March 7, 2016 - Playing As A Team! (It's God's Will!)

As a coach the goal is to get one’s team to execute; to take a group of players and mold them into a unit (which indicates becoming one!) So in other words the coach is trying to get the team to push toward the same goal with the idea that the goal trumps personal ambition. This means the coach has to set the vision… he must make it clear; and then the player’s responsibility is to understand his role.

In ministry I run into the questions all the time wanting to know what The Coach wants… it’s just worded more like “What is God’s will for my life?” But to be honest that is usually a player that is asking about the schedule more than about practice…

What I mean by that is that we are usually searching for answers of where we should go, what we should do for a vocation, if we should go into a full-time ministry, etc. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t pray about those sorts of things but I do think we can tend to be too focused on our personal outcome and not focused enough on The Coach’s vision for a team that functions as a unit…

We need to make sure we are paying attention to the clear revealed will of God!

For the believer in the finished work of Christ (which gets one on the team) the Playbook (Holy Bible) has some very clear direction on being team-oriented first! In both 1 Peter 5 and Ephesians 5 we see the admonition to be careful in the midst of this crazy world (with Peter mentioning the “roaring lion seeking whom he may devour” [vs 8] and Paul warning us to “walk circumspectly” [vs 15].)

Each passage emphasizes a “game plan” that acknowledges “the game” is difficult and tells us what “The Coach” wants us to do as an individual and for the good of the “team.”

As an individual we are commanded to pray (“casting our cares on Him”), give thanks, and be humble… ye the plan for teamwork and becoming a unit is found in both passages when we are commanded to “submit one to another or to be subject to one another.” (1 Peter 5:5 and Ephesians 5:21)

I know that word is taboo in today’s culture but it is really a cool team concept… the Greek word is Hupotasso (the pronunciation is hoop-ot-as’-so / you see it is a basketball [hoop] term.) According to BibleStudyTools.com it is used in military as a term to be a subordinate but in an informal way it means “a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden.”

Isn’t that an incredible team-term? We are part of a group that should be thinking as a unit, working together toward the same goals, and truly covering each other’s back! God wants us to “play” together in this life!