The Power Of A Team

The Power of a Team

In my interview with Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr, he made a comment on the power of a team. He said that team means “Together, everyone accomplishes more.”

As much as we want to accomplish something, when it comes to working with others, we sometimes fail to see the benefit. As I coach my fourteen- and fifteen-year-old boys’ basketball team, I continually challenge my players to trust each other. I have two boys who love to have the ball and try to score. Yet they consistently miss seeing the value of their teammates. They don’t distribute the ball with trust, instead waiting until the last second to get a pass off. Sometimes the ball arrives too late because of their struggle to trust one of their teammates.

Contrast that with the fairly famous video clip of Tim Tebow saying to Demaryius Thomas something like, “Bro, I believe in you. You are going to catch the game-winning touchdown.” On the first play from scrimmage of overtime when the Denver Broncos defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tebow hit Thomas on a slant that went for eighty yards. It was the shortest overtime in the history of the NFL, lasting only eleven seconds.

We have a choice—to go it alone or to build up a team. Ecclesiastes 4:8 speaks to being alone. It comes just before Solomon declares, “Two are better off than one.” Look at the harsh reality of depending only on yourself. Ecclesiastes 4:8 states, “This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, ‘Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?’ It is all so meaningless and depressing.”

When you realize that your fundamental role is helping others in your life, you will reap the benefits of that attitude. Remember, as Bart Starr says, “Together, everyone accomplishes more.”

This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, “Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless and depressing.

Ecclesiastes 4:8