My favorite moment in game four of the 1998 World Series came when Mark McGwire caught a foul ball. His left hand swallowed the ball as it skipped off the turf and into the stands. McGwire, who plays for the Cardinals, decimated Marris' home run record with 70 over the fence that year, but was sitting on the first row on the third base side for this game. McGwire may very well be the greatest slugger of all times, and most definitely was the finest baseball player in San Diego that evening, but he still had to buy a ticket to watch game 4 of the World Series.

Why? Because he wasn't on the team. In the final analysis, being a part of a winning team means more than any individual achievement.

Psalm 55:13-14 NIV "But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, [14] with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked with the throng at the house of God.

On October 16, 1987, the world witnessed the dramatic rescue of 18-month-old Jessica McClure, who was trapped in an abandoned water well for almost 58 1/2 hours.

“It was one of those events that ended well and uplifted not only our country, but uplifted the whole world,” said Midland, Texas oilman Clayton W. Williams, who played a background role in the rescue.

The rescue by up to 50 on-site mining engineers, firefighters, paramedics, drillers, jackhammer operators, law-enforcement officers and other support people brought out “the higher quality and better part of the human soul and the human spirit,” Williams said. "Everybody was pulling for that little baby."

“The biggest thing… was the teamwork of the people involved,” David Lilly recalled. "It worked beautifully. Every person there was just willing to do everything above and beyond (duty). There was no arguing or bickering or 'Let him do it' or 'I can't do that.'

Many of the rescuers worked in the oil drilling business, Midland's very reason for existence. One-time business partners turned bitter rivals were working side by side, and were seen hugging one another after the rescue.

On September 18, 1999, I sat in seat 108 of row 2 in aisle 505 of Wrigley Field. It was a day to remember. I've been to a few major league stadiums through the years, and I've got to tell you, Wrigley is a different experience. First, there is absolutely no parking. We parked close to a mile away and had to walk to the park. Second, the stadium is old. I mean really old. Not rickety old, more like historic old. Really, as I walked through the turnstile, I felt like I was walking into Baseball's Cathedral. Third, Wrigley fans are, well—different. It almost seemed like the baseball game was secondary.

Cubbies are among the most faithful of any fans. It doesn't matter whether their team is winning or losing. They support the team. After watching a game with them, I think it is because they are not really there for the baseball—the beer maybe, but not the game. By and large, people weren't paying much attention to the game. That is, until Sammy Sosa came to the plate.

Vendors stopped selling their goods. Everyone stood, everyone cheered and everyone's eyes were on the field. The atmosphere was electric. Sosa didn't disappoint. He knocked a home run over the fence. It wasn't just any home run, it was the 60th of the season, making Sosa the first slugger to hit sixty or more home runs in two consecutive seasons.

I don't remember who won the game, but I do remember the ball barely clearing the center field fence and Sosa's "home run hop" as he started running toward the record books one more time.

Who would have ever thought that less than a year later Sosa would be named in trade rumors? I guess his skipper doesn't feel Sosa is contributing enough. His glove has never been that great, but there was a time when Sosa worked harder around the base path.

In 1998, he was the National League's Most Valuable Player, in 1999, he was the first person to hit 60 or more home runs in back-to-back seasons and in 2000, he may very well be traded. I always thought Sammy Sosa would become Mr. Cubs like Ernie Banks, but maybe not. How do you interpret Sosa's situation? Some may say, it's a "what have you done for me lately" thing. Maybe so, but I think there is another lesson here. No person is more important than the team.

The cast of NBC's hit sitcom "Friends" will be hanging around the coffee shop for at least two more years. In an eleventh hour contract negotiation all six stars agreed to return after landing a 17.25 million dollar raise. Instead of negotiating separate contracts, the cast members agreed to stick together in an "all-for-one, one-for-all" strategy. It worked.

Most people tend to overestimate the impact of what one person can do and underestimate the potential of a group that works together toward a common goal.

