“Come on, you can do it!”
“We need you right here!”
“Way to go!”
I hear these phrases at least 30 times a week, but where do I hear them? For those who know me, you know that I’ve heard them at a softball game. I’ve even said them a time or two. While standing in the dugout in Decatur late one Friday night, I was marveling at the team spirit my co-workers were exhibiting. Very few of us work in the same department, so we don’t know each other on a personal level. Like most co-ed teams in the league, we have a few players with little to no experience in the sport. When it is time for one of those players to bat, we encourage him or her to do his or her best. We probably even encourage them more than the experienced players at the top of the lineup. Why? Because we want them to know the team is behind them, and that we want them to do well.
I thought to myself, how odd, we will cheer and encourage people who are practical strangers, but not our church families. Then it dawned on me. In a given week, I am more likely to encourage more people on my softball teams than people at my church. Granted, it is a different type of encouragement. But where should my efforts be and where are they really?
So many times I have witnessed church members tearing fellow Christians down instead of building them up in a time of need. In Ephesians 4:29, Paul says, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”
When I first came to work at Monsanto, the company had recently implemented a management plan that emphasized teamwork---everyone has a significant role in accomplishing the objective --- a quality product. Isn’t the church, even the Singles, a team of sorts? We all have a common goal—Heaven. This can be achieved through teamwork—encouragement, communication, and needed adjustments. So, what do you say? Let’s go team!
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