Part 1 of 5 in the series, Together We Make a Difference, The Advantages of Teamwork in My Life!
We’re beginning a new series today on teamwork. Learning how and why we need to work harmoniously together with others is a vital part of satisfying and long-lasting relationships. Our lives are better when we work together. Marriage, friendship, on the job, and certainly in the church, learning how to cooperate with others is a tremendous step up to our health and happiness.
We’re going to begin today with a great spiritual motivation for teamwork – God’s desire for us to work together.
God has this intense longing for us to experience the blessings of teamwork. He knows that we won’t lead lives of fulfillment just working on our own and simply working for ourselves. Each one of us is made for something bigger. God made us for teamwork.
A lot of people never realize the value of this concept – and that’s sad - because that means they miss out on a great privilege of life.
We’re going to see that by following God’s instructions each one of us CAN be team players.
We get these specific and practical instructions from an Old Testament prophet named Micah. But first let me give you some background information on Micah.
Several things set Micah apart as a prophet.
First, a lot of the prophets preached to either the Northern Kingdom of Samaria, or to the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Micah preached to both. This is significant since there was a longtime feud between the kingdoms. It shows that Micah knew how to rise above petty human conflicts. It shows that he knew how to work together, even with people who were divisive.
Second, Micah actually prophesied that Bethlehem would be the town in which Jesus would be born. That is a tremendous indication of his accuracy as God’s spokesman. Bethlehem was a tiny hamlet outside of Jerusalem, yet 700 years before Christ was born, Micah precisely predicted that Jesus would be born there! That tells us that we can trust the things this guy says on behalf of God!
Third, Micah was known for being practical, down-to-earth. He talked about faith in a way that let his listeners and readers know what God expects on a day-to-day basis rather than on a Sunday-to-Sunday basis. The message of the Book of Micah is one that calls us to repent of our sins and to live our lives honorably. It calls us to be good people and to live out our faith, not only in how we worship God but also in how we treat other people.
For instance, one of the things Micah talks about is the guilt of God’s people in forsaking God and he warns of God’s loving discipline if the people don’t repent. One of the big areas that God’s people had messed up was in personal and social morality. They weren’t treating each other properly and, as always, this displeased God. God wants us to treat one another in an excellent manner. He wants us to work together as a team.
Personal and social morality remain tough issues. Every one of us struggles with right attitudes and actions in our own selves. We also struggle with getting past the wrong attitudes and actions of others.
What is the solution? How can I overcome my natural human tendency to be so independent that I don’t play well with others? The solution is God’s solution. He has answers and one of Micah’s statements from God is so personal and so powerful that I’ve chosen it for the hub of our series TOGETHER WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
In Micah 6:8 (NLT) …the prophet says this, “…the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
Three simple precepts: 1 – do what is right; 2 – love mercy; and 3 – walk humbly with God.
Simple precepts to understand, but not always simple to implement!
For sake of modern application I want to paraphrase these precepts with THREE PRECEPTS FOR EXPERIENCING AND ENJOYING TEAMWORK.
1. Play by the rules in your relationships.
“…the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to DO WHAT IS RIGHT, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
Doesn’t matter whether it’s your marriage or your job or a ministry team here at Pathway Church, “the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what He requires of you – do what is right…”
Play by the rules in your relationships.
You and I are not going to be successful in teamwork if we don’t follow God’s rules. You and I cannot disregard God’s rules and expect to have healthy relationships. But that’s all too often what we do – we ignore God.
Let me give you THREE REASONS WE THINK WE CAN DISREGARD PLAYING BY GOD’S RULES and still have good relationships. Which you can’t do! You can not disregard God’s guidelines and have good relationships. But we deceive ourselves all the time and think we can.
a. We think we can BREAK the rules WITHOUT GETTING CAUGHT.
Let me give you just one example. We think we can groan in discontent about other members of the Christian family, which is against God’s rules, and not get caught.
"Don’t grumble about each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. For look—the Judge is standing at the door!" James 5:9 (NLT)
God sees and hears all of our negativity against each other and He says it will be judged. It will be judged because it hinders teamwork and God wants us to be able to work together.
The next time you’re tempted to say something under your breath about another member of the team, remember that God will discipline that kind of behavior.
Apply this principle to any of God’s rules. You and I can’t break God’s rules without getting caught.
