Together Forever

Why is teamwork important?

You’ve probably heard it said time and time again that we’re better off as a team. That working together is better. That there’s no ‘I’ in ‘Team’.

Yet you may still wonder, Why isn’t going solo better? I think I can do more on my own. I’ve thought about this too. At least until I came to realize that the truth is…

Teamwork makes the dream work.

Yeah, it sounds cliché, but it’s true. Almost all companies and businesses wouldn’t be able to function without the power of teamwork. Alone, one or two people could excel at a certain task, but it’s only when they build an amazing team that they can truly succeed.

Sports is another great example. If every player on a football team only looked out for themselves, the game wouldn’t go so well. The Offensive Line wouldn’t protect the Quarterback, the Wide Receivers would make up their own routes, and the Defense would be entirely uncoordinated.

This is why there are coaches and team captains, who help steer the players in the right direction. For Christians, it’s very similar. Our coach, God, helps keep us together, and our captains (church elders, godly friends, and pastors) guide us in our journey.

Teamwork is vital to any organization’s success. In two weeks, when I go up to my church’s camp to lifeguard for the summer, I’ll see true teamwork in action. Because you can’t guard a lake with one person, nor can you run an entire camp with just two or three. It takes a team, and I’m honoured to be a part of such an amazing one.

Just look at history (and the movies).

This post could be thousands of words long if I listed even a fraction of the examples, but here are three that came to mind:

• The Avengers (duh). I’d be shocked if these films didn’t come to mind when you think about movies revolving around teamwork. Alone, each of them was powerful, but it was only together that they were able to defeat Thanos. Each Avenger had their own skill, which they coupled together to use for good.
• The Inklings. This was a group of writers in the 1900s, which included the great C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Without this phenomenal team, legendary novels and films such as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit wouldn’t exist. If these writers hadn’t gathered together as a group and worked together, there’s no chance they could’ve done what they did.
• The Manhattan Project. If you’ve seen Christopher Nolan‘s Academy-Award-winning picture Oppenheimer, or frankly read any history book, you’ll most likely know what I’m talking about. Countless of the world’s best scientists were gathered to create an atomic weapon. By themselves they could never have succeeded in their mission – but together they did.

We’re stronger together.

As it says in Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV), “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Teamwork is important not only to corporations and sports teams but also in our spiritual life. Alone we can do some things, but with others, our abilities are multiplied by a hundredfold. It’s partly due to this that Jesus recruited 12 disciples to spread His message. He knew that the more followers He had, the more His word would travel.

Alas, the church has not always taken this message to heart. Which is why there are currently around 45,000 church denominations in the world. The church has not always worked as a team. As a result, the impact of Christianity has been vastly hindered.

On a related note – during Covid, people got used to doing church from home. Many haven’t gone back and think they don’t need church, or that they can do it by themselves. Let me tell you now, you need the community that church brings. You need to be held accountable, have the opportunity to encourage others, and be able to spend time fellowshipping with other believers. It’s what the apostles did, and we all know what they accomplished.

Will you join Jesus’ team?

This all begs the question: Whose team are you on? Sadly there is no such thing as working “solo”. You’re either on Jesus’ team, or you’re on the devil’s. There is no middle ground.

If you’re not on Jesus’ team today, I’d like to invite you to join it. On Jesus’ team, there are no “tiers” and there’s no fight to be on top – because we’re all created equal in God’s eyes. No matter what you’ve done, Coach God will welcome you to His team and give you the best chance possible for success.

All you have to do is say “yes”.

And for those of you who are already on His team, please don’t think of that as the end goal. Getting signed on to a professional sports team is never the final step in an athlete’s journey. It’s all about what they do after they join.

How can you give your all for Jesus’ team today? How can you shine His light to the world? If you’re not sure, maybe take some time to pray and ask Jesus to show you what role He wants you to play – because I promise He has an important one for you.

Whose team do you want to be on?