TEAM

Mark 3:13-15—Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to Him those He wanted, and they came to Him. He appointed twelve—designating them apostles—that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.
If you would like to study the rudimentary formation of a team, watching third grade boys in basketball practice is a great place to start! Whoooooo, what a blast! When eight and nine-year old boys go out on the court what do you suppose is the predominant thought in most of their minds? It doesn’t take long to figure out.
I suspect the biggest challenge a coach has is to teach his players the art of passing. Passing means recognizing it might be better for my teammates for me not to dribble and shoot because someone is in a better place than me to score. Watching youngsters learn to pass is priceless. Once they understand that they are better working together than in trying to win solo, great things happen.
All power to minister was at Jesus’ disposal. He had all the wisdom necessary to do everything right. And yet, I find it so encouraging that God’s Son chose to do ministry with a team. He surrounded Himself with 12 ordinary men and then coached them to become an extraordinary team. His model for ministry leaves us much to think about.
I need other brothers and sisters in the Lord around me. To be part of a team is a good thing. About the time I start to fixate on shooting, someone gently reminds me—it’s time to pass. How nice it is to have someone else to throw the ball when surrounded by giants who aggressively want it.
I hope you never have to go through life one-on-five. One clear indicator that we are maturing in the Lord is when we willingly seek to be joined with other believers in Christ. It is "in Christ" which makes a team so dynamic. It’s easy to lose sight of the Coach and focus on the inadequacies of each other. It doesn’t take much for us fragile humans to be critical and go our own way. But if we agree to a common purpose to know and worship God, to work together in trust through storm or calm, to bring to bear the gifts God has given us, to lift each other up in love, wow what an awesome gift we have! Protect the team! Nourish it and be nourished by it. When the world sees us working together to serve Christ the world sees Christ!
Inspiration
A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.—Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith in The Wisdom of Teams