How To Build A Winning Team. Serving God Together

“For as the body is one and has many members… so also is Christ.”

“If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.”

“And the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’”; nor again the head to the feet,

“I have no need of you.”

1 Corinthians 12:12, 17 and 21

Paul’s aim is very clear: We need to work together! When we join our gifts and talents, we will complete each other and together have the needed capacity for ministry. This is of course seen in a general sense when we think about the whole church, but it also has a more specific meaning when we speak about branches and ministers inside the local church.

WHEN WE JOIN OUR GIFTS AND TALENTS, WE WILL COMPLETE EACH OTHER AND TOGETHER HAVE THE NEEDED CAPACITY FOR MINISTRY.

Think for example of a worship team consisting of different musicians with different skills. Everybody has a different ability, but together they become a beautiful symphony. The same is true regarding a pastoral team, or among youth leaders, children’s workers, ushers and so on. The more people with different abilities and personalities can respect each other and operate together, the more effective they will become.

Paul also makes the point that this is pleasing to The Lord (v.17). God wanted it to be this way! When He distributes His gifts and talents, he does not give one person all that he needs to fulfill his calling. He makes us depend on each other.

Nobody has all that is needed. We only possess a part of what is necessary – the other parts are given to other people. God wanted us to work together and depend on each other in humility; therefore nobody has all the grace needed to complete a ministry. Our destiny is to serve God in close cooperation with a lot of other people!

Paul says, “…the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’”. In other words, the eye needs the hand to do what it is supposed to. This may be humiliating to the eye, which cannot say, “I manage alone”. But this kind of humiliation is divine, and is God’s will for us. When we discover how limited we are in what we are able to do, then we can open ourselves for God’s Spirit and the body of Christ. Then we can, in thankfulness, realize that The Holy Spirit has put people around us who cover our shortcomings. And then building unity and good working relationships with these people becomes a main aim for us. In this way God wanted the church to grow and function.

I remember a story I heard many years ago when I attended a cross-denominational Charismatic conference in Sweden. The main speaker was a well-known pastor from the USA. He was leading a big church, and in one of the meetings he shared about his grandmother. She was a real prayer-warrior, and she had devoted herself to pray for her grandson and his pastoral work one hour every day.

But after some years, the grandmother passed away. And the following Sunday the pastor was supposed to preach as usual. But this time, he felt completely empty. He had no word from God, no sermon, nothing to say to the congregation. So when the time came for the sermon during the meeting, he could only tell the church that he had no message to share with them. He said that he now realized that it was his grandmother’s prayers that had carried him all these years, and when she was gone, he felt entirely helpless.

For him this became a revelation about how little he could do by himself. He had thought of himself as a good pastor and a clever speaker, but without the prayer support of this old lady, he was nothing. And that is how it is for all of us. The church does not consist of superstars and their followers, but of members of the same body who together become the world changing force that the church is called to be.

The story however did not end with him sobbing behind the pulpit. After he had made his confession, although he was a white man, a solid built African-American lady stood up in the meeting and shouted: “Don’t worry pastor, I’ll be your new grandmother!” And from that day she began to pray for him an hour every day, his strength came back, and his ministry continued forward!

I wish we could all make the same discovery. The praying grandmother was neither seen nor heard in the church, but she was nevertheless a necessary part of the body. In the same way, there will always be a lot of people around you who have other strengths than what you have. But they have been put there by The Holy Spirit to create a sound balance regarding gifts and abilities. And the more you love and respect them, the more you will be able to work together with them. The better you function together, the more fruitful the church will be.

Teams on many levels

To be a part of a team is a great adventure. It is truly a great joy and satisfaction to discover talents that The Holy Spirit has given to other people, and how well they correspond with what you are able to do.

As a leader in a church or a ministry, it is your responsibility to turn the group of people you work with into an effective team. Unity and a good spirit of cooperation do not come by themselves; it must be nurtured and brought forth by the leader. A leader who is only occupied with the work itself, and does not pay attention to relationships inside the team, will never reach the full potential of his calling.

UNITY AND A GOOD SPIRIT OF COOPERATION DO NOT COME BY THEMSELVES; IT MUST BE NURTURED AND BROUGHT FORTH BY THE LEADER.

Teambuilding in a church can function on many levels. The principles I share in this book can be adapted everywhere where Christians work together. When I use the term “team”, I do not of course think of an exclusive group who separates themselves from other ministries in the local church. I am thinking about people who are already serving together in a certain area, but could benefit a lot if they structured their cooperation better. The same person can be a part of several “teams”, depending on how we use the word. If you are singing in the choir and leading a home group, both these ministries can be strengthened by applying the principles I write about.

The right kind of teamwork does not weaken the general unity of the church. It will only strengthen it, by creating committed church members. Think of it in terms of team building as a tool to make the existing branches stronger and more effective.

There are endless examples of what kind of teams there can be in a church. First of all we can think of the senior pastor and his closest co-workers as a team. Then each of these co-workers can have their own leadership groups that they work with. And then this can be followed by other levels of leaders, depending on the activity and size of the church.

