Teamwork

DateLine (10/12/05 – Ponce, Puerto Rico)

A few days ago I had the opportunity to meet one of the legends of professional golf, Chi Chi Rodriguez. Just so happens that one of the members of my project team is staying in a condo at his golf course in Guayama, Puerto Rico and took us over at lunch to meet this unique individual. Now well past his prime, he was one of the most unique characters to have played the game.

Born into humble surroundings in Puerto Rico, he taught himself how to play golf with clubs fashioned from guava tree limbs and tin cans hammered into balls. Now in addition to piddling around his golf course complex where I met him, this 70 can be found working to create opportunities for the youth of his beloved Puerto Rico or offering up tidbits of homespun wisdom on the inspirational speaking circuit.

During the brief time that I spent with him, he volunteered several folksy spiels. In one story He confessed that he was fascinated by the ants. On an occasion he happened upon an ant that was struggling to drag a dead bat back to the ant hill to provide food for his “army” of friends. Try as he would, the ant could not overcome the size differential between himself and his prize even though ants are notorious for their strength. About that time several more ants arrived, and then several more. Eventually enough ants surrounded the bat carcass that they were able to drag it away; a powerful testimony to the power of teamwork.

Jesus talked about teamwork in Romans Chapter 12. “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.” God uses the ants to challenge us.

As individual church members we are nothing more than dysfunctional underachievers. A church full of individuals doing their own thing is like the lone ant struggling to get the job done. In God’s view of teamwork presented in Romans 12 one cannot imagine the individual parts separate from the whole, yet each part retains a clear identity. The almost unbelievable story told by my “friend” Chi Chi about the Herculean feat of the ant “team” is a fascinating glimpse into the potential of our team; the church. We each have a unique contribution to the team; when we’re missing the body is handicapped. God said in John 14:12, "I assure you: The one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father”. How can we understand what God means? The ants will tell us!