracts scattered throughout Europe. Suffered from curvature of the spine, never to know a pain-free day in her life. She read the entire Bible eight times by the time she was 12. When she died, more attended her funeral than had attended the Queen of England's. When William died 35,000 came to his funeral. They ministered in a time when massive sexual slave traffic (with young girls ages 10-13).. London was steeped in prostitution. One in fifty English women were hookers, with eighty thousand prostitutes in the city. This couple was radical for Jesus, but before their fame and success, their purpose and faith and calling was tested by the Methodist church to which they belonged.

William was offered a fine position as an evangelist within the denomination if only for all practical purposes, he would stop his revival meetings. His wife Catherine, who was seated in the balcony when the offer was publicly presented, shouted, "Never. Say no, William, say no."

He respectfully declined the offer and there by lost his position with them. They went from there to found the Salvation Army and their lives literally touched millions. They knew their purpose, and their actions displayed their faith.

Conclusion

God never intended for you to stand alone to accomplish all that He has planned for you. He has appointed you to be part of a team, strengthened by your teammates. God has given you an important part to play in His kingdom plans. Satan desires to make you feel insignificant and unimportant, but that is a lie. The truth is that you are important and significant in God's plan. Your role may be different than someone else's, but it is no less crucial.

It takes cooperation with your teammates to accomplish the goal .. working together as a team will be more effective than working on your own. At the same time, there will sometimes be a cost and you may have to lay down your own rights and goals for the good of the team. But these sacrifices will be more than worth it.. because when the team succeeds, then each person on the team is a success.

Finally you need to know the team's purpose and be committed to doing what it takes to accomplish it. This is how God builds a successful team, and then accomplishes His kingdom plans through it.


Team Ministry In The New Testament

I see the five fold ministry (apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher) not in competition or ranked on a scale, but as co-equal, fellow-elders in ministry, but with different roles. This is where the strength of Team Ministry comes from.

Look at Titus 1:5,7,9, and you will see three terms that are synonymous:

"Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers..." (Acts 20:28).

In the N. T. there was more than one elder in the local church. There was a plurality of leadership. This is several individuals with certain powers and duties engaged in a common pursuit. It was team ministry where there was joint action by a group of elders. All worked in unity for the common good.

God desires a team of spiritual elders to labor among and rule over the body (1 Thes. 5:12-13). And it is His will that a variety of elders with differing gifts and roles comprise that team, so that the many needs of the local gathering can be met (Eph. 4:11-12).

Typically individuals and bodies have more than one need at a time. That is why God desires a team of leaders so that the many different types of needs can be met. To illustrate, picture an airplane flight. There are multiple travelers on this plane. One of these is a woman who has just won 5 million dollars. She is also having great marriage problems. She needs help spiritually and she is in the throws of labor. She needs a team. She needs the pilot to keep the plane in the air, a Dr. and a nurse to help with the baby. She needs a marriage counselor, a financial advisor and a believer to minister to her spiritual needs. What are the chances of a single individual being equipped to minister to all of those needs? That is why God likes to bring teams together, so that there are a variety of skills and gifts .. enabling the team to address many diverse needs.

Role Of The Senior Elder

Do we need one? YES!!!

He is a vital part of the team. Every group needs a leader, chairperson, father figure who is the head. He is the first among equals. He keeps everything running smoothly and steadily.

He does not dominate the team.

Business magazine carried an article entitled Ten Fatal Flaws of Business Executives. I will list them here though we could deal with them later and they will come up under other points.

  1. Insensitivity to others
  2. Coldness, aloofness, arrogance
  3. Betrayal of trust
  4. Overt ambition
  5. Performance problems (incompetence)
  6. Over-managing
  7. Inability to staff effectively
  8. Inability to think strategically
  9. Inflexibility - especially in adapting to superiors
  10. Weak or insufficient communication

Notice with the possible exception of 5, 6, and 8, every item on the list has to do with interpersonal relationships.

Relationships are key to effective team work/ministry.

