Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.
— 1 Peter 4:10
Great teams are made up of talented players who play their positions well and fulfill the assignments given them. Some teams, despite having great players, don’t ever achieve greatness. In fact, they lose to teams whose players are not as talented. As the saying goes, “Great teams beat great players.”
Sometimes players hurt their team. It can happen in different ways. One thing that hurts a team is when the players start trying to do things during the game that do not fall into their area of assignment. The defensive back who thinks his linebackers are not playing well enough and then decides to come flying up and start making tackles at the line of scrimmage often gets beat with a deep pass. An opposing receiver is wide open for a touchdown, right in the area vacated by the “helpful” defensive back. To be clear, we help our team the most when we play our position well.
We sometimes want to focus our attention on what we think others should be doing. Athletic teams sometimes are hurt by this action. Churches can be harmed by this temptation as well.
The Word is clear: we all have been given certain talents. Then each teammate (Christian brother or sister) is called to certain assignments that are to take advantage of those God-given gifts. We help the work the most when we play (with the help of the Holy Spirit) our God-given position or calling well.
God has blessed us with a big team at Community Life Church. Before the pandemic days, we would have around 3,000 in worship attendance each Sunday. How successful will our team be? How do you measure that? I think a start is to turn the crowd into an army: the army of God. Armies are judged on how they perform on the front line. How effectively will we serve as a team of believers to bring honor and glory to our God?
You have been given talents and assignments by God. I have as well. Working together, we can faithfully administer God’s grace in its various forms.