For Any Team to Succeed...

With the summer Olympics right around the corner one of the things I'm personally looking forward to seeing is who will win the gold medal in men's basketball. When you look at the players on the US team, they are all NBA superstars. They each make millions of dollars each year and are usually the ones who take the winning shots for their respective NBA teams. But does this guarantee wins? On paper they should win the gold medal with ease, but if playing on a team was only that easy. There are some dangers that lurk not only on this team, but really on any team. And if a team isn't careful, any one of these dangers could take them down. Will they compete as a team and not simply a group of individuals with different motives and goals? Will they be willing to trust others on the team to make the big shot? Will they be critical of other team members when they make a mistake or be supportive? Will they be willing to step out of the spotlight for the good of the team? Each of these are great questions that will be answered in London. But as I've said, these problems can show their ugly head on any team. One of the keys to the success of any team is found in Ephesians 4:2-3 which encourages us to, "Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace." What encouragement and challenge at the same time. Can you imagine what it would be like if every team member on every team lived out these timeless principles found in Ephesians 4:2-3? I think teams around the world would look very different :)