Tom Westman credits two things with his million-dollar victory of Survivor Palau. First, being himself, and second applying two things he learned as a firefighter: "survival and teamwork."

Dr. Paula M. Rooney, President of Dean College in Franklin, Massachusetts recently told her graduating students, "you cannot undertake life as a spectator sport. True success will involve playing on a team,"

—http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=98797 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

How about you? Are you in the game, working together with others on the field? Or are you sitting in the stands, a mere spectator watching others do what God called you to do?

1 Cor 3:9 HCSB "For we are God's co-workers. You are God's field, God's building."

In her book, "Carolyn 101", Carolyn Kepcher writes, "With winning teams, the burdens are shared, as are the rewards. Teams can achieve goals beyond the capacitates of even the most talented individuals. No one scales Mt. Everest alone. No one wins a battle alone. No one builds a building alone. The real reason that winning teams win is that they are greater than the sum of their parts."

A student from Tokyo Institute of Technology piloted a plane a distance of 1283 feet. What made this flight so remarkable is that the plane was battery powered—it used 160 AA batteries to be exact.

—http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=609&id=1036002006 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

There is power in numbers. When I combine my little bit of energy with yours, and we combine ours with others, we have what it takes to get the job done. Too bad so many believers are a single AA battery instead a member of a team of 159 others. Together we can change the world.

Matthew 5:15-16 (ESV) "Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. [16] In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

In their book, "Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham", Myra and Shelley write, "When one hears laughter in the halls of an organization, when humor and good spirits enliven the breaks, when serious discussions are broken up by humor, it's a very good sign the enterprise is healthy. Teams that emphasize fun and good spirits lift effectiveness."

Ecclesiastes 3:4 (HCSB) "a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance;"

In Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell writes, “The kinds of errors that cause plane crashes are invariably errors of teamwork and communication.”

--Outliers: The Story of Success, 184 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

Proverbs 27:9 (NIV) “Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of one's friend springs from his earnest counsel.”

For more information on Outliers go to: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316017922/fm082-20

TEAMWORK
On Thursday, July 23, 2009, Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle threw a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. It was the first time a White Sox pitcher had accomplished such a feat in 87 years. A perfect game means that Buehrle didn’t allow a hit, and that no one got on base in the nine innings he pitched. It has only been done 18 times in the history of Major League Baseball.
But Buehrle did not do it alone. Eight players stood behind him to make it possible. In one dramatic play in the ninth inning, DeWayne Wise sprinted and leaped to catch a ball that would have gone over the wall. It was a spectacular play. Afterwards, Buehrle said it should be the play of the year. He recognized the importance of having a teammate that made his success possible.
(See the catch on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OH_AspRMog)

-- http://cbs2chicago. com/sports/mark. buehrle. perfect. 2. 1098514. html Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and David Johnson

No one plays alone in the body of Christ. We really do need each other. We cannot accomplish anything without others around us. That is why God gave a variety of spiritual gifts to the church. None can function without the others. We are all on the same team.

1 Corinthians 12:14-20 (NASB)14 For the body is not one member, but many. 15 If the foot says, "Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, "Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?18 But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. 19 If they were all one member, where would the body be? 20 But now there are many members, but one body

TEAMWORK

In his book, Church is a Team Sport: A Championship Strategy for Doing Ministry Together, Jim Putman writes, “the church is supposed to be a collection of transformed individuals molded by God into a team.”

--Church is a Team Sport, 66. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Wilson Tsoi

The biblical imagery is that the church is a unified body, working together to accomplish its goals. Whether the analogy is a team or a body, the truth remains, Christians are supposed to work together for the cause of Christ.

Acts 2:1 (NKJV) When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

In The Celtic Way of Evangelism, George Hunter writes, “A zoologist once informed me that a tiger will defeat a lion in battle; but five lions will defeat five tigers because the lions fight together and the tigers do not, so the five lions take on one tiger at a time.”

Psalm 52:9 (NKJV) (9) I will praise You forever, Because You have done it; And in the presence of Your saints I will wait on Your name, for it is good.

