The Team Spirit in God's Service

FEW relationships are as im­portant in God's cause as teamwork. Before Pentecost the disciples were only a group; after Pentecost they were a team. Then they turned the world upside down. What built them into a team was first their relationship to God and then to one another. It was the team spirit in the apostolic church that made that church invincible.

After the descent of the Holy Spirit, when the disciples went forth to proclaim a living Saviour, their one desire was the salvation of souls. They rejoiced in the sweetness of communion with saints. They were tender, thoughtful, self-denying, willing to make any sacrifice for the truth's sake. In their daily association with one another, they revealed the love that Christ had enjoined upon them. By unselfish words and deeds, they strove to kindle this love in other hearts.—The Acts of the Apostles, p. 547.

Before Pentecost their influence had been felt in the community. Their ministry had been blessed of God, but not until they had been molded into a team did they rise to their full strength. Before Pentecost these men were jealous of their position. After Pentecost their personal standing mattered little. We read of Peter "standing up with the eleven" (Acts 2:14). Jealousy, resentment, and lack of confidence were gone. We see them now standing with him as he presents God's Word.

Team Spirit Essential

The spirit of the team is more important than the size of the team; and morale is more important than the budget. These first evangelists had no budget, but they had a spirit that moved the world. We re­joice in the liberality of our dear members around the world, which makes possible an enlarging budget each year, but the success of this Advent Movement is not tied to a budget, no matter what size it is. God did more with Gideon's three hun­dred united, dedicated men than He could have done with thirty thousand.

Preachers can learn lessons from men of the world. Those who build baseball teams know there must be fielders, catchers, basemen, and pitchers. If everybody wanted to be pitcher there would not be a team. Then even after the selection they still have to be molded into a team; each needs to know the other's strength. And no man is worth his place unless he is playing for the team.

There will, of course, be a captain, some­one who takes the responsibility of guiding the group and giving orders. But the cap­tain must also be a part of the team, willing to take the counsel and suggestions of his men. That is what builds team spirit. A team is a fellowship, not a dictatorship. The same principle applies to the work of God; every worker must seek to build up his fellow workers. At that solemn moment when the founders of our nation were sign­ing the Declaration of Independence, Ben­jamin Franklin, with characteristic wisdom and humor, said, "Gentlemen, we must all hang together or assuredly we shall all hang separately."

When God likened the church to a body, He was stressing the importance of rela­tionships. A body begins with a single cell. But it would never become a body if it remained just one cell. The various cells of a body relate themselves in fellowship with other cells, otherwise there can be no real growth. We are informed that there are about 10 trillion cells in the human body. We are unconscious of them; in fact, we know very little about them. This we know, however, that if a couple of these tiny cells start setting up housekeeping on their own and break fellowship from the rest, it is not long before others join them, and soon that offshoot group grows into a tumor. Unless that mass is severed from the rest, it will in all probability become malignant and destroy the whole body. At times these inward growths work so subtly that we are unaware of their existence until it is too late.

Proper relationship of cell to cell in the group makes the body live and function. How true this is with the body of Christ— the church! Note these words of wisdom:

In connection with the proclamation of the mes­sage in large cities, there are many kinds of work to be done by laborers with varied gifts. Some are to labor in one way, some in another.—Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 109.

One worker may be a ready speaker; another a ready writer; another may have the gift of sincere, earnest, fervent prayer.—Ibid., p. 144.

The last-named worker may be some­what unusual in the make-up of an evange­listic team. Here is one who may not have the ability even to write a good report for the newspapers; he may never be chosen to present the message from the pulpit nor to sing a solo. But if he has the gift o£ sin­cere, earnest, fervent prayer, his place on an evangelistic team is important. Actually, this is a gift each of us could wisely covet.

Charles G. Finney, one of the greatest re­vivalists of the last century, was unusual in many ways. He was doing a great work just as the Advent Movement was coming into being. He was a persuasive preacher and also a great educator. In fact, he it was who really laid the foundations of Oberlin Col­lege in Ohio, which conducted its work on the same pattern as our colleges. Finney was its founder. Before becoming a minis­ter he was a lawyer, and he preached with the precision and clarity of an attorney ap­pealing to a jury. In his evangelistic work men of differing gifts joined him. Among others was a man by the name of Abel Clary. Finney's account of his association with this minister is arresting. He says:

"When I was on my way to Rochester, as we June, passed through a village, some thirty miles east of Rochester, a brother minister whom I knew, seeing me on the canal boat, jumped aboard to have a little conversation with me, intending to ride but a little way and return. He, however, became in­terested in conversation, and upon finding where I was going, he made up his mind to keep on and go with me to Rochester. We had been there but a few days when this minister became so convicted that he could not help weeping aloud at one time as we passed along the street. The Lord gave him a powerful spirit of prayer, and his spirit was broken. As he and I prayed together, I was struck with his faith in regard to what the Lord was go­ing to do there. I recollect he would say, 'Lord, I do not know how it is; but I seem to know that Thou art going to do a great work in this city.' The spirit of prayer was poured out powerfully, so much so that some persons stayed away from the public services to pray, being unable to restrain their feelings under preaching."

