by Rory Noland
In spite of how powerful and how meaningful team ministry can be, the task of getting a group of people to interact and perform as a team is a difficult one. Besides the fact that we artists have a propensity to shy away from teams and community, the Evil one does everything he can to disrupt teams. He’ll try to sow disunity; he’ll try to undermine morale; he’ll try to sabotage the cause; he’ll try to frustrate plans. Believe me, he’ll do everything he can to defeat any and every team that’s trying to advance the kingdom of God. So let’s begin our study of teams by looking at four things that can kill a team.
1. Selfishness
Selfishness is the biggest obstacle for any team to overcome. There’s no way any team can function if the team members are constantly first looking out for themselves. People who are focused only on themselves will miss the big picture. This was the problem with the Prodigal Son’s brother (Luke 15:11-32). Instead of celebrating his wayward brother’s homecoming with the rest of his family, this man’s self-centeredness caused him to be resentful. It caused him to miss the more important thing: his lost brother was saved. We can sometimes get so focused on ourselves that we miss what’s really important. That’s "me first" thinking. When we’re angry because we didn’t get to sing all the solos we think we deserve, that’s "me first" thinking. When we maneuver conversation around to spotlight something about us, that’s "me first" thinking. When the team is celebrating a recent success and we’re preoccupied with remorse because we didn’t get to play the role we wanted to play, that’s "me first" thinking.
2. Grumbling and Complaining
Grumbling and complaining are usually the result of selfishness. Have you ever noticed how much we complain? We complain about the weather. We complain about jobs. We complain about government. We complain about our sports teams. Complaining seems to be human nature. The people of Israel grumbled against Moses all the time (Ex. 15:24; Num. 16:41; 17:5). And many of us with artistic temperaments have a tendency to complain and grumble whenever things don’t go our way. I received an email the other day from a church music director who quit his job because he couldn’t put up with "all the whininess and apathy" anymore. Satan had successfully sabotaged this church’s music ministry by getting all the musicians to be negative. Philippians 2:14 instructs us all to "do everything without complaining or arguing," because grumbling and disputing are like cancers that grow and spread and eventually kill a team or even an entire church.
3. A Competitive Spirit
Healthy competition has the potential to bring out the best in us. The upside of competition in the arts, as in athletics, is that it can spur us on to grow as artists. The downside is that being overly competitive can ruin team moral. When people aren’t rooting for each other and cheering each other on because they’re in competition with each other all the time, they will never function as a team. Instead of competing with each other, we need to learn how to cooperate with each other.
4. Unresolved Conflict
A lack of unity can really hurt a team. We must never forget that unity is extremely important to God. John 17 records one of Jesus’ last prayers before His painful death on the cross. Of all the things He could possibly have prayed for, utmost in His mind was the unity of the disciples. He prayed for them to be one (vv. 21-22) and to be "brought to complete unity" (v.23). Why did Paul single out two women at the Philippian church who were at odds with each other and beg them to put aside their differences and "to agree with each other" (Phil. 4:2)? Because unity is vital to God. It is a witness-sometimes the most powerful witness-of His working in our hearts. Psalm 133:1 says, "How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!"
Excerpt from The Heart of the Artist (Page 93-94) by Rory Noland
To learn more about how to build a strong team in the rest of Rory’s book visit www.heartoftheartist.org
