Tonight, September 8th, 2016 the NFL season begins with the defending Super Bowl Champion Denver Broncos taking on the Carolina Panthers. But for millions of us, a much more important season begins. No, I’m not talking about the fall. I’m talking about Fantasy Football Season.
For those of you who may not be familiar with Fantasy Football, let me explain how it works. You join a league made up of a number of your friends or complete strangers. Each one of you has a team, and you are responsible for picking players for your team.
Each team normally has a quarterback, a running back or two, a few wide receivers, a tight end, a kicker, a defense, and a number of bench players. Each week the players on your team score points based on how they perform in the actual game. For example, if your quarterback throws a touch down pass in his game, then he would get six points for your team.
Each week you’re matched up against someone else in your league, and the team with the most points at the end of the week is the winner. It’s almost like playing actual football only you never have to get off the couch.
The better you are at picking players, the better your chances of winning.
When you think about it, it’s not much different from church leadership. The better team you have around you, the more likely your church is going to have success accomplishing its mission.
So, Pastor, ask yourself this question, “If you were to build a team around you from scratch, what type of people would you pick? What characteristics would they have?”
Here are five qualities I would look for:
- Passionate
I feel like a broken record when I talk about passion, but it’s just so important and so rare. If you find someone who loves Jesus and loves to serve people, you have found a treasure. This person will show up early and stay late. This person won’t complain about having to serve but will look for ways to serve more often.
- Self-Motivated
This characteristic goes right along with passion. I don’t want to have to jump start someone’s motor. I want it to be running when they get out of bed in the morning. This person is always looking for ways to make the church better. They are reading blogs, listening to podcasts, and reading books based around their area of serving.
- Relational
Ministry is highly relational. In fact, there is no ministry without people, so this person is good at building relationships. You’ll find this person hanging out in the lobby between services looking for someone to connect with. They’ve never met a stranger, and they love pointing people toward next steps to grow in their faith.
- Self-Aware
This person knows their strengths, as well as their weaknesses. They are willing to admit when they make mistakes, and they know how to handle constructive criticism.
- Team Player
This person realizes there is no “I” in team. They have no problem putting the good of the church before their individual ministry. They look for ways to add value to other areas of ministry and never utter the words “that’s not my job.”
I hope you will take the time to develop your own list of team values. Tony Morgan wrote an article recently saying team values are more important than core values for churches.
Once you get the right people on your team, your church’s culture will start to change, and before you know it, you’ll be winning more than you ever have before. Good luck.
What would your five team values be? Let us know by leaving a comment below, and don’t forget to subscribe to the blog to get tips on church growth, fantasy football, and more delivered to your inbox each week.
