Together we make a difference. That’s what we’ve been focusing on these last several weeks. Say “Together we make a difference” with me.
That’s the series we’re in. And it’s so critical to a worthwhile life. To be a part of the teams that God designed me to be a part of is one of the important factors that determine whether or not I am able to fulfill God’s purpose for my life.
As we’ve already established, teamwork is vitally important to God. He designed each and every one of us so that we are equipped to be members of teams. Today we’re going see that the Bible teaches that not only are none of us is as SUCCESSFUL on our own as when we cooperate with others, but also, none of us is as SATISFIED on our own as we are when we cooperate with others. There’s something fulfilling about being able to make teamwork work.
Living a satisfying life is important to all of us. Every one of us longs for satisfaction in life – and God also wants that for us.
One of the stakes God has in us leading a satisfying life is: if you’re satisfied doing the right things, you’ll be less likely to do the dumb, wrong things that you’re tempted to do.
One caveat: God doesn’t want my satisfaction at any price. God wants me to be satisfied and fulfilled but that isn’t actually supposed to be my primary goal in life.
This is a real paradox.
God wants me to be fulfilled but He doesn’t want that to be my primary goal in life. Actually, fulfillment, or getting satisfaction out of life, is a by-product of doing what does matter most. If I will do what matters most in my life, fulfillment will follow.
Today we’re going to see what matters most. We’re going to discover the three things God uses to enable us to make teamwork work.
We’re going to see the three ways that God says I need to adapt my thinking if I’m going to enjoy the satisfaction that teamwork offers.
We’re going to talk today about “Satisfaction in Life and How It’s Tied to Teamwork.”
1. Teamwork satisfaction comes from changing the way I think about God.
Look at what the Holy Spirit inspired Paul the Apostle to write to the Christ followers in Rome.
1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:1-2 (NLT)
The process of teamwork satisfaction begins when I give my body to God because of all He has done for me. Furthermore, I let Him transform me into a new person by changing the way I think.
The Old Testament believers brought animal sacrifices to the Temple and the lives of those animals were given as an act of worship, and the animal blood was spilled as a foreboding of the coming sacrifice of Jesus who shed His blood for our sins on the cross. But New Testament believers are taught to bring a different sacrifice to worship God. This sacrifice has two qualifications. It is to be “living” and it is to be “holy.”
We have to let this truth “transform” us. The Greek word for “transform” is where we get our English word “metamorphosis.” About the best example of metamorphosis is a cocoon. The larvae is deposited inside a protective coating and all the while a change is taking place until one day a beautiful butterfly emerges. God says that what needs to happen in us. We need to be transformed from the inside out.
This is a change in the way we think because first of all “living sacrifice” is an oxymoron, where two words are used together and they produce a seemingly self-contradictory affect.
Like, “Pretty ugly;” or “working vacation;” or “jumbo shrimp.”
A “living sacrifice?” Sacrifices used in worship were usually killed. But since Christ rose from the dead true worship of God calls for the worshipper to offer up his body while it still has life and breath. God doesn’t want you to worship Him only after you die. He doesn’t want you to save worship for eternity. He wants you to start worshipping Him by yielding your body to Him right now.
Secondly my body is not only to be a “living” sacrifice. It is to be a “holy” sacrifice. The word holy has to do with setting your body apart for the specific purpose of God using it. Before a person comes to Christ he or she sometimes uses his or her body for selfish and even sinful purposes. It may be that the mouth is used to say hateful and hurtful things. But then, after a person makes a faith commitment to Christ, he or she grows and starts using their mouth to encourage people or to share the Good News about Christ, etc.
My body becomes a “holy” sacrifice when I yield my mouth, my eyes, my hands, my feet, etc., to doing the will of God instead of doing the selfish and sinful things they are inclined to do without God’s influence.
We need to change the way we think about God. We have this suspicion that He’s just trying to keep us from enjoying some stuff that will bring us fulfillment in life. And the devil plays on our doubts. He’s being doing this all along since the Garden of Eden.
God told Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to enjoy everything except the fruit of one tree – and the devil implied God was just trying to keep something good from them. Of course that was a lie. God had their best interest in mind. All of God’s boundaries are for our own good. God wasn’t trying to keep Adam and Eve from something good. He was trying to keep them from something harmful.
When I give my self as a living and holy sacrifice to God I’m saying I trust Him. I believe that His rules are for my own good.
Jesus said, “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.” Matthew 10:39 (NLT)
That’s one of the wisest statements about satisfaction in life – ever! When I selfishly cling to my life I actually wind up living an empty and meaningless existence. But when I give myself as a sacrifice to God I am actually finding out what life is all about. This is where fulfillment and satisfaction lie!
Before we leave this point of the message one more important thought.
The big problem with offering my body as a sacrifice is that I want to take it back. Can I say I want to be an Indian giver with my body as a living and holy sacrifice or is that politically incorrect? That’s what I often do. So do you know what I have to do to combat my human tendency to take back the offer I made to God to give Him my body. I have to offer it every day. I think that’s part of what Paul meant when he said…
“I die every day.” 1 Corinthians 15:31a (NCV)
Every day I have to remember that this body has been sacrificed to God. And once I’ve changed my mind about God I see that offering myself to Him every day is not a bad thing. It’s an extremely good thing! It’s an extremely satisfying thing! It’s when I don’t give myself to God that I’m fooling myself into thinking that that will lead to the satisfying life.
So the first thing I’ve got to do in order to experience the satisfaction in life that comes from teamwork is to change the way I think about God. I need to give myself freely to Him because I trust that what He wants out of my life will be the best thing.
Then, after I’ve changed my thinking about God, I change the way I think about others.
2. Teamwork satisfaction comes from changing the way I think about others.
Notice what Paul continues to say to the Roman Christ followers of the first century after he tells them they need to offer their bodies as a living and hold sacrifice to God.
3 Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. 4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. Romans 12:3-5 (NLT)
Circle that last phrase, “We all belong to each other.”
Right away we recognize that there are difficulties in belonging to each other. Where do we draw the line between doing the things we need to do for our selves and the things God wants us to do for others?
What is the thinking that needs to be changed? Normal human thinking centers on selfishness. It comes naturally for every one of us to think about ourselves first. We also want others to think about us first too!
We want to live in this universe where we’re at the center and everything else and everyone else revolves around us. We think our lives will be less fulfilling if we don’t have our own way.
Before teamwork can become satisfying we have to deal with that wrong thinking.
My life is not diminished by teamwork. Working harmoniously together with others enriches my life. I don’t lose by giving. I gain by giving myself away to others so that the team can advance.
A good chapter from history might help you see it more clearly.
A lot of people have heard the true story of Mutiny on the Bounty but one part of the story that hasn’t been told as often is what happened to the mutineers afterwards. Nine mutineers with six Tahitian men and twelve Tahitian women put ashore on Pitcairn Island in 1790. One sailor soon began distilling alcohol, and the little colony was plunged into drunkenness and vice.
Ten years later, only one British sailor survived, surrounded by women and children. In an old chest taken from the Bounty, this sailor found a Bible. He began to read it and to share what he read with the others. The result was that his own life, and ultimately the lives of all those in the colony were changed. Discovered in 1808 by the USS Topas, Pitcairn had become a prosperous community with no jail, no whiskey, no crime and no laziness.
A band of mutineers who no longer wanted to be a part of the team (called a “crew”) on a ship because they did not want to give up their own desires for the well being of the entire crew, wound up experiencing total devastation in life. Until someone returned to the sanity of the Word of God and the blessings of working together and the citizens of Pitcairn Island began living for one another and not just themselves.
Do you see the irony that story depicts? We think that we will be better off if we give little or not attention to team involvement. But the truth is we are far better off when we give priority to teamwork. It’s difficult being a team player sometimes but it pays much better dividends than mutiny. It’s better if I go through life cooperating with others than if I try to always have my own way. Even though it’s hard sometimes to give up having my own way, transformed thinking about God and others lets me know that it will pay greater dividends in the long run.
This is one of the truly amazing aspects of the Christian faith. When I change my thinking about God – it also affects the way I think about others who have changed their thinking about Him. “We belong to each other.”
Victor Pentz, pastor of Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, tells of attending commencement ceremonies at Stanford University last June when Professor David Kennedy was speaking “of the Old West, where in the regions where the railroad had not yet reached, people traveled by stagecoach. Stagecoach lines in those days offered three levels of ticket: first class, second class and third class.
“If you bought a first class ticket, you were guaranteed (or your money back) you would arrive on time after a comfortable ride and have all the amenities. A second class ticket guaranteed arrival, but also said that in case of difficulty en route – a mudslide that might have closed the road or a broken axle on the wagon – you might be asked to stand aside by the road for a period of time until the problem was fixed. A third class ticket carried the stipulation that in case of difficulty, the holder of such a ticket would be expected to get out, got to the back of the coach and shove it through the mud, use a shovel, or lift the cargo out if need be.
“Then Professor Kennedy said, ‘Even though you have a first class education from a first class college, don’t take the first class or even the second class route through life.’ Go third class. Get out and make things happen. Put your shoulder to the wheel. Do the heavy lifting, roll up your sleeves, spit on your hands and get to work.
“Don’t think you’re better than you really are…we belong to each other.”
1. I change the way I think about God. I don’t believe the lie any more that God is out to spoil all my fun. He’s actually out to make my life richer and fuller and better. I can trust Him. I can honor His boundaries.
2. I change the way I think about others. I realize I can give to others and not have less but actually have more when it comes to satisfaction and fulfillment in life.
But there’s one final area that needs a change in thinking.
3. Teamwork satisfaction comes from changing the way I think about my self.
This is what Paul said to the Romans after he told them about a change in thinking about God and about others.
6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. Romans 12:6-8 (NLT)
This is an encouraging paragraph of Scripture! A lot of people think that they aren’t sufficiently qualified to be a part of a spiritual team. The Bible negates that idea right here. Every person who receives God’s grace by making a faith commitment to Christ has been given one or more spiritual gifts.
This list in Romans 12 is not the entire list. Other spiritual gifts are mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4.
God doesn’t want any of us going around thinking we’re useless. So He gave each of us spiritual gifts to use in order to become vital parts of ministry teams.
Besides spiritual gifts we also have natural talents and abilities. We have a heart for doing certain things; we all have personalities and experiences in life that have made us able to carry out certain responsibilities on ministry teams.
What the Bible is basically saying here is, “Use what God has given you and get in the game!”
What we’re going to do today is give you a chance to get in the game.
At Pathway we don’t reserve ministry for just a few. The door is wide open for anyone that is willing to offer themselves as a living and holy sacrifice to God and willing to work cooperatively and harmoniously with others to join us in ministry.
Please take the worship folder insert on Team Ministry and follow along with me.
