Sunday School Teamwork, or the Lack Thereof?

I am in Lexington with my youngest son, a high school senior, for the state high school boys basketball tournament. I have already seen eight games and all sixteen teams and their fans from all over Kentucky. I have seen emotions ranging from thrill to pain and tears. The last game last night was one of the most exciting because the result came down to the wire.

One of the characteristics I have seen in all of the winning teams and many of the losing teams has been great teamwork. I have seen teams that commicated well. They have encouraged one another. They have been led by a great coach and by leaders on the floor as well. I have seen passes that depended upon the receiving teammate knowing the ball was coming before the passer released the ball. I have seen defenses that moved as if they were an organism. This comes about because these teams have played 30 games together and have had countless practices. They have become friends as well as a team.

That is the way Sunday School teachers and workers should be. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case. Why not? Consider some of the following reasons. Look through the list and see if any of these reasons are present in your Sunday School:

• SILOS. Frequently these leaders spend no time together. Everyone is a silo doing his/her own thing.
• NO COMMUNICATION. Often there is no communication on Sunday or any other day. They don’t talk about life, people, or Sunday School.
• NO ENCOURAGEMENT. They don’t encourage one another. No one serves as a cheerleader for other workers through difficult times. They don’t cheer when there is success.
• NO PRAYER. They don’t pray together. As a result there is no vision. They try to do the job on their own. They miss the power and the direction that is available from the Source.
• NO WORK. They do nothing together. They don’t study together. They don’t practice together. As a result, they are moving in completely different directions.
• NO FELLOWSHIP. Relationships take time together. These teachers and leaders don’t fellowship with each other at or away from church. They don’t really know one another beyond name, rank, and serial number. As a result, they have not come to trust one another.
• NO PLANNING. They don’t plan together. There are no planning meetings or retreats. Everyone is working a different plan trying to accomplish different goals and working on addressing different problems and dreams.
• NO ACCOUNTABILITY. They don’t hold one another accountable.  They don’t challenge each other to go farther and to do more.

I realize that is but a partial list of the reasons for the lack of teamwork in many Sunday Schools. What actions toward teamwork do you and your Sunday School teachers and workers need to take this month? Identify the most important one on which to begin focusing. Pray about it. Lead your leaders to get together on God’s team. Seek His vision. Work together toward His vision and common goals. Hold one another accountable. Be revolutionary.