A team is a group of two or more people working together to accomplish a task. Nowadays a lot of people associate the idea of "team" with sports. But, team can be applied to many areas of life. Just as each member of a sports team has a different role to play and skills to offer, so do members of “Work” teams. The same goes for a church setting. Many, including myself, do not see or consider members of a church as a team working together toward the same goal.
This past week I attended a Teambuilding exercise called MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.) The objective of this event was to enhance Teambuilding in the professional environment. Teambuilding is the process by which a group of individuals are encouraged to learn about themselves, each other, their leaders, and how all these components fit together to boost team success. As I interacted with others in this event I could not keep my mind from wandering to how this very concept applies to the Church. Each person in the church brings individual preferences for their “Source of Energy” (Extraversion-Introversion,) “Taking in Information” (Sensing-Intuition,) “Decision Making” (Thinking-Feeling,) and “Lifestyle” (Judging-Perceiving.) Based on these four preference dichotomies you can derive up to sixteen unique personality types. By participating in this exercise an individual is able to better understand their personality type and the relationship of each individual’s preferences to the way you and other team members interact.
Although, this particular exercise was not a foreign concept to me from a professional standpoint I had never participated in a real life event putting this into practice. The more I thought about it, the more aware I became of how this relates to the “Church” Environment. People makeup a church. Each and every individual brings to the table a different set up preferences that define their make-up and shape how they believe, feel and express their desires. And, this makes me curious about two things as I look at the makeup of the Church today: 1.) “What are the constraints individuals have with one another that inhibits their ability to help each other get to heaven? 2.) What are the constraints that inhibit us from completely and totally turning ourselves over to God?” As I pondered these questions several things caught my attention. I narrowed my list down to 6 important items that I think can help the church team become a healthier experience.
* Fostering openness and trust.
* Providing a language with which to discuss differences.
* Underscoring the value of diversity.
* Teaching the Church team to value and work with the strengths of others.* Helping increase productivity by aligning an individual’s preferences to the particular goal of God’s plan for us.
* Identifying the Church teams assets and blind spots.
Colossians 3:12-14... Says, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
“Church is a Team Sport” and it's all about making disciples, caring for people, following up on stray sheep, and teaching what it means to love God and obey him. This is what transforms Christians from Monday-morning quarterbacks into dynamic players.
Jesus, thank you for your unconditional love. Help us, Lord to have a soft heart and love one another more. Jesus, clear our vision so that we may realize “Church Is a Team Sport” and help us have an open mind to understand others preferences to enhance our personal growth and renew our spiritual strength. We love you. Amen.
Landon Kribbs
Stephenville, Texas
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