Teamwork
Alone we can do so little, Together we can do so much – – Helen Keller
Last week, when I dropped Ezra and Zoe off at my mother-in-law’s house, we were standing in the yard watching the dog play. As three year old’s often do, Ezra grew tired of the grown up talk, and wandered off to the next interesting thing. It wasn’t long before he and Zoe had quite the tower of posts going up. At one point Ezra called out to Zoe, “hey, come on, I need your help!” And Zoe rushed to the other end of the little pole to help make the stack higher. After they had made several layers on their tower, they squealed with glee at the great “huge tower” they had made. Then, they rushed up the steps to share their accomplishment with grandma and mommy.
That is just like a kid. To jump into a new project, get ankle deep in it and then look around for help. My kids are always doing that! But if you really think about it, as adults we do it too. And more often than not, we refuse to ask for help. Why is that? What is it that causes us to suck it up and work harder, instead of saying “hey, come on, I need your help!”
The ladies at my church just finished a Bible study on spiritual gifts. Even after 8 weeks of studying it, I am not completely sure of what mine are. What I am sure of is that God does give each and every Christian a gift that can, and should, be used for the benefit of His kingdom. So, each and every person in our church has a gift. Hmmm…
There is also a scripture that we have studied multiple times, about how we are all part of the body. All of us are a different part that make up ONE body. And if we don’t work together then we do not serve a positive function. The verses for this study are here: 1 Corinthians 12:17-20
You see, using the example of my little ones, that there is a natural order of accomplishing a goal.
- decided what you are going to do: (build a stick tower)
- start doing it: (use your sticks)
- get help: (“hey, come on, I need you!”)
- work together: (see picture)
- accomplish the task: (tower finished)
- get a reward: (tell grandma how great the tower is)
I see this as a template for how we should be evangelizing for our church.
- decide what you are going to do: (build a church)
- start doing it: (use your gifts)
- get help: (“hey, come on, I need you!”)
- work together: (see Bible – 1 Corinthians 12:17-20, Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)
- accomplish the task: (a flourishing congregation)
- get reward: (“Well done, good and faithful servant”)
I do believe that if we are to grow we must include others in our endeavors. Our church placed 2nd in the Fall festival parade. But one person couldn’t have done it on their own. And I have been on the other side too; TRYING to accomplish a goal and not having any help. It is so very frustrating because you just don’t get the results for which you hoped.
God created us with gifts that work inter-dependently with each other (that means they rely on each other to be successful). We can’t all be eyes, and we can’t all be feet, but if we all do the parts we can, we will reap a great reward.
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:
If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10