Being a Team Player
Ephesians 4:2-6
January 29, 2017
I love this picture! Look closely at the picture, each boat is rowing at the same speed, at the same rate. It’s a great example of teamwork. We don’t go canoeing very often. I do remember canoeing with my family and we had to remind one another of the need to row together - - so we could go straight or gain a little speed. It’s not just a matter of coordination, it’s a matter of utilizing team work.
Team work is vitally important to any organization. Think about football players and their success. To be successful, you need the other players on the team to perform their jobs.
This past Christmas, Dallas Cowboys running back, Ezekiel Elliot bought these John Deere Utility vehicles for his offensive line. They cost about $10,000 each.
The most outrageous gift was by a guy most here love, Tom Brady, in 2008, he gave his offensive lineman Audi Q7 SUV’s valued at $42,000 each!! Not to bad. There’s lots of players who give great gifts, especially after they’ve had great seasons! Why do they do this?
Brady wouldn’t be as good as he is without a great offensive line - - - and Ezekiel Elliot wouldn’t be the great rookie running back without his offensive line blocking well for him.
It's the same in other areas of life. Whenever movie stars win an Oscar, they give the same basic speech: "I would like to thank all the people who helped make this night possible — my agent, my manager, my director, my producer, the writers, the members of the cast..." and on and on.
On July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, he was the focus of attention for the entire planet. Even today, his name is most associated with the moon voyage. His statement "One small step for man..." will never be forgotten.
What is forgotten, is that the Apollo expedition succeeded because a large and committed team of individuals sacrificed day and night for years to make it happen. Neil Armstrong was only one of over 218,000 people who worked on the Apollo project. He received most of the recognition, but he would be the first to tell you - - it was a team effort.
Remember the Challenger disaster, remember what the cause of the disaster was? An O-ring! It was a part which didn’t cost much, yet because it didn’t work properly, there was a disaster and 7 people died.
That's the way it is with every area of life. Life is a team sport. God intends for us to work together in order to achieve success. One person cannot do it alone. And sometimes, when one person doesn’t do what they need to do, we suffer as well.
It's the same at church. Church is a team sport. In order to do the work God has called us to do, we must work together as a team — though that is not the strategy most churches use. Too often, the strategy is to hire a "professional" (or group of professionals) to do the work of the ministry for the people, who are the recipients of ministry. That's not the Biblical model. The Bible tells us God's method in Ephesians 4 ~
11 It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,
12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up... – Ephesians 4:11-12
God's plan for sustaining and growing His church involves teamwork. It involves everyone working together, everyone caring for one another. We make sure the body is cared for and is healthy. This is why Paul reminds us in Romans 12 ~
9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.
12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.
17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.
18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. — Romans 12:9-18
I only wanted to read one verse to you . . . rejoice with those who rejoice - - and weep with those who weep. That was it, and then I reread this passage, and I realized I could not leave out one word. This is all so vital. I could go on for a few more weeks on community just talking about this passage.
Think about what Paul is really telling us about the way we are to live our lives with one another. And that’s the key, living our lives with one another.
Let you love be genuine, your love should not be filled with phoniness and hypocrisy.
Love one another as brothers and sisters. Lead the way in showing love and honor. Don’t wait for others to do it, you do it.
Be passionate and excited about Christ! Don’t be lazy about your faith!
Have hope, by joyful, even in bad times, be patient, be prayerful
Contribute to those who have needs. Be hospitable and welcome others.
Bless those who persecute, do not curse them.
Live in unity with one another. Don’t think too much of yourself.
Think about what is honorable in everyone’s sight, not just yours.
And as much as you can, live peaceably with everyone.
Is that not a great prescription for community in the church? Is that not the way we are to live our lives with one another and with the world?
The church is a team sport. In order to succeed as a church and as individuals, we must develop a Team Player mentality. In Ephesians 4 Paul shows us how to do this. He wrote ~
2 Be completely humble and gentle;
3 be patient, bearing with one another in love.
That’s pretty simple, but powerful and not so easy to do. Paul is not just telling us to he humble and gentle and patient. He’s telling us to be completely or always be humble. Always be gentle, always be patient! Not so easy . . . is it?
I want to look at these 3 words and what it means for the church.
First of all, Paul said, "Be humble." That means having an attitude that says...
The team is more important then me.
When Lou Holtz began his coaching career at the University of Minnesota he gave every player on his team a T-shirt. Printed across the chest in large block letters was the word "TEAM." Beneath TEAM, in tiny letters, was the word "me."
Holtz told his team, "This T-shirt serves to remind you that the team is more important than you are, and you should always put the team above you."
We should ask ourselves an important question: Am I willing to put the team above me? Am I willing to take a low-profile, low-glamour job that benefits others more than me?
There is no company and no church who will not have to deal with people who expected to be given certain offices regardless of their ability to do the job. I've seen people in the church unwilling to share ministries, and people wanting to lead in areas they were unqualified to lead, people who were unwilling to give newcomers a chance to serve. Those are not team players, and the companies and the church suffers as a result. Each week, I’ve mentioned Paul’s words in Philippians 2:3 ~ 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. – Philippians 2:3
The call is always to practice humility. Let someone else tell of your worth and praise, don’t puff yourself up, because you may be the only one who has that opinion of you.
Secondly, Paul said, "Be Gentle." That means having an attitude that demonstrates . . .
power with reserve and gentleness. Another word for gentleness is meekness.
