Behind the Wheel
Assembling a Winning Team
by David Jeremiah

At a NASCAR race, the driver is the public's hero. But to the drivers, their teammates are the heroes. The drivers know that without their team members and sponsors, there would be no car for them to race.

It's amazing how the structure of a NASCAR organization parallels the teams that Jesus built during His ministry on earth.

1. The Home Team
• Jesus had 120 disciples who were the core of those who followed Him (Acts 1:15).

• A NASCAR race team can consist of a hundred or more people.

2. The Hands-On Team
• Jesus had seventy disciples to do the work of the ministry.

• A NASCAR team's hands-on crew is up to fifty individuals who actually build the cars.

3. The Road Team
• Jesus had twelve disciples who went everywhere with Him. They spent time with Him and learned to think and act together in accordance with His direction (Matthew 10:1-4).

• A NASCAR team has a crew of a dozen or more at every race who manage the hauler, work in the pit, take care of equipment, and repair the car if it gets damaged.

4. The Pit Team
• Jesus had three disciples-Peter, James, and John-whom He chose to be with Him in "the pits," so to speak-at the crisis moments of His ministry.

• A NASCAR race team has seven individuals who go into the pit and service their team's car when it makes a pit stop. The driver is wholly dependent on his pit crew to support him in those brief moments of "organized chaos."

5. The Team Leader
• Jesus was apparently closer to John than all the other disciples (John 20:2; 21:7, 20).

• A NASCAR team is definitely led by one individual who is closer to the driver than anyone else: the crew chief who leads the hands-on team.

What a Difference Your Team Can Make
A team is like a pyramid. At the bottom is that largest, foundational part of the team that supports the increasingly smaller teams that are drawn from it. Every Christian will be far more likely to win his spiritual race if he has most, if not all, of the multiple teams I've just described.

1. Your Home Team
Today, extended family members are scattered from coast to coast. But they represent a phenomenal support network for those who have stayed in touch, which I strongly encourage you to do.

2. Your Hands-On Team
Your hands-on team is your immediate family. My children challenge me toward maturity now as much as I challenged them when they were younger. How blessed is the man whose wife and children bear their fruit abundantly for all his life (Psalm 128:1-4)!

3. Your Road Team
When eight to twelve individuals meet regularly week after week for prayer, study, and fellowship, a bond is formed that cannot be duplicated any place else (Acts 2:42-47). I strongly urge you to become a faithful member of a small group.

4. Your Pit Team
Invariably, everyone forms a close relationship with one, two, or three others. One's spouse ought to be in that number. A christian needs someone who will go into the pit with him in life's crisis moments (2 Timothy 4:11).

5. Your Team Leader
If you are not daily drawing closer to Christ, your personal Team Leader, then no other team in your life will function smoothly (Philippians 3:10)

The more closely you identify and live within teams that function at the approximate levels of the ones I've described, the greater will be the likelihood of your winning your spiritual race.

Do this: Make a quick written or mental evaluation of the five team levels I've outlined relative to your life. Where are the gaps? Where are your teams strong? Take this up with your Team Leader, Jesus Christ himself, and ask His help in building strong teams that will surround you and support you in the years ahead. And by the way-others need strong team members in their life, too. So be willing to serve in order to be served by others.

Tuesday, July 01, 2008