Unity on teams is a mark of Christ’s Spirit.
This isn’t a uniformity rather unity. In unity difference is honored and celebrated whereas in uniformity one way of being or doing is ascented to.
"You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly." Ephesians 4:4 The Message
In Ephesians 4 unity looks like going to same direction rather than being scattered. A lot of times leaders will focus on a vision as the roadmap. That’s great. And other times an immediate goal or rally point is used. I really like the rally. For a quarter or more you can rally the team around a short term theme, part of the vision, or a strategy. These can be fun, in-depth times of teaching re-teaching, imagining or re-imagining. Rallying gives you and your team focus and cultivation of a common language.
"But that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift." Ephesians 4:7
Unity is also described as different gifts toward the same goal. I am in the thick of building a new team at church. Assessing the kinds of gifts needed is where I am in the process. I ran into a glitch though. While I tend to be good at administration, the kind of ongoing and in depth admin support needed would bog me down. So I’m looking to invite a few people to volunteer to assist me in this space. Allowing both them and me to work from our gifting.
Quick note: Remember you can have teams for short-term projects or one-time tasks. Sometimes your team isn’t long-term or indefinite. In fact, I think people are more willing to commit to a short, definitive timeline!
Lastly, being on a unified team matures us as leaders as well as the people on the team.
"He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ’s followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ." Ephesians 4:12-13
Maturity here is described as fully developed inwardly and outwardly. One might also say spiritually and competently. Essentially, there is some integration.
Action Brings Clarity:
What might your rally point be? (most churches right now are turned toward Advent and Christmas) Give thanks to a team member or someone who could be on your team for the gifts they exude that are different from yours. Assess the maturity of yourself and your current or future team members. What’s needed? Now what’s one thing you can do to support yourself or them in maturing more fully.