So before reaching our second birthday at Circle Church, there were five of us on staff—three full-time, two part-time; three whites, one black, one Oriental—myself, Ka Tong Gaw, Larry Mayfield, Al Nestor, and Mel Warren.
I had always envisioned the benefits of a team effort. I am wary of the concept that says God speaks exclusively through one individual whom he chooses. Although I do believe that this happens at times, it seems to me to be fraught with inherent dangers.
We all know Christian leaders, over-impressed with their own grandeur, who refuse to submit to the advice and direction of workers holding lesser positions. So enamored of their own individual works are some, that the Spirit of God is no longer with them. It appeared to me that the team concept was a natural safeguard against the insidious power complexes that people in places of authority often experience.
My concept of a team was that of a whole containing equal parts. All of us would be called “pastor,” with each man having differing areas of responsibility. I once asked a minister with whom I worked if he believed in a team effort. His reply was, “Yes.” But, I soon discovered that his idea of a team was that of one big chief who set all the policy, made all the decisions, and then ordered all the little chiefs to carry out his desires.
It would be impossible to overestimate the importance of this genuine team concept we implemented at Circle Church. It was made possible both by the willingness of our congregation to forgo a building and by the help of outsiders interested in a city ministry.
Let it also be made abundantly clear that the relationships were not easy. In some ways, our personalities were diametrically opposed to each other. We were very strong individuals who were learning to attain an atmosphere of complete honesty with one another, having established a precedent which allowed someone to say, “I disagree.”
For example, I learned that a southside Chicago African-American Christian has very strong views about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and he is not going to be swayed by my ideas, especially when I admit to ungrounded biases or a lack of reading.
I discovered from Ka Tong that a Filipino regards what I term “American generosity” as American imperialism. We have hassled over such issues as abortion, pacifism (Ka Tong heatedly charged Al once with being a draft dodger, and that evening felt so chagrined he drove to Al’s home asking forgiveness), students’ rights, eternal security, who is a good Board member, whether to use hand clapping in the morning service, salaries—in short, just about everything!
These heated, volatile exchanges could easily have blown us apart, but we learned when to force ourselves to pray, and in those still, precious moments we remembered our common cause.
A rare camaraderie formed, and we now all had the courage to be ourselves before one another. We had developed the patience to try to understand and the desire to love and learn. None of us is the same as when we first met. We are all better men for the interaction and continued to be because that often painful process did not stop.
We learned that unity in Christ doesn’t mean that people have to be identical. It means we can be united in spite of our differences. We experienced in microcosm what we wish the total congregation could know in this depth.
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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about? Or, what will you preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon? David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help you learn how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons. Just click here to visit David Mains’ website.
For so many of us, the Christmas celebration can be a mile wide and an inch deep. We tire ourselves with an ever-growing list of gifts to buy, activities to complete, and traditions to uphold. And through a maze of cards and calls, outreach and entertainment, we struggle to connect with others in meaningful ways. Our intentions are sincere, but often trivial. When we look back on the season, we’re often left feeling like our holidays somehow lost the Christ in Christmas, and only touched the surface.
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Looking forward to Christmas? Looking for key Sermon Ideas? Wondering what to preach throughout the Christmas Season? Searching for help in preparing for your Sermons on Christmas Day? In addition to the above special offer, Mainstay Ministries has many valuable resources filled with Christmas Sermon Ideas to help you plan for your Christmas preaching and for such Sunday Sermons, including resources for the following: Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermon, Advent Sermon Series, Advent Sunday Sermons, Christmas Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermon, and Christmas Sermon Series. Connect with us on-line by clicking here.