In his book, What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures, Malcolm Gladwell writes, “But the link between, say, IQ and job performance is distinctly underwhelming. On a scale where 0.1 or below means virtually no correlation and 0.7 or above implies a strong correlation (your height, for example, has a 0.7 correlation with your parents’ height), the correlation between IQ and occupational success is between 0.2 and 0.3. “What IQ doesn’t pick up is effectiveness at common-sense sorts of things, especially working with people,” Richard Wagner, a psychologist at Florida State University, says. ‘In terms of how we evaluate schooling, everything is about working by yourself. If you work with someone else, it’s called cheating. Once you get out in the real world, everything you do involves working with other people.’”

1 Corinthians 1:10 (NASB) “Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.”

Mechanical engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology published a report detailing the remarkable behavior of a group of ants in water. When dropped on to the surface of the water, a temporary cushion of air sounds the single ant, helping it float for a small period. When scientists drop a group of ants into the water, the ants clump together and form a makeshift raft. The raft is watertight and the ants are able to survive for long periods. The teamwork is remarkable as the ants carefully form the bowl shape and clasp to each with their legs and jaws.

The church of God likewise works most effectively when the people work cooperatively to achieve otherwise impossible goals.

--Washington Post- http://www.washingtonpost.com/latest-headlines/2010/08/25/AFd3EbjE_story.html Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Miguel Martinez

Ecclesiastes 4:12(NASB) 12 And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.

In How Will You Measure Your Life?, by Clayton M. Christensen, and James Allworth write, “It is hard to overestimate the power of these motivators—the feelings of accomplishment and learning, of being a key player on a team that is achieving something meaningful.”

Togetherness is a powerful force. It isn’t just what we are doing that motivates us; it is that we are doing it together.

1 Corinthians 12:17–20 (HCSB) If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But now God has placed each one of the parts in one body just as He wanted. 19 And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? 20 Now there are many parts, yet one body.

In the article, “Why did Wikipedia succeed while other encyclopedias failed?” Megan Garber writes about certain factors led to Wikipedia’s success, including familiarity, user-friendliness, and an easy access to participation. Unlike other professional encyclopedias, Wikipedia depends on its users for content. Although that method has its advantages and disadvantages, a lesson surfaces on the importance keeping things simple and accessible. —Jim L. Wilson and Min Lee

John 3:16 (CSB)¹⁶ For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Ladybugs are not very big. However, if you get enough of them heading in the same direction at the same time they can get the attention of meteorologists monitoring the radar. That’s what happened in San Bernardino, County in 2019.

According to NWS meteorologist Casey Oswant, the bugs resembled a “light rainstorm” on the radar. When she called a local weather spotter in Wrightwood, CA, she learned that it wasn’t rain, but ladybugs flying together.—Jim L. Wilson

Regardless of how insignificant you think you are, if you are working together with enough other insignificant people you can make a difference.

3 John 1:8 (CSB) “Therefore, we ought to support such people so that we can be coworkers with the truth.”

Two pitchers from the Cleveland Indians baseball team broke the team Covid19 protocols after a game in Chicago. Zach Plesac and Mike Clevinger sneaked out of the team’s hotel for dinner and some entertainment. When teammates discovered their violation, the consequences were much harsher than they imagined. It created an extraordinary rift on the team. Other players have accused them of betrayal, and the team, with the support of the other players, moved the two pitchers off the active roster and banished them to the alternative training site. (2020’s alternative to the minor leagues.) In a comment, sports journalist Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal said, “It’s a glimpse at the kind of social disaster that could be lurking in any workplace when employees aren’t truthful with each other about their behavior during the pandemic.

Jared Diamond, “A Protocol Violation Divides a Team.” The Wall Street Journal, August 19, 2020, p. A14

The same is true in the church. In every way we must be honest and faithful to one another because we are to be striving for the same goal. —Jim Wilson and Rodger Russell

Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, that there be no divisions among you, and that you be united with the same understanding and the same conviction.