I'm a huge fan
of team sports because I love studying how teams are put together. I
listen to endless hours of debate and rhetoric about what drafted or acquired
player might turn into an all-star or high-functioning leader for his team; and
who might be a better fit in terms of role or character on which team. I'm
intrigued by the phrase "intangible qualities" team officials use
during interviews to justify the selection of a specific player ahead of
another individual.
What I've discovered in all of my observation and involvement as
a fan is that there are two major components of team building that exist in the
world of professional sports: the draft (player development) and the sign or
trade (the acquisition). Imitation is often the predominant pattern to sh a team.
When one team wins a championship, other teams begin to adopt principles of the
championship squad. Players are analyzed, graded, ranked and selected based on
different sets of needs for each individual organization, and other emerging
trends or patterns they see more successful teams demonstrating. I often wonder
what makes one person more valuable to an organization than another? As teams
are built, players are changed, elevated, developed or removed depending on
their overall value to the team and the long term goals of the organization.
Players become assets and commodities in environments like this.
Thankfully when it comes to the family of God we don't function
like that...or do we?
In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul writes
about the development of the church, speaking to both the unity and diversity
that is found in a living and breathing organism such as the human body. He
goes into great detail to highlight the value that every individual body part
plays in the overall development of the entire body as a whole. In Paul’s
understanding of the Christian community, while there are different roles to be
played there are no favorites. We essentially function together as a team,
working together towards the common goal of transformation.
Transformation is discipleship and discipleship is most easily
defined as becoming who we were created to be. It takes time, effort,
investment and intentionality. We leaders help to shape the culture of
transformation in our community. And although transformation should be
the goal for every community or team, many communities give way to three most
common temptations.
1. Spiritual
development is the most important part of transformation.
Earlier we defined transformation in terms of holistic
development or discipleship, referring to becoming who we were intended to be.
There are four basic elements that define what a human being is: the spiritual
self, the physical self, the emotional self and the intellectual self. Paul’s
description of the human anatomy functioning in diverse unity shows how all
four of these elements of an individual and/or entire community must work
together in the transformative process.
If we fail to exercise one set of muscles and overuse another
set, we will end up with a lopsided figure. There are seasons where we may
elevate the development of one of these facets ahead of another, but unless
there is a long term balanced approached to the transformative process between
all four of these elements, the process itself will be stunted. Does our
pursuit of transformation overemphasize spiritual development or appropriately
emphasize spiritual transformation under the auspice of the holistic
transformative process we know as discipleship?
2. Transformation is
exclusively individual.
Thinking back to our team analogy, no one individual is greater
than the entire team. A culture of transformation is developed in a communal
setting that benefits individuals. The greatest sports teams understand this
principle. While individuals contribute to the over all goal of the community,
they also reap individual benefits of communal growth.
Here in the western world, we are just beginning to rediscover
the communal reality of the Christian faith. You may have heard before that it
takes a village to raise a child. The same can be said for the process of
transformation. We are relational beings designed for connection. Individuals
void of a communal expression of faith will experience a stunted transformative
process. A team requires a full compliment of players in order to compete
effectively. Transformation requires a community of individuals to do the same.
No single individual will rise above the development of the broader community
alone. We need each other to survive, to grow and to find stability. How is
your current community valuing holistic transformation that invites individuals
into a long-term development process?
3. The loudest ones
are the brightest stars.
It’s easy to assume that the squeaky wheel always needs the oil.
If its true that every human being is created to function as a part of a
broader living breathing organism known as the body of Christ as described by
Paul in 1 Corinthians 12, and that no part is greater than the other, the parts
that are louder aren’t necessarily better.
My Grandma used to tell me that the reason God created humans
with two ears and only one mouth was so that we could learn there is greater
value in disciplining ourselves to listen than creating the space the be heard.
The extroverted and naturally gifted teens and families are
usually the easiest to notice and sometimes even get along with. But there may
be thousands of diamonds in the rough among those who are less noticeable or
desirable to be around. Do our communities make room for the so-called misfits?
Do we value every part of the living community we represent, or are we some
sort of genetically engineered nightmare growing a dozen limbs but missing a
heart?
We grow together, we
move together, we breathe together. How are you cultivating a team in the
process of transformation?