As much as we admire solo
achievement, writes John Maxwell in his book The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork, the truth is that no lone individual has done anything of value.
“The belief that one person can do something great is a myth. There are no real
Rambos who can take on a hostile army by themselves. Even the Lone Ranger wasn’t
really a loner. Everywhere he went he rode with Tonto!”
You have probably seen the
acronym for TEAM: Together Everyone Achieves More. Contrary to many people’s opinions,
it is true. One is too small a number to not only achieve greatness but also to
accomplish a purpose effectively. U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson once said, “There
can be no problems we cannot solve together, and very few that we can solve by
ourselves.”
This is why the New
Testament develops a theology of the church using the human body as a metaphor.
Each part belongs to a system of parts that must work together to accomplish
its mission and sustain life. No one is more important than another. Each has
its unique and special place in the “body.” Effective ministry takes place when
the whole “body” is functioning together interdependently. God is best honored
and the people most blessed.
C. Gene Wilkes, in his book
Jesus on Leadership, observed that the power of teams not only is evident in today’s
modern business world, but it also has a deep history that was evident even in
biblical times. Look at the example of Jesus and His approach to His eternally
significant mission. He called 12 disciples to be his leadership team, and He
often accomplished tasks by dividing up the team into smaller teams. Wilkes
reminds us of why building church life around teams is so important: (1) Teams
involve more people, thus providing more resources, ideas, and energy than
would an individual. (2) Teams maximize a leader’s potential and minimize her
weaknesses. Strengths and weaknesses are more exposed in a system that focuses
on individual leaders. (3) Teams provide multiple perspectives on how to meet a
need or reach a goal, thus providing several alternatives for each situation.
Individual insight is seldom as broad and deep as a group’s when it takes on a
problem. (4) Teams share the credit for victories and the blame for losses.
This fosters genuine humility and authentic community. In an individualistic
system, people take credit and blame alone. This fosters pride or a sense of
failure. (5) Teams keep leaders accountable to the goal. Individuals working by
themselves can change the goal to meet their individual whims without any
accountability. (6) Teams can simply do more than an individual can do in the
same assignment.
For these reasons, one of
the greatest geniuses of the modern world, Albert Einstein, once commented, “Many
times a day I realize how much my own outer and inner life is built upon the
labors of my fellow men, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert
myself in order to give in return as much as I have received.”
When it comes to planning
and doing worship in the church, using teams becomes even more significant. It
is not just the above reasons why team work is more effective as a practical
matter. There are also theological reasons why teams are more appropriate than
individual activity. Corporate worship is about facilitating an environment and
atmosphere conducive to the worship of the God of heaven and earth. Worship is
about acknowledging, paying tribute to, showing value to this God. And from the
very beginning of Scripture, the nature of God is defined as relational, a
triune God, a God who lives eternally in relationship with others. Everything
God does, God does in teamwork.
So why would congregational
worship, designed to give praise and acknowledge the values of this God, be
planned and led by one person working alone? Would not this be out of alignment
with the very nature of the God being worshipped?
What’s more, if it took the
Trinity to plan and produce the rich, diverse, and complex creation in the
beginning, so that everything would have its place and be structured to exist in
harmony and complete interdependence with everything else. How could we think
it to be possible for one person to plan and produce a meaningful worship
experience involving the diverse, complex, and unique gathering of individuals
that God calls together for congregational life?
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