Finney said Abel Clary "was the son of a very excellent man, and an elder of the church where I was converted. He was converted in the same revival in which I was. He had been licensed to preach; but his spirit of prayer was such, he was so burdened with the souls of men, that he was not able to preach much, his whole time and strength being given to prayer. The burden of his soul would frequently be so great that he was unable to stand, and he would writhe and groan in agony. I was well acquainted with him, and knew something of the wonderful spirit of prayer that was upon him. He was a very silent man, as almost all are who have that powerful spirit of prayer."—Charles G. Finney quoted in R. A. Torrey, How to Promote and Conduct a Successful Revival, pp. 20, 21.

Finney's revivals were built largely by prayer. That was the secret of his out­standing success. Actually, that is no secret at all; it is the only way real success in soul winning can come. An evangelistic campaign must be more than just a series of meetings—it should be a real revival. When hearts are revived they feel the need of prayer. And we must never forget that prayer is the cutting edge of all true evan­gelism. Of course, we need powerful preach­ers, but more than that, we need men and women who know how to talk with God and wrestle in prayer for the lost.

Not everyone on the evangelistic team may be called to do a spectacular work, but all should have the burden of sincere, fervent prayer. We read that some have "the gift of singing." How fortunate when a team has some with musical gifts fully dedicated to God! "Special power to ex­plain the Word of God with clearness" is another gift. No evangelistic team ever seems to have sufficient Bible instructors. But actually, every member of the group should make the opportunity to go out and explain the Word of God to people in their homes. This will do more to develop real team spirit than perhaps anything else.

A team becomes such only as the mem­bers of that team work together. Each must know the other's strengths as well as his weaknesses. But the association of workers is important. Jesus knew how to combine men. He chose the rather impetuous Peter to work with the quiet, tactful John. Peter was often outspoken, but John afterward poured the oil of healing into troubled hearts. We need some Peters, but we also need Johns. Two Peters together might create a problem. But when we combine different types of workers, we are follow­ing the divine pattern.

Paul said, "Let each esteem other better than themselves." It takes a lot of grace at times to follow this instruction. But this is the spirit that wins the day. Yes, the spirit of the team is more important than the size of the team. We live in dangerous days. Fear has gripped the nations. Yet this is the time God declares He will do His greatest work. His message does not need to be changed because of the changing times. That which we have been preach­ing for a century is the message we are to bear in this great hour. But we must pro­claim it in the setting of the times. Some seem to think that if certain worn-out ex­pressions are replaced by something more appealing to our generation, it is a depart­ing from the faith, and they begin to criticize and condemn. The clear counsel of the Spirit of Prophecy is that we should keep abreast of the times. As members of God's team, let us pray each for the other, asking God to keep us happy and confident what­ever place we occupy, remembering that there are no "big" people on this team, for we are all members together.

Two generations ago, before the inven­tion of electric blowers, pipe organs had to be pumped by hand. Boys were usually hired as blowers. In one old church in England it was heavy work to keep the bel­lows full when the organ was pealing forth in full volume. But the boy they had was faithful. One Sunday things went exception­ally well, and the little fellow said to the organist, "We did pretty well today, didn't we?"

"We!" exclaimed the organist. "All you had to do was to pump. I am the one who did well." The lad was hurt, but he had a sense of humor, and the next Sunday he had his revenge. Just as the musician reached his climax the boy stopped pump­ing. Sensing that the pressure was going, the frantic organist called in a real stage whisper, "Pump, my boy! Pump!" But the lad folded his arms. "You can do it your­self today," he said. That organist learned through humiliation that the boy at the pump was also important to the program. Without him the cleverest man at the key­board was of little use. The boy was not accomplished, but he was important for the job he had to do. So every person on an evangelistic team is important to the total program.

Pentecostal success follows Pentecostal preparation. Like the early evangelists we must strive to kindle the love of God in the hearts of all with whom we serve, re­membering that "we have no great men among us, and none need try to make them­selves what they are not, remarkable men." "The Lord bids me counsel them to walk humbly and prayerfully with Him. ... Be willing to be little men handling great sub­jects."—Evangelism, p. 134. Our power is not in the position we hold on the team but in the message we are called to pro­claim.

"The work of every faithful laborer lies close to the heart of Him who gave Him­self for the redemption of the race."— Ibid., p. 116.

R. A. A.