Another way we deceive ourselves into breaking God’s rules, and particularly the guidelines He’s given us to work with one another as a team…
b. We think be can IGNORE the rules WITHOUT BEING GUILTY.
We say to ourselves, “Okay, I won’t break the rules, I’ll just ignore them. I’ll just act like there aren’t any rules (when I know that there are.) Then I won’t be guilty.” Wrong answer.
"Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you. Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it." James 4:11,17 (NLT)
I can’t plead ignorance and make excuses for not being a cooperative member of a team with my brothers and sisters in Christ.
So, I can’t break the rules without getting caught, I can’t ignore the rules without being guilty, but there’s another game my human nature wants to play…
c. We think we can CHANGE the rules WITHOUT LOSING INFLUENCE.
We do this in our families – there’s not a place where teamwork is more needed than the family - but we think we can have sound marriages and raise good kids by changing God’s rules and modeling our family after the culture around us instead of what is taught in the Word of God. What’s the result? We make messes in our homes.
The family unit is eroding because we’re changing the rules, and, as a consequence, we’re losing our trust with our spouses and losing our influence with our children.
The culture says, “make birth control accessible to middle schoolers,” like the middle school in Maine did last week, to kids ages 11-13, because, “they’re going to have sex anyway, they might as well practice safe sex.”
That thinking is backwards! Adults are not going to have any moral influence with kids that they provide with the mechanisms to have sex before marriage.
Where do I get this concept from in Scripture? Well the concept of not having sex before or outside of heterosexual marriage is all throughout Scripture, but where’s the biblical principle that changing the rules causes a loss of influence?
Jesus said, “Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other.” Mark 9:50 (NLT)
Salt influences that with which it comes into contact. It’s a preservative. When we lose our saltiness we lose our influence with each other.
Consider the context for this text. Christ’s disciples had just had an argument over who was the greatest. Then they criticized some other people who were casting out demon because they weren’t from their little group. And Jesus uses two object lessons to correct their misguided thinking.
First, he talks about little children and their humility, and then He talks about salt. In effect He’s saying, you guys are losing your influence with one another because you’re trying to change the rules. You need to get your saltiness back, you need to reclaim your influence by following my teaching, so that you can live in peace with each other.”
33 After they arrived at Capernaum and settled in a house, Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you discussing out on the road?” 34 But they didn’t answer, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. 35 He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.”
36 Then he put a little child among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.”
38 John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn’t in our group.”
39 “Don’t stop him!” Jesus said. “No one who performs a miracle in my name will soon be able to speak evil of me. 40 Anyone who is not against us is for us. 41 If anyone gives you even a cup of water because you belong to the Messiah, I tell you the truth, that person will surely be rewarded.
42 “But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. 45 If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It’s better to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 ‘where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.’
49 “For everyone will be tested with fire. 50 Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other.”
What is good, what does God require in order for me to be a successful team player?
1. Play by the rules in your relationships. And don’t think that you can break, ignore or change God’s rules without losing steam in your relationships.
“…the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
And the second of God’s PRECEPTS FOR ENJOYING TEAMWORK IS THIS:
2. Make kindness the trademark of your relationships.
“…the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to LOVE MERCY, and to walk humbly with your God.”
I must love mercy to experience rewarding teamwork.
The Hebrew word translated “mercy” here literally means “kindness.” It comes from the Hebrew root word that means, “to bow the neck to an equal.”
You still see this kind of courtesy in many oriental cultures. It’s distinguishable from the word that indicates bowing at the waist and bending at the knees, which you would do to someone you see yourself as greater than yourself. Like to God, for instance, or, in Bible times, to a king.
Two people in Bible times would meet and they’d bow their necks to one another to signify that they see each other as equals and are willing to be kind to one another.
Micah says that God wants us to do. He wants us to “bow the neck,” or act in kindness toward one another.
Once again, this is easy to understand but often challenging.
Now apply what we’ve already learned about God’s guidelines.
Don’t try to break this rule – you’ll only get caught. You’ll only damage your relationships.
Don’t try to ignore this rule – ignoring it won’t absolve you of guilt.
Don’t try to change this rule – you’ll only lose your influence with those you love.
Make kindness the trademark of your relationships. In everything you do every word you say ask yourself, “Am I bowing at the neck to this other person?"
