Team Work

Last Sunday I preached on living and loving like Jesus, and we delved briefly into some of the implications. As we continue through Paul’s letter to the Philippians, one essential we will repeatedly discover is that if we are to go against the flow of our own sin nature, the world system around us, and that of our ultimate enemy, Satan, we need the help that comes to us on our team in the form of mid-range groups (Bible Fellowships) and our smallest groups (Iron Man/Woman Teams). And we need this help for two main reasons.

To begin…

1. We Need Help In The Means Of Grace God Has Given Us

In other words, if we are to use the tools God has given that help us grow, keep him first, and keep us living on purpose, we need people coming along side us, praying for and with us, encouraging us, holding us accountable, and helping us to apply the gospel resources we have. Some of the tools God has provided for us and with which we need help include: Bible intake, prayer, worship, and disciplemaking.

What this means is that we must not only be in a Bible Fellowship and an Iron Man/Woman Team, but that BF and IM/WT should be largely focused on our helping each other carry out our purpose and to use the tools God has given us, those gracious means through which Christ transforms us.  

Without such a team we will most likely lose our focus.

This leads to the second main way we need the help of our team.

2. We Need Help To Say, “Yes” To The Best Things And “No” To Too Many Lesser Things

We all have only so many hours in a week. We also all have differing abilities when it comes to how much we can do in a given time.  We all will also have to say, “No” to some things for which we do not have time and “Yes” to the most important things. Some will have to say, “No,” to more than others.

One of the toughest areas where we must do this is with activities for our children in late elementary through Senior High. The demands upon them and upon us as parents who must take them and/or attend events can be very intense. And, if we are not careful, they can drown out what should be our most important priorities as Christ followers.

 The answer is not to take our children (or ourselves) out of all activities other than church. Participation in school, community, and other activities can be very important to our children’s maturity, as well as to our mission as Christians. The goal is to put Christ first (Matthew 6:33) and then fill in what holes are left in our schedule once that is done. So, ask yourself the following questions to assess how you are doing.  Are you too busy to:

a. Read, study the Bible, and pray?

b. Read, study the Bible, discuss it, and pray as a family?

c. Invest your time in discipling your children and others?

d. To gather together in corporate worship, a Bible Fellowship, and/or Iron Man/Woman Team?

If your answer is, “Yes,” then frankly you are too busy, in danger of dishonoring Christ through that busyness, and you are in danger of keeping Christ out of first place in your family, which means that whatever else you accomplish, you are about to fail your family!

“But, Tom,” you ask, “How do we deal with this busyness when our sons and daughters are in sports or other activities and frankly if they are going to succeed, it takes a lot of time?” I have the following responses to guide us in the right direction:

a. You will have to decide what is most important for your children—what they cannot really live without: Christ, or  ________?

b. You will have to decide what God does or does not say in the Bible about what makes a good parent. We often are far more in fear of what other people think about our parenting than God, and far more focused on cultural definitions of good parenting than God’s.

c. There is not one way to answer the question of, “How Much?” for all, nor is there a formula to give. Different families and individuals can handle different levels of activities, while keeping priorities intact.

d. Put Jesus and his priorities in place first and then decide what you have time left to do after this.

e. If you have to make hard decisions, such as to limit your children to the number of sports or activities in which they can participate, or you have to say, “No,” sometimes to coaches and what they are requiring by way of time commitments, this is where your team comes into play. Don’t try to do this alone. Ban together for discussion on what and how to do it, to pray together, to support one another, and to gain wisdom in how to approach this.

Paul tells us in Philippians 1:27 that we stand firm, “by contending together, side-by-side, as teammates, for the faith that emerges from the gospel.” If we do not stand together, then surely we will all fall alone.

Joyfully On The Team With You,

Tom