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Teamwork
by Jerry Ousley "That was a great program brother Jerry," spoke an attendee at a Christmas play our congregation had put on back when we were pastoring. I always felt guilty about that, because in most cases I was only a small part of the event. I normally opened the play with a word and a prayer. In most of them that we put on I helped with the curtains, helped get everything set up and ran the sound effects in the background, but Debbie was normally the director. She put the play together, most of the time writing the script herself. She helped the kids decide who got what part, organized and oversaw the practices, came up with the stage designs and the whole nine yards. Then there were the actors themselves. They had to memorize their parts, take responsibility to attend practices and then dress in costume and step out in front of the congregation and boldly become their character. Without doubt it was a team effort and I was only a small part of it. But because I stood at the door and shook hands with the people as they left, most often I got the majority of the credit. I always felt about two inches tall when this happened. I would tell the people that I was only a stage hand but somehow they always managed to believe that I was just being modest. Really, I was telling the truth! But people are going to believe what they want to believe. Often in the sports world, the coach or a star player gets all the credit for wins and good seasons. But it takes each member of the team to pull off a great season. One can be a dead-eye shot in basketball, or a fast runner in football, a star quarterback, or a homerun hitter in baseball, but all of these require a team. I like baseball. But I've always wondered why the pitcher gets all the credit when he has a no hit inning, or a no hitter game. Of course he has to be very skilled in the art of pitching, but often a batter gets a hit from one of his pitches and a spectacular catch occurs in the outfield, or another fielder picks up the ball and quickly hurls it to first base where the tag occurs and the runner is out. That counts as a no hitter and the pitcher seems to get all the credit. But if those guys behind him hadn't made their quick throws and sacrificial catches the pitcher would have been the one shut out. Teamwork is important in getting most jobs done. This includes the church world as well. Our success as a Christian often depends on the help from others. It also can depend on our reliance and trust in others. God made man to be a social creature. Even with the very first man, Adam, after God had marched all the animals in His creation before him, not one was good enough to be his helpmeet. That was when God put Adam to sleep, performed the very first surgery removing one of his ribs, and from it created Eve. She was like Adam. She was the one who took loneliness from his life. We all need each other. Moses is a great example of teamwork. God spoke to him from atop Mount Sinai giving him all the instructions to build the tabernacle and the artifacts that were to be a part of their sacrificial system of worship. Moses was their leader and often gets all the credit. But had not God put the two men who were skilled in the arts into his life I suspect that most of the work couldn't have been completed, or it would have been a shoddy replica of what God intended the tabernacle to be. It took these men directing other skilled workers to make everything in the right proportions, the right colors, and refine the highest quality of gold. It also took the people to cheerfully give of their possessions to provide the material used to make it. It was nothing short of teamwork. We need each other. If we want to be successful and have the right Christian attitude then we must learn that we need other people to get the job done. So grab your partner, listen to the Lord and get 'er done! Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |