“There is no limit to what can be accomplished if it doesn’t matter who gets the credit.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ken Blanchard said,” None of us is as smart as all of us.” How true! Successful leaders know that no one can be the best at everything. But when we all combine our talents and skills, we can be the best at virtually anything. It was teamwork that got us to the moon.
As we read through the book of Nehemiah we can see the display and impact of teamwork. Chapter 3 puts teamwork on display in style. Forty-two teams of workers—thirty-eight named individuals and hundreds more unnamed—worked together to rebuild Jerusalem’s broken walls. The high priest and fellow priests did not consider manual labor beneath them. They pitched in, took the lead, and set the example for the people (vv. 1, 28).
The rulers, nobles, and city officials who could have ordered their servants to do the manual work, rolled up their sleeves and labored alongside the common people (vv. 9, 12, 17, 19). Craftsmen—goldsmiths and perfume makers who normally did artisan work—roughed it out under the hot sun (vv. 8, 31–32). Men and women worked side by side to accomplish their work (v. 12).
The word next (used twenty-six times in Nehemiah 3) gives us a picture of commitment, cooperation, harmony, and unity. Each group of workers knew where to work, understood their tasks, and expeditiously completed them. They understood the saying, “Teamwork makes the dream work.” Nehemiah and his people demonstrated that when you have a common vision, connected with individual accomplishment, common people can achieve uncommon results.
The Bible urges us to pursue teamwork as a model of living out our faith in Jesus. “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24–25). We are called to meet together, work together, run together to finish the race set before us in winning style.
So, are you a team player in helping to build the Kingdom? What step can you take today to further the cause?
Read: Nehemiah 3
