A Diverse Team
While we all came from different traditions, the core purpose of planting a church in our area, brought us together.
Reference: v.29 Next to them, Zadok son of Immer made repairs opposite his house. Next to him, Shemaiah son of Shekaniah, the guard at the East Gate, made repairs. (TNIV Bible)
Explore: A couple of years ago I started planting a church in Melbourne through a Church of Christ church. Within a year we had a core group of people on the team to help us out. While our base church was under the Church of Christ denomination, I was amazed at how diverse our backgrounds were. While I was a Church of Christ minister, I’d had a Reformed Church upbringing, another couple were from an AOG background, one of our single ladies connected herself with the Baptists, and our youngest member was completely new to church altogether. While we all came from different traditions, the core purpose of planting a church in our area, brought us together. As we set towards our goal, we never argued about what was the right process or tradition, we just discussed what would be best for the people we were trying to reach. It was refreshing to put church traditions aside and focus on discipleship principles.
Application: When Nehemiah started leading the building of the wall of Jerusalem, he needed a large group of people to pick up their tools and start putting the wall back together. Chapter 3 lists all the different people who were involved and the diversity is clear. When there is a big task at hand, we can’t do things on our own, and we’re often not meant to. Working with a team always gets things done better, although it can often create complications, as the team navigates the diversity of ideas. If we can find a positive way to all work together, then a team can accomplish so much more than an individual ever will.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for the people you place in the different teams around us. Help us to be understanding towards all people and aim to work well as a team. Amen.
What can you do to help support the team you work in?
This article was written by Linda Bailey
Linda started theological studies in 1999 in Australia. After working for ten years in various church ministries, she now works as the breakfast producer at 89.9 LightFM - the Christian radio station in Melbourne, Australia. She writes blogs every day about passages she is currently reading in the Bible. Follow her on Google Plus +Linda Bailey or Facebook by clicking the like button on the right of this page.