I recently took some teens & adults canoeing.  I was a little nervous, being that my last river outing was in a raft going down the river that the Olympic Games were held.  It was a little intense.  This trip was a calm, quiet ride down in Urbana.  We had a great time.  As we were paddling/floating along, I got to thinking about some life lessons that could come from this trip.  Over the next few weeks, I want to share some of my observations with you.  Hang on, it could get bumpy!

Teamwork is Important

I was paired with a freshman.  For many of you, that would strike fear into your heart (maybe even cause panic).  I was confident in this teen, although he didn’t have much experience.  We started out with him steering.  We ran into a few trees (imagine the car ride at amusement parks with the rail in the middle, and you bounce back and forth).  We quickly found our rhythm though.  Of course, there were obstacles to go around (we’ll talk about those another time) but we figured out how to do that, as a team.

In a canoe, you must work with the other person to remain right side up!  If you both paddle on the same side, you will turn.  We would discuss how we wanted to avoid certain obstacles and then go about the plan (usually with success).

In life, we need to utilize teamwork.  We weren’t put on this earth by ourselves.  We were meant to work together.  We all have some place where we must work well with another person: work, sports, at home and even at church.  It takes communication, trust, compromise, patience, forgiveness and other things to make a good team.  John Wooden, former coach at UCLA, shared that he didn’t always have the most athletic team or the best player in the country; but he had teams that could pull together to win championships.

3 examples from Scripture:

2 Corinthians 6:14 – don’t be unequally yoked.  Who are you paired with? How are you going to make it work?

Acts 15:36-41 – the disagreement between Paul & Barnabas.  They weren’t on the same page, all the time.  They did great things together, but they talked it out and continued on the path God had for them.  We don’t always mesh with everyone.  But we need to know where we do fit.

Acts 16:1-ff – Paul worked really well with Timothy.  He shared his passion & experience with this younger believer.

Are you being a team player?  Is compromise needed (not always)?  What will you do to improve the team?

 Pastor Brent