Ephesians 4:13, Ephesians 4:7

Mike Davies

Have you ever thought of how much effort the larger corporations put into building team relationships within their workforce? Some years ago I worked for an international accountancy firm and every now and then they would send us out on activity weekends or we would do 'paint-ball' for the day. The aim, I believe, was to reinforce our relationships and to underpin our team strength.

Alex Ferguson, whether you like him or not, has achieved unrivalled prominence in the field of team management while holding the helm at Manchester United. He seems to have the ability to choose a team that can succeed year on year. I just wish my football team had found someone like him!

How much greater is it then with Jesus when he chooses and builds his team? You are a part of the God team and it is an awesome team!

Jesus is a team player and a team builder who can be relied upon no matter how tough the game of life can be. Unlike Alex Ferguson, Jesus never makes a mistake in the new member he has chosen.

Recently, I have been giving thought to the fact that, 'If God has ordained it, it must work.' Therefore, why is the church struggling in so many nations? I appreciate it is for many reasons, but one such reason is that not all the members of the church are provided with an opportunity to be a team player. With each one of us there are things that excite us, that challenge us, that drive us; but other things that bore us silly, that provide us with no challenge or passion and that drain us of every ounce of energy. For each of us these can be so different. Yet, we often struggle with maybe one model of worship believing it can suit all on a Sunday morning.

So it is within the life of the church. We all have different motivational drives that excite us and give us the thrill to live for. These impulses that drive our motivations if not fed can lead us to become complacent and possibly jaded. As God builds his winning team he has already chosen each one of us to be part of his team, we are therefore his team players. If Jesus has called us to be part of his winning team I believe he must have a part for us to play and to be committed to. Would Alex Ferguson choose a player and have no intention of ever playing him? Likewise, Jesus has sought us out, called us, equipped us, and placed us within a family.

As God places us in team he looks for us to build and work together, to stimulate one another in faith so that we can have an excitement to be fully involved within the life of his body. However, for many it is a case of wondering where to fit in, wondering why the desires of the heart are not being met or even fed?

The more I have thought about this I believe that we must strive for a unity of the Spirit in our times together, focusing on building both individually and corporately as friends and family. Having done this we can encourage our open communication with each other. Once we start to have unity and to openly talk we can start to dream the dream as a team.

When Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus he said, 'till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.' (Ephesians 4:13)

Let's face it, not all have come to the unity of the faith, but if we look in the verses just before this then I believe we can possibly unravel something very interesting. God gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Why? For the perfecting of the saints.

Last week I did a little exercise with some people who relate to me in the ministry. Basically, I did not want to find out what their skill was, or what their gift was. I wanted to find out what motivated them, what would be the motive of their heart. There was no right or wrong way of completing this exercise I simply wanted to know out of the five-fold gifting to the church which of these they might be heart-motivated towards. They all had lots of questions to answer which helped me establish what excited them.

Interestingly enough most came out with a heart towards the apostolic or to teaching. This did not make them apostles or teachers but it made me realise what excited them. This then led me to my next thought and then a discussion within the group. Although I had not sought to test out gifting but only the motivation of their heart - what would happen if I never allowed these good people to develop?

I should allow them to try out various tasks to help discover how they fitted into the more corporate style of worship and works within the local body, called the church. Otherwise they would surely fade away and not be as active or pro-active as they were designed to be.

Since each member of the church has something that motivates them - if released into that area if only for a season - it may just well encourage the larger group to start to work more closely together.

Each of you has been chosen to be a part of God's team. I would ask you to consider within your smaller groups trying to express and allowing time for the nurturing of the gifting that is already present within you. So often we go searching for someone with a gift when all we sometimes need to do is nurture and encourage those that are already close to us.

'But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.' (Ephesians 4:7)

If you are struggling to find out where you fit in, or wondering why your gift is not being encouraged then maybe it is time to work towards having a unity in the Spirit, good and open communication and then seek to dream the impossible dream!

I am believing for a breakthrough and a release in your personal life today as you read this, wherever you may be.