¹⁷ As iron sharpens iron,
so one person sharpens another.

There is clear benefit from iron sharpening iron. That same benefit comes from one person sharpening another. Have you ever tried to sharpen a knife by itself? It is impossible. But if you have 2 knives, even if they are both dull, they are able to sharpen each other at the same time. Don’t try to do everything on your own. There is benefit in working together.

 

• Ecclesiastes 4:

Reading the verses just before these, you would read about a man all alone, with no family, no one to help him, and his work was endless. Then, starting in verse 9, we see the benefits of working together.  There is a better return on their work. (work is easier when you do it together rather than do it alone).  If you fall down, or fail, when you are alone, it is difficult to get up and continue. When you have surrounded yourself with a team and you fall down, you have someone to pick you up again. And if they fall down, you are there to pick them back up.

A cord of three strands is not easily broken. A single person working towards a goal may or not be successful, but it will be difficult. Things become easier, and you become increasingly more productive as you add people to your team.

 

• 1 Corinthians 12:

¹² Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.

¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

 

Each of us has a unique set of gifts and talents. It is when we come together and work together we become the body God designed us to be. If your role in the body is to be the eye, don’t try to do the work of the ear and hand as well. Find those around you with the different talents and abilities to work alongside you and create a team, or in this case a body, to accomplish the things God would have you to do.

There is a synergistic quality of a team. We are able to exponentially increase productivity when we work together. Read more about that here.  What does your team structure look like? How do you ensure success in your team?

 

So what do you think? What do you do that creates a biblical teamwork in your team?