I love the old King James Version of the Bible’s antonym to this concept. Instead of bowing at the neck, I can be “stiff-necked.”
“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.” Stephen, Acts 7:51 (NKJV)
To be stiff-necked means to be stubborn, to be rigid and unkind to others. When Stephen, a Spirit-filled deacon in the early church said this, he was certainly speaking to an unkind crowd. They threw stones at him until he died right after he said this!
To be stiff-necked is to destroy your opportunity to work harmoniously on a team with others. So God says, “Here’s what’s good. Here’s what I require.” Kindness is part of God’s essence and He wants us to be like Him.
Quickly, there are THREE COMMON BARRIERS TO KINDNESS that we’ve got to overcome:
a. Selfishness
"Remember that there will be difficult times in the last days. People will be selfish… they will be unkind…" 2 Timothy 3:1-2a, 3a (GNT)
When I’m full of myself I don’t have room for others. To be selfish is to be so consumed with what I want and what I care about. It’s the exact opposite of Christ’s example. He was totally unselfish and that is one of the primary reasons He was always kind in every circumstance.
b. Resentment
"Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you." Ephesians 4:31-32 (NLT)
When I’m bitter in my heart I don’t want to treat others with kindness. I want to punish them with my neglect or my coldness or my harshness. But when I remember that God was kind to me because of Christ I know how I can be kind to others. I’ve been the recipient of great kindness from God. I can afford kindness to others.
c. Fear
"Love your enemies and be kind and do good [doing favors so that someone derives benefit from them] and lend, expecting and hoping for nothing in return but considering nothing as lost and despairing of no one; and then your recompense (your reward) will be great (rich, strong, intense, and abundant), and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind and charitable and good to the ungrateful and the selfish and wicked." Luke 6:35 (Amp)
Granted, this verse doesn’t exactly say it, but do you know why we think this teaching of Jesus is so radical? We’re afraid that if we obey these instructions that others will take advantage of us. That’s our fear. And that fear holds us back from kindness.
In order to have the kind of teamwork, the kind of relationships God longs for us to have we must clear the hurdle of fear. Once again God Himself gives us the role model. He is kind to His enemies.
Let’s review: God’s PRECEPTS FOR ENJOYING TEAMWORK:
1. Play by the rules in your relationships. (do what is right) And don’t think that you can break, ignore or change God’s rules without losing steam in your relationships.
2. Make kindness the trademark of your relationships. (love mercy)
And thirdly,
3. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
“…the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to WALK HUMBLY with your God.”
The Hebrew word "humble" literally means,“humiliate.” But the word “humiliate” has a very negative connotation to us. We say about an embarrassing situation, “I was humiliated.” We feel like we can’t be seen in public anymore.
And God is saying that He requires humiliation from us? Do you know what the problem is? We take ourselves too seriously. We think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. We fear humiliation because we have too much pride.
Pride kills teamwork.
Legendary Alabama football coach Bear Bryant said, “I’m just a plow hand from Arkansas, but I have learned how to hold a team together: how to lift some men up, how to calm down others, until finally they’ve got one heartbeat together - a team. There’s just three things I’d ever say: If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, then we did it. If anything goes real good, then you did it. That’s all it takes to get people to win football games for you.”
Three essentials to being humble:
a. CELEBRATE God’s favor on your life.
"For BY THE GRACE (unmerited favor of God) given to me I warn everyone among you not to estimate and think of himself more highly than he ought [not to have an exaggerated opinion of his own importance], but to rate his ability with sober judgment, each according to the degree of faith apportioned by God to him." Romans 12:3 (Amp)
b. Honestly EVALUATE your self.
"For by the grace (unmerited favor of God) given to me I warn everyone among you NOT TO ESTIMATE AND THINK OF HIMSELF MORE HIGHLY THAN HE OUGHT [not to have an exaggerated opinion of his own importance], but to rate his ability with sober judgment, each according to the degree of faith apportioned by God to him. Romans 12:3 (Amp)
c. APPRECIATE the talents and abilities of others.
"For as in one physical body we have many parts (organs, members) and all of these parts do not have the same function or use, So we, numerous as we are, are one body in Christ (the Messiah) and individually we are parts one of another [mutually dependent on one another." Romans 12:4-5 (Amp)
