Inside the team
Recently
the Winnipeg Jets Hockey club has had some turmoil inside the locker room. Possibly
one player’s action has caused disunity. How is it possible that one person can
disrupt a whole team? Maybe it’s some of the other players on the team? Could
they be the problem? How about the coach, is he to blame?
I can see the same thing within a
political system. If someone on the team is unruly then the party might suffer.
Public opinion becomes ugly if they don’t like what they hear or see. If the
public has an opinion because of one person’s actions then is the actions of
one person bad for the team? We see this all the time. Jesus was popular one
day and hung on a cross the next. President Obama was the nation’s savior and
now the public whipping boy.
Let’s go back to Winnipeg for a minute. Some have
reported or decided that the actions within the team might be considered
bullying or something along those lines. Ironically I can’t be racism because
the players in question were both dark skinned. Unity within a team or group is
healthy. Sure there are different personalities but the goal and desire must be
the same. If someone wants to sit and the others want to play we have a
problem. To win, we all must row in unison.
What does God think of a team? Believe
it or not God likes a team. Yes he is a dictator in a sense but he prefers a
team. God is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus picked 12 disciples. David
in the Bible had mighty men, and Moses created a leadership group of 72 men.
God the Father and Jesus spend most of their time teaching and guiding the men
in the group. God pushed Moses to be more. Jesus pushed Peter to be more.
Within Gods team there is dissention (Judas) and unity. The coach (God) is
always poking and prodding the team to win.
Like in a boat race, the team must
pull in unison. If they don’t the boat will go around and around in one spot.
The coach must see the weakness or strength and adjust so that they all row
together. In the Roman world it is said the disunity greatly caused their
demise. The political, public, and military unity became corrupt. They did not
pull together. The reason a political party falls is because the coach forgets
to coach unity. A team loses because within the room, the team must be playing
together.
Hash words can seem like bullying.
If a team that faces adversity always is hurt or offended problems will arise.
Mental and physical toughness wins the race. People concerned with themselves
will not make good team players. We have to take one for the team once in a
while. You can yell at a team mate if they are selfish. You can praise a person
for their actions of unity or loyalty. I struggle with the balance between
loyalty and production. It’s nice to have hard workers who are committed to the
team. They are usually rare. What troubles me is what happens when they work
hard but we never win. I believe that’s where being pushed (bullied) is useful.
In my day it was two things. One is
the bully. I know who he was. He was always too big for his maturity. I was
always too small for mine. That made a bad combination. I know bullying. On the
other hand I sure wish someone would have pushed me to be great. I had one
teacher do that for me and it worked miracles. Was he a bully to me? Na, I love
that man for caring enough to put our friendship on the line. He wanted us to
row together.
In this day and age the public
thinks we need to be soft on people so that they are not feeling hurt. We can
believe that if we want. I have heard that we have evolved. Police cameras,
political agendas, and freedom of crime might have more to do with passive
behavior than the times were living in. Soft people don’t fight back. Soft people
don’t take one for the team. The Roman culture died because of soft attitudes
that allowed the enemy to walk in easily. What kind of a team do you want: one
that wins or one that is happy to be there? In life there is no participation
metal, someone always wins.
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