We wrote a couple of days ago about the diverse nature of a team, noting that King David’s included “wild men.” The promise is that we’re on God’s team with a role to play:

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2.10, NIV)

It’s one thing to have a role. It’s quite another to actually play it. Retired (I think!) NFL quarterback Tom Brady made that clear in an interview a week or so ago. If you know anything about pro football at all, you know that Tom, drafted 199th in the 2000 draft as a quarterback, went on to become (in the opinion of many) the “Greatest of All Time.”

In the interview, Tom explains why many wide receivers who had done well with other teams came to his team, the New England Patriots, and didn’t do well. Mainly because Tom never threw the ball to them! Why not?

The problem is summarized in this opening:

The failure of so many physically gifted – and sometimes even accomplished professional – wide receivers to make it in New England is one of the enduring mysteries of the Patriots Dynasty. And perhaps the biggest criticism of Tom Brady in his 20 years of unprecedented success was that it was his fault a lot of his wideouts managed to fall through the cracks, even when they proven themselves on other teams. The knock on Brady was that he’d lose patience with a guy too soon. And that once his trust was gone, there was no getting it back. – Barstoolsports.com, August 20, 2024

There’s a link to that portion of the interview in the online article about 2/3 the way through. Here are some (approximate) snippets:

The best teammates I had showed up for work every day, and I never had to worry about their effort or their attitude…[Some guys] I knew they were going to hustle and run the play exactly as they should… [Other guys] I’d look over and they’re not lined up right…they’re looking to the sideline for help…they don’t know the play. My job is hard enough without having to worry about my teammates not doing theirs. – Tom Brady, from a one-minute response to the question of non-productive wide receivers

It’s not enough to be one of the essential diverse elements of a team. Every team member must know his or her role and how to execute it properly and on time: applies to football teams, symphony orchestras, and, yes, even the Kingdom of God.

[Church leaders’ purpose is] to train Christ’s followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ. (Ephesians 4.12, 13, MSG)