In Word of Life Moscow there are teams of leaders serving together on a number of levels. I basically lead two teams in the church: the church board consisting of 10 members, and the pastoral team that I work with on a daily basis, consisting of more than 30 ministers. But every one of these leaders must also build and train a team together with their closest co-workers. In our working instruction for a pastor it is written:

“Every pastor must create a team consisting of his closest co-workers, and gather this team either once a week or every two weeks. The pastor must coordinate the common work, inspire and individually train these leaders.”

This way of working has proven to be very effective for us. Every pastor or senior leader is both a part of a team, and leads one himself. The district pastors gather their zone leaders, the children’s pastor the children’s leaders, the media director his co-workers in the media department and so on it goes. Then, many of these team members are also in charge of their own teams. The zone leaders for example continually meet and train the home group leaders that they are responsible for.

In this way we end up with literally dozens of leadership teams that meet weekly to plan their common work and grow together. I will later share more about how this is organized, but just to discover this way of working is a great revelation.

Unity pleases God

As we can see, creating leadership teams has numerous advantages. But we cannot only look at this from a sheer ministry point of view. Creating good, spiritual working relationships, is also valuable from a doctrinal side.

Every pastor knows the words from Psalm 133:1

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”

This is pleasant not only in the eyes of man, but much more in the eyes of God. When we can bury our pride and selfish ambitions, and serve Him together in deep respect for each other, that brings joy to heaven.

WHEN WE CAN BURY OUR PRIDE AND SELFISH AMBITIONS, AND SERVE HIM TOGETHER IN DEEP RESPECT FOR EACH OTHER, THAT BRINGS JOY TO HEAVEN.

The Bible does not hide how God grieves over divisions among His children. This does not only go for denominations that wrangle with each other over doctrinal questions, but also when people in the same church cannot work together. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul writes

“I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.”

Philippians 4:2

This is about two women in one church, who for some reason could not function together. But that was enough of a reason for the apostle to address the matter and plead them to have the same mind. He even asked the other leaders to help them to restore the relationship. So even if it is only two Christians who live in disagreement, it is a matter that The Lord cares about.

I am sure that many times we cause grief onto God’s heart more than we are aware of when we avoid each other, and are unwilling to deepen our relationships. The apostle Peter said, “Love the brotherhood” (1 Pet 2:17). This is something more than loving your neighbor. “The brotherhood” is the people God has placed around you, those with whom you are called to serve God. Loving and honoring them will glorify God and open up for His grace in the ministry.

The pastoral ministry

The pastoral calling consists of many sides. Preaching, counseling, handling the sacraments and many other areas. But working with and training those who are closest to you, is a part of that calling that must not be neglected.

In his very last letter, Paul told his friend and disciple Timothy:

“And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

2 Timothy 2:2

At the same time as Timothy preached, opened new churches and counseled people, he was also supposed to train other men in the same calling he had been given. This dual side of the calling, to train someone at the same time as you perform your ministry, is to me the key to church growth. When you systematically give time to train a group of people, you actually do what Jesus did with the disciples. He understood that quality fellowship with a certain group of men will, as time goes by, produce a new generation of leaders.

To be busy, is not the same as being effective. To be exhausted, does not mean you have achieved much. As leaders, we should not only work hard, we should also work smart.

The most productive time I have, is the time I spend with my leadership team. I have made this the number one priority in my schedule, and I trust God that all these wonderful pastors and department leaders whom I meet every week, will continue to develop their talents to God’s honor.

If you desire to serve God, build a leadership team. Love them, train them, invest in them and work with them. That will become your greatest joy.

TO BE BUSY, IS NOT THE SAME AS BEING EFFECTIVE. TO BE EXHAUSTED, DOES NOT MEAN YOU HAVE ACHIEVED MUCH. AS LEADERS, WE SHOULD NOT ONLY WORK HARD, WE SHOULD ALSO WORK SMART.

A car in a ditch

Once when I was driving my car on a highway during the winter, I spotted a man that had lost control of his vehicle and ended up in a deep ditch. As I stopped to check if he needed any assistance, he said everything was alright and that he did not need any particular help. Together with a couple of friends who had been riding with him in the car, they were now waiting for the tow truck.

I told them we didn’t need the truck, but we could lift the car back up on the road ourselves. The guys just looked at me and shook their heads. They pointed out how steep the hill was where the car went down, and there was no way just a few of us could pull it up again. But I insisted that we tried, and finally they agreed.

It just took us a few seconds, and the car was back on the road. The other guys looked amazed, and admitted that they never thought we could do it. But I pointed out to them the same principle that I am addressing to you; if we work together, we can do more than we imagine.

“Two are better than one.”

Ecclesiastes 4:9

Why a team

Tasks to work with

1) Speak together about what are the advantages of creating leadership teams that work together.

2) Help your team members recognize what strong and weak sides they have. Help them realize how one person’s weaknesses can be covered by another person’s strengths.

