Building a Winning Team

We Americans love ourselves some sports. From optimist programs to high school and from college to professional athletics, we love ourselves some sports! Be it soccer, tennis, volleyball, baseball, golf, basketball, football or whatever sport, the aim is to have a powerful athletic program by building winning teams.

Photo Credit - Damien Lynch - Unsplash

Everybody knows what it is to win and everybody knows what it is to lose. What I want to hone in on is how to build. In pondering the scriptures in Matthew 16, I was thinking about the Church, not the physical building or the institution but more so the people. In that chapter there is a conversation between Jesus and his disciples where he asked them, "When people talk about me, who do they say that I am?" Then, Jesus made it a more personal question when he asked, "Who do you say that I am?" We know Peter’s response and Jesus' reply that Peter's answer was made known to him by God. But here's what got me to thinking.... Jesus said you know what Peter, I am going to take that truth right there, that revealed knowledge right there and I am going to build something… build the church and not even death will be able to overcome it. In my contemporary mind, Jesus is saying to me, I’m going to build a winning team. ASQ defines a team as, " a group of people who perform interdependent tasks to work toward accomplishing a common mission or specific objective."

What it takes to build a winning team

I am a football fan and in pondering this scripture and the concept of building a winning team, a football analogy came to mind.

Owners - When Edward Debartolo bought the 49ers for 13 million, it was with the intent of building a winning team. When David Tepper bought the Panthers for over 2 billion dollars it was with the intent of building a winning team. Every team has owners and every owner paid a price for their team. We watch the games and we couch coach and yell and fuss about draft choices but guess what, we don’t call any shots. The owners call the shots. Jesus owns the church and he paid for her with his life. It’s Christ’s church and He calls the shots.

Scouting and recruiting- Mark 16 says that we are to go into the world and preach the Good News to everyone. To build Christ’s team, you see God’s value of people, You know that everyone created has been gifted with God potential, each one with gifts and talents to make the world a better place. You see the extraordinary in ordinary people. Good recruiters don’t focus on scouting only division one and two schools, but are open to expect that there to be talent anywhere!

Dick “Night Train” Lane from Western Nebraska Community College played for the Rams, Cardinals and Lions and inducted into the Pro-Football Hall of Fame.

Jerry Rice from Mississippi Valley State played for the 49ers, Raiders and Seahawks and was also inducted into the Pro-Football Hall of Fame.

Think about what we would have missed out on, had no recruiter considered them. Think about people who miss out on the love of Christ when we do not consider them.

Coaching staff – In Ephesians, we read where gifts in the persons of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers have been given to the Church to prepare us for the work of service, to mature us and to help us to come together in oneness in faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God. Sounds like a team to me!

The coaching staff sees the bigger picture. Coaches identify strengths and needs for improvement. That’s why we don’t always get a "make me happy message" or a "shouting message" on Sunday. But, you should get a relevant message, a transformational message, a message that makes you think, a message that lights your path, a message that you can hide in your heart and pull up when you need it. The coaching staff helps to create and maintain focus on the team vision and develop a team attitude. They have to be able to see how all the positions fit together and help them function in unity. Coaches must be able to convey to the players that it’s not all about you, but it is about you. 1 Corinthians 12 tells us we are one team with many different parts. A football team isn’t made up of all quarterbacks or running backs. Every position is necessary. “No part can say I don’t need you. Every part should have the same concern for one another.” Nobody says the quarterback won today but the Panthers lost. Because when we win, we win as a team and when we lose, we lose as a team.

Players have to execute - Before the team plays on game day, there are things that go on during the week that we don’t see. There’s weight lifting sessions, practice scrimmages, tape review, studying game film, group meetings, learning the game plan for the upcoming game. They do all of this because when they hit the field they are expected to get in the game and execute. It would be silly for these athletes to do all of this during the week and on game day, stay home, sit on the couch and eat popcorn. Commentators and fans always want to know who’s starting, who’s not playing and why not. Why? Because participation matters.

And here we are. We attend mid-week Bible studies, church, zoom seminars, we read books and devotionals and set aside time for prayer and meditation. Why do we do all of this? Because we too are expected to get in the game and execute.

On the field is where loving our neighbor as ourself is executed.

On the field is where doing justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with God is executed.

On the field is where we let our light shine before men that our Father is glorified is executed.

On the field is where we bring salt to the earth.

We execute on the field!

We're on the tail end of football season and being a "Faithful 49er" I sure would like to see my team in and win the the Super Bowl. But putting that aside, I am grateful to be a part of this winning team that Christ is building. There's no Vince Lombardi trophy to be won. There is a life of unconditional love that is priceless!

Always encouraging reflection,

WandaP