He is like a player - coach. He leads by being an example. He moderates, coordinates, encourages, evaluates, alerts, motivates as well as moving in his specific spiritual gift to edify the body as a whole. No team can run smoothly without this position.

James the brother of Jesus seems to have been the senior elder in Jerusalem (Acts 15:13). John was probably a senior elder (2 John 1).

They worked together as a unified body........ Acts 15:23. When the final draft of the letter commending the new Gentile converts was written, it came from the apostle and elders and brethren in general, as a unified body. Most New Testament scholars believe that James merely verbalized what the entire group had decided.

Several things appear in this passage

Three Other Passages Where We See Team Ministry

A Team Of Four Work Together to Accomplish An "Impossible" Task

Let's take a look at just one example of team work/ministry from Mark 2:1-12. This is the story of the four friends bringing their friend on a stretcher to Jesus, but the entrance is blocked so they tear the roof off to get him in. Perhaps the sick man had heard reports but knows that by himself he could never get over there.

These four make a team. They have a goal, they care. They will not be stopped by obstacles.

See the look on their faces when they come around the corner. They probably looked just like sports fans trying buy play-off tickets for your local team.

When you are working on a team, you need to expect difficulties. Each difficulty affords you with some choices:

Managing difficulties is where you draw the line between those who are warriors and those who are wimps. You Have To Be Committed To The Task. When Dr. David Livingston was working in Africa, a group of friends wrote him: "We would like to send other men to you. Have you found a good road into your area yet?" According to a member of his family, Dr. Livingston sent this message in reply: "If you have men who will only come if they know there is a good road, I don't want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all."

Team members have to take risks.

Look at the risks this team took:

Note that they were not doing it for themselves, but for someone else. The team had a goal and they accomplished it. One man could not have done this by himself ..... this task needed a team. The team needed to be in agreement and unity. They understood the importance of this task. They might not have another chance. They put aside their own personal preferences for this time of ministry. One person can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one person cannot make a team. The team player is the one who makes things go. The one who is willing to do and sacrifice whatever it takes to make the team successful.

Competition Or Jealousy

There is no room on an effective team for competition or jealousy.

John 21:20-23:

Peter turned and saw following them the disciple whom Jesus loved, who had lain close to his breast at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?" When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about this man?" Jesus said to him, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!" The saying spread abroad among the brethren that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?" (RSV)

Here we have the problem of rivalry and competition in the church. The Gospels clearly indicate that Jesus eliminated competition as a motivation for Christian activity. But it is rare to find that in practice today. The church has followed the world in this regard, competing and struggling within itself, thereby diminishing its message, and often destroying its effectiveness. Jesus says we do not have to worry about what others are doing, but to be faithful to what God has given us to do; he will put it all together.

In a symphony orchestra a violinist will not go around checking what a trombonist is playing, nor will a flutist worry about whether a trumpeter will come in on time. That is the business of the conductor. These people play their parts and the conductor puts it all together.

This is how the church should operate. We are to fulfill the gifts God has given us. He will put it together. We are not in competition with anybody; we do not have to struggle for position. We each have been given a ministry, not only leaders, preachers and teachers, but to everyone has been given the gifts of the Spirit, and they define our ministry.

Again I refer to the twelfth chapter of First Corinthians which beautifully indicates there are two things we must never say:

  1. Because we have gifts given us by the Lord, we must never say to anybody, "I have no need of you," (1 Cor 12:21).

    But how many times we hear that in the church: "We have no need of you. We can get along fine." I have heard churches boast that they had no need of any other church because they had adequate resources of their own. But that is not in accord with the mind of the Lord.

  2. The other thing we must never say is, "You have no need of me. I am so ungifted, so poor, I have nothing to offer." You cannot say that. You have gifts which the Spirit of God has given to you and you alone. Thus we must not look at one another and ask, "Lord, what do you want to do with him?" Jesus' word is, "That is none of your business. Follow me. I will put it all together."

How simple, how beautiful that is! How effective the church would become if we would but return to it.

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