3) Think about the church you are a part of. Are there initiatives that need to be taken to establish leadership teams?

3

To lead a team

About how to prepare for leadership

Leadership is a central subject in the Bible. Jesus spent much time teaching His disciples not only that they should lead people, but also how a leader should behave and what kind of motives he must have. All kinds of leadership include influence, and it was important for Christ to teach His followers that this influence should not be used for their own gain. He warned against arrogance and exploitation of the ones they would lead, and made it clear that every leader is accountable before God for how he treats his subordinates.

Preparation

Before we can lead someone else, we must first learn to follow. God will lead us through years of preparation of character and motivation, and if we are willing to learn, He can make something beautiful out of everyone of us. We are the clay – He is the potter. We need to have a teachable heart and be attentive when He corrects us. He wants to bring out the very best in us, release the full potential He has invested in us, so we can become good and faithful leaders.

BEFORE WE CAN LEAD SOMEONE ELSE, WE MUST FIRST LEARN TO FOLLOW.

So if you want to lead a great team, you must first be a good team member. A good leader must himself learn how to follow, to listen and to be loyal. These qualities do not come overnight. Nobody can lay his hand on you and pray that you will be faithful the rest of your life. Faithfulness is built into your character step by step when you follow Jesus and learn from Him.

Leaders like Joshua, Samuel, David and Nehemiah had to be trained in obedience and how to fulfill their duties under different leaders, before God could put them in charge of others. God sees how we follow, and according to how we handle it, He calls us to lead.

I will mention three areas that I believe are particularly important for team leaders to develop: a right understanding of authority, trustworthiness and self-confidence.

1) A right understanding of authority

Maybe the most important lesson we need to learn before we step into a leadership position, is how to handle authority. All leadership includes authority, and when this is misused, it causes great harm to the church.

Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matt 28:18), and that means that the authority we possess is delegated from Him. We must never think of a position and the influence it gives as something that belongs to us. Every leadership position in the church is a stewardship. We only lead because Jesus has delegated this task to us. And we are not ready to lead anyone, until we have understood how He looks upon authority.

The main lesson is that authority is never given for selfish use. All authority in God’s kingdom is given for the purpose of serving others. Jesus said:

“The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves.”

Luke 22:25–26

ALL AUTHORITY IN GOD’S KINGDOM IS GIVEN FOR THE PURPOSE TO SERVE OTHERS.

Authority has another meaning among us than how it is perceived in the world. Jesus emphasized “Not so among you…” We must not exercise lordship over people or dominate others for our own gain. Many ministry gifts enjoy great respect from church members, but it is a great sin to use this respect to manipulate people. If a pastor from the pulpit speaks about his lack of money, some will probably show up and give him something. But that will not be because The Holy Spirit urged them, but because the pastor manipulated them with what he said.

It is good when the church takes good care of its leaders, but that must always happen in a voluntary and joyful spirit. Leaders must not announce their personal needs in front of the congregation, but trust that God will in every way care for them. God gives authority to him who serves others and uses his position for the benefit of those around him.

In the family

A good example is how the Bible teaches about leadership and family. God has already said in the book of Genesis that man should have a certain authority, but it is not enough to know what kind of authority he has, he must also know in what spirit that authority is exercised.

Let us look at what the apostle Peter says about this:

“Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.”

1 Peter 3:7

In this verse Peter says three things about exercising authority:

a) First: “…dwell with understanding”. If a man does not understand the needs of his wife and children, he can never be a good leader. Only when he is familiar with how they really feel and what they need to be happy, can he lead the family in a proper way.

This is true for every leader, in any kind of position. A leader must do what he can to understand the people he leads. Knowing their feelings and how things looks from their point of view, gives him the information he needs to make the right decisions. Jesus knew what was in the heart of his disciples. Therefore he gained their trust and confidence.

Sometimes the people you lead are eager to serve and need someone who spurs them ahead. But other times they can be tired and frustrated, and then it is more important to comfort them, than to chase them forward! A good shepherd understands the state of the flock, he knows both strengths and weaknesses among them – and chooses his actions correctly.

b) Secondly Peter says: “…giving honor”. A good leader honors the people he works with. As leaders we like to require that every worker does his best, but often forget to honor them. If you already are in a leadership position, when was the last time you really thanked your helpers? When was the last time you made a pleasant surprise for them? Have you taken the opportunity to thank them for what they are doing for the kingdom of God recently? Good leaders do things like this!

c) Third: “…being heirs together”. Peter reminds us of a very important thing: We are all heirs of the same inheritance. When the day comes when we will stand before God, we will all be on the same level. No one is a leader or a subject anymore. All privileges are gone, and we will be judged according to our deeds. Remembering this will help us to stay humble. It will protect us from arrogance and misuse of authority. It will help us to be better leaders.

These are good examples for us who serve in the church. The best that can happen to us is that we learn these principles before we start to lead ourselves. As I said, misuse of power causes great harm and brings judgment upon us.

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