Week 47 | Be A Great Teammate By Serving

I was talking with a coach about creating an excellent bench environment for his team. He has 12 athletes on his varsity basketball team, and as they get deeper into the season, athletes at the end of the bench are starting to realize that their place is at the end of the bench, and they are starting to react negatively to their role.

Their body language is getting worse and worse, their attitudes are starting to turn negative, and the once positive environment that they had in the pre-season is now eroding because of a lack of equity in playing time.

On every team, there are starters and there are bench players. It's just part of team sports. But so often, we talk to the bench players about how they can be great teammates and supportive of their teammates on the court or field, but we don't as often talk to the starters about how to also be great and supportive teammates to the ones who don't play as much.

It’s easier to cheer for and support a teammate who is a good person and who is cheerful and supportive of us.

This conversation reminds me of the story of The Mother's Request in Matthew 20.

While Jesus and His disciples were traveling to Jerusalem on a trip that would ultimately lead to Jesus’s death, the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and kneeled down to ask Him for a favor.

She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”

“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”

“We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”

When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave — just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

This mother wanted her sons to sit in a very special place next to Jesus; she wanted them to be starters, and like many parents, she asked the coach, Jesus, if they could start. I would imagine that would be a sign of greatness for this mother. But Jesus’s message was that it is not where you sit that makes you great, but how you serve. Jesus told them that He came to serve others, and His ultimate act of service would eventually be to die on the cross for them.

Every parent wants their kid to start. They want their kids to be successful. But the Christian goal is not starting, but to serve. So, how can you best serve others on your team? How can you be a great teammate? If you can have a team full of athletes who want to start and who want to be great, but who understand that their ultimate mission is to serve each other, and if you can recognize and celebrate service, then you have created a team that can have the best bench in the country.

Everyone can't play all game. Everyone can't start every game. But everyone can be a great teammate by finding meaningful ways to serve others.

THIS WEEK

1 – What are 1-3 ways in which you can serve your teammates?

2 – When is it hardest to serve your teammates?

3 – What can you do to overcome that barrier and find ways to serve your teammates when it isn’t easy?

Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave — just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
- Matthew 20:27-28

For a Google doc version of this devo, click here: Be a Great Teammate by Serving