Matts-Ola Ishoel - How To Build A Winning Team. Serving God Together

In Word of Life Moscow there are teams of leaders serving together on a number of levels. I basically lead two teams in the church: the church board consisting of 10 members, and the pastoral team that I work with on a daily basis, consisting of more than 30 ministers. But every one of these leaders must also build and train a team together with their closest co-workers. In our working instruction for a pastor it is written:

“Every pastor must create a team consisting of his closest co-workers, and gather this team either once a week or every two weeks. The pastor must coordinate the common work, inspire and individually train these leaders.”

This way of working has proven to be very effective for us. Every pastor or senior leader is both a part of a team, and leads one himself. The district pastors gather their zone leaders, the children’s pastor the children’s leaders, the media director his co-workers in the media department and so on it goes. Then, many of these team members are also in charge of their own teams. The zone leaders for example continually meet and train the home group leaders that they are responsible for.

In this way we end up with literally dozens of leadership teams that meet weekly to plan their common work and grow together. I will later share more about how this is organized, but just to discover this way of working is a great revelation.

As we can see, creating leadership teams has numerous advantages. But we cannot only look at this from a sheer ministry point of view. Creating good, spiritual working relationships, is also valuable from a doctrinal side.

Every pastor knows the words from Psalm 133:1

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”

This is pleasant not only in the eyes of man, but much more in the eyes of God. When we can bury our pride and selfish ambitions, and serve Him together in deep respect for each other, that brings joy to heaven.

WHEN WE CAN BURY OUR PRIDE AND SELFISH AMBITIONS, AND SERVE HIM TOGETHER IN DEEP RESPECT FOR EACH OTHER, THAT BRINGS JOY TO HEAVEN.

The Bible does not hide how God grieves over divisions among His children. This does not only go for denominations that wrangle with each other over doctrinal questions, but also when people in the same church cannot work together. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul writes

“I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.”

This is about two women in one church, who for some reason could not function together. But that was enough of a reason for the apostle to address the matter and plead them to have the same mind. He even asked the other leaders to help them to restore the relationship. So even if it is only two Christians who live in disagreement, it is a matter that The Lord cares about.

I am sure that many times we cause grief onto God’s heart more than we are aware of when we avoid each other, and are unwilling to deepen our relationships. The apostle Peter said, “Love the brotherhood” (1 Pet 2:17). This is something more than loving your neighbor. “The brotherhood” is the people God has placed around you, those with whom you are called to serve God. Loving and honoring them will glorify God and open up for His grace in the ministry.

The pastoral calling consists of many sides. Preaching, counseling, handling the sacraments and many other areas. But working with and training those who are closest to you, is a part of that calling that must not be neglected.

In his very last letter, Paul told his friend and disciple Timothy:

“And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

At the same time as Timothy preached, opened new churches and counseled people, he was also supposed to train other men in the same calling he had been given. This dual side of the calling, to train someone at the same time as you perform your ministry, is to me the key to church growth. When you systematically give time to train a group of people, you actually do what Jesus did with the disciples. He understood that quality fellowship with a certain group of men will, as time goes by, produce a new generation of leaders.

To be busy, is not the same as being effective. To be exhausted, does not mean you have achieved much. As leaders, we should not only work hard, we should also work smart.

The most productive time I have, is the time I spend with my leadership team. I have made this the number one priority in my schedule, and I trust God that all these wonderful pastors and department leaders whom I meet every week, will continue to develop their talents to God’s honor.

If you desire to serve God, build a leadership team. Love them, train them, invest in them and work with them. That will become your greatest joy.

TO BE BUSY, IS NOT THE SAME AS BEING EFFECTIVE. TO BE EXHAUSTED, DOES NOT MEAN YOU HAVE ACHIEVED MUCH. AS LEADERS, WE SHOULD NOT ONLY WORK HARD, WE SHOULD ALSO WORK SMART.

Once when I was driving my car on a highway during the winter, I spotted a man that had lost control of his vehicle and ended up in a deep ditch. As I stopped to check if he needed any assistance, he said everything was alright and that he did not need any particular help. Together with a couple of friends who had been riding with him in the car, they were now waiting for the tow truck.

I told them we didn’t need the truck, but we could lift the car back up on the road ourselves. The guys just looked at me and shook their heads. They pointed out how steep the hill was where the car went down, and there was no way just a few of us could pull it up again. But I insisted that we tried, and finally they agreed.

It just took us a few seconds, and the car was back on the road. The other guys looked amazed, and admitted that they never thought we could do it. But I pointed out to them the same principle that I am addressing to you; if we work together, we can do more than we imagine.

“Two are better than one.”

1) Speak together about what are the advantages of creating leadership teams that work together.

2) Help your team members recognize what strong and weak sides they have. Help them realize how one person’s weaknesses can be covered by another person’s strengths.

3) Think about the church you are a part of. Are there initiatives that need to be taken to establish leadership teams?

Leadership is a central subject in the Bible. Jesus spent much time teaching His disciples not only that they should lead people, but also how a leader should behave and what kind of motives he must have. All kinds of leadership include influence, and it was important for Christ to teach His followers that this influence should not be used for their own gain. He warned against arrogance and exploitation of the ones they would lead, and made it clear that every leader is accountable before God for how he treats his subordinates.

Before we can lead someone else, we must first learn to follow. God will lead us through years of preparation of character and motivation, and if we are willing to learn, He can make something beautiful out of everyone of us. We are the clay – He is the potter. We need to have a teachable heart and be attentive when He corrects us. He wants to bring out the very best in us, release the full potential He has invested in us, so we can become good and faithful leaders.