Solo Acts or Part of a Team? by Andy McDonald

Sometimes it seems the American dream is "I can do anything, achieve anything, build anything on my own."  That is the lone-ranger-pioneer-spirit and it may in effect make us believe that we can do everything alone—"pull yourself up by your bootstraps" stuff.

But the truth is that no matter how good we are we really can't do it all alone. A Chinese proverb says, "Behind an able person there are always other able people." In another eastern work with which you are familiar, Ecclesiastes, chapter 4:9-10 says, "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!"

Team work is at the heart of great achievement. We would be hard pressed to think of one act of genuine significance in the history of humankind that was performed by a lone human being.  Even Christ on the cross was part of the team plan of the trinity, and His plan for gospel to the world involved a team called the church.

Down deep we know that team work is the way to achieve something big, yet we still try and go it alone.  Why?

John Maxwell shares three of the many reasons.

Ego—we don't like to admit we can't do it all. Andrew Carnegie once said, "It marks a big step in your development when you come to realize that other people can help you do a better job than you could do alone.

Insecurity—I want to maintain control or I'm afraid of being replaced by someone more capable.

Naiveté—John Gehegan, president of US Business Advisors keeps a sign on his desk that says,  "If I had it to do all over again, I'd get help."

Nobody is a whole team. None of us is a whole independent, self-sufficient, super, capable, all-powerful, hotshot; let's quit acting like we are.  Life is lonely enough without playing that silly role. The game is over. Let's link up.

Rethink going it alone.  Take some time to consider how you can become more of team player—with family, work, spiritual development.  Think about whom you should be working with to achieve what God is calling you to do.

Remember Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!"

ENCOUNTER: How does "team work" play into your Christian walk?  Where are you doing things alone in your spiritual growth?  How might "linking up" impact your journey?