Have you ever played team sports? Is it something you like to do? Does it feel good to be on a team working together toward a common goal? Have you ever wondered why many organizations develop a team-like environment?
I believe the majority of us like to be part of a team. Most of our sports require us to play them as a team. Even track and field has a team concept to it. We even have teams in office jobs. The concept has become so common there is even software to enable or enhance it.
My favorite sport is baseball. There are so many nuances to the game I’m not sure anyone ever captures them all. It is a sport played by a group of individuals collecting individual statistics, yet you can only win as a team. Each individual has their specialty. They play their position. They use the skill they have developed to help the team be successful. When one of them has an off day, the others must pick up the slack or suffer a loss.
This is much the same way the body of Christ is to work together. Each of us is to develop the skill we are blessed with. The purpose of our skill is to help the body be successful. We are to play our part to the best of our ability. When one of us has a bad day, someone else must pick up the slack. If we don’t, the body breaks down.
When we do just a little thinking, the body of Christ is like a team. Each of us are to play our part based on the gifts we’ve been blessed with. When we do, we succeed, not only as a local body of Christ, but by contributing to the growth of the kingdom of God.
Here is the best part, we are part of the winning team. We know the final outcome. The only question remaining is, how many more people we want to bring on to the team? Who else do we want to join the team? I believe God wants the team to include everyone. So, let’s use our gifts to build the body, or team, to the extent humanly possible.
I pray we all use our gifts to build the body of Christ. I pray we seek to expand the team. I pray each of us seek to do our best to be a productive part of the body. Use your gifts. Be a team player. Be a productive member. Work toward the team goals, God’s goals.
Romans 12:4-5 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
Marty Pressey 