When Don Shula first began coaching the Miami Dolphins, they were ranked at the bottom of the AFC. Before the season began, Shula showed his new Dolphin team film of the previous season's championship team, the Baltimore Colts. He told the Dolphin players to focus not on each play, but on what happened after each play.
The Colt players helped each other up, high-fived one another, and shouted encouraging things to one another. In contrast, he showed the Dolphin players film from their previous season. These elements were missing. He challenged his players to get in the habit of encouraging one another on the field — because that's how champions play.
As you probably know, Don Shula went on to become the winningest coach in the history of the NFL, and the Dolphins soon became the only team in history to post a perfect season.
If you’re a baseball fan, you know if someone hits your star player with a pitch, your pitcher is going to throw at their star player. It’s the way it works. It’s part of showing you are a team player and you care for the team. When that doesn’t happen, it shows something is wrong with the team. Lots of coaches wait to see how their players will react.
Watch a short clip from a hockey game and watch what happens to the goalie.
VIDEO
The New York Rangers team was criticized for the fact that there was no fight in them. They didn’t show they cared and supported their goalie. Of course, I’m not advocating fights, but there is a certain type of mentality comes when someone in your tribe, someone in your family is getting picked on or bullied.
So, what do you think happened the next time these teams met? The guy in the white jersey is the one who made the hit on the goalie.
VIDEO
So, the Rangers ultimately showed they had heart and cared for their player. Of course, the guy for the Rangers was suspended for 3 games for using the opponents helmet to hit him with.
My point is this . . . what will we do as a church to care and show care and concern for one another? When someone is hurting, will we let them hurt and be glad it’s not us? Will we not approach them because we are uncomfortable? Will we say we’re too busy and walk the other way? Will we say, I never liked them anyways, and walk the other way?
How will we show one another we do what Paul told us to do . . . rejoice together and weep together! Those are really true signs of a deep powerful love which we have for one another. That love needs to be present on a daily basis, not just when our backs are against the wall.
We need to offer real encouragement to one another.
I remember when Greg Norman blew a huge lead in the Masters golf tournament in 1995, losing to Nick Faldo. After the debacle, the golf star says he experienced "the most touching few days" of his life. People from all over the world contacted him with words of encouragement. He received four times as much mail as when he won the British Open in 1993.
This experience changed Norman's attitude towards people. He said, "There's no need for me to be cynical anymore. I never thought I could reach out and touch people like that. And the extraordinary thing is that I did it by losing."
Life is a team sport, and our job is to encourage everyone on the team — when they hit a homerun and when they strike out with the bases loaded. As Paul said ~
11 Therefore, encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing. – 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Next, Paul said, "Be Patient." That's the attitude that says...
I will not be short-tempered, but I will be long-tempered. That’s the literally meaning. Instead of having that short fuse, we have a long fuse, the King James uses the phrase “long-suffering” for patience.
And when we are patient, long suffering and long tempered it means we do not give up on anyone. Have you ever thought about how optimistic the word patience is? It implies that the final result will be good, even if the process takes long.
I remember when Joshua and Zachary would ask us if they could do something. Often times Debbie and I would say “MAYBE!” They would always take maybe as a YES! In some respects it was our saying be patient and you’ll get it. They knew it, and they often were pretty happy with a maybe, because that usually equaled YES!
We need to be patient with one another because no person is a lost cause. We are to keep believing in them and continue encouraging them until they come around. It does not matter if that is in the church, at home, at work, in school. Wherever we go, we will meet people who are not very easy to deal with, can you find something good in them? Is there some trait, some attitude that you can build off of, even to compliment. Maybe that is what they really need, but we are just too frustrated with them to see any good.
When you read the gospels it doesn't take long to realize how fallible Jesus’ disciples were. James and John were overly ambitious, Peter was impulsive, Simon the Zealot was impatient, all of the others at one time or another showed cowardice, lack of faith, jealousy, and spiritual thick-headedness.
Yet, Jesus kept them all. In spite of their faults, these men eventually were the leaders of the early church. They were instrumental in changing the world. They didn’t always get what Jesus was talking about, they struggled to make sense of His message, yet over the course of a few years, they went from being weak and afraid to bold and strong.
They took the gospel of Christ to ends of the earth, and that message has never stopped. As they entrusted the message of Christ with you and I and all of the churches today.
What would have happened if Jesus had given up on them in the early days? Who would have fulfilled the Great Commission? Who would have carried on the work Jesus began? Jesus refused to give up on his disciples, in spite of all their mistakes, because He knew that eventually they would become the men they were capable of becoming. He saw them in terms of their potential, not their past. And His patience paid off.
If God refuses to give up on others, how can we give up on others? When you show patience to your family, co-workers, fellow church-members, you are saying "I believe in you. I believe in what God can do in your life. I believe your short-comings are short-term; if you can overlook mine for a little while longer, I can overlook yours."
There’s an old story about a man who was stopped at a red light, when his engine stalled and the car died and wouldn't start. He tried and he tried to restart his car, but it was dead. The guy behind him honked his horn non-stop.
Finally, the driver of the stalled car got out, walked to the car behind him and said, "I'm having some trouble and thought maybe you can help. If you'll go try to start my car, I'll stay back here and lay on your horn for you."
It's hard to work as a team when you have to listen to honking criticism. We need to be humble, gentle and patient with others. They are actually powerful examples of how we show the power and strength of Christ to the world, even to the church.
Together, we can do far more than we can as individuals.
In life, at home, in the church, we must develop an attitude that says, "Life is a team sport, and I'm going to be a team player."
