The N.B.A. Finals and Ministry Teams Collide

I’m not a basketball fan, but I must admit, I’m was hooked on the NBA Finals this year.  I loved seeing 2 legendary rivals go head-to-head against each other, battling minute by minute in effort to gain the championship trophy.  The Lakers had Kobe trying, and eventually succeeding, to win his 5th NBA title while Boston had the Big 3 – Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce trying to win their 2nd title together.  Again, even though I am not a basketball fan, I really did watch a lot of that final series with great interest.

Looking at how these 2 teams were assembled and function made me think of Ministry Leadership Teams.  Here is what I mean by that.

The Boston Celtic’s “Big 3” consist of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce.  While Kobe is still in his prime and could single handedly carry his team to victory, the Big 3 are on the later ends of their careers.  While they are still effective, they are not the solo stars that they once were.  They could no longer be the center pieces alone by themselves.  They needed each other equally to achieve their goal of a championship.  Although they failed this year, they proved they can win together by winning the championship in 2008 and returning to the finals again this year.

The Lakers are built rather differently.  They are centered around Kobe Bryant, arguably the best player in the N.B.A. right now (and maybe ever, but that is a debate for another day).  To me, the Lakers formed their team similar to how many churches look to form a youth ministry team – they look for the superstar and try to build around the superstar.  Kobe represents the Superstar Youth Minister (or Superstar College/Young Adult Minister).  As I posted a week ago here, I do not believe centering your ministry around a superstar youth ministers is a good ministry model to have.  If Kobe had a bad night or 2, that could have potentially cost the Lakers a chance at winning the championship.  Fortunately for them it they still won, but too much depends on him alone.  There is too much focus on that 1 person.

In the same way, Youth and Young Adult Ministry Teams need to be exactly that – TEAMS.  They can not be dependent on just 1 person.  Sure, every ministry team needs a Head Leader, but to expect that person to single-handedly produce superstar results week in and week out is unrealistic.  That is where a well-equipped and trained team comes into play.  The Celtics, even though they failed to win the championship this year, have a great model in place.  They formed a team that complimented each other and added different strengths to the TEAM.  So together, as a unit, they were great.  They didn’t rely solely on 1 player to pull them through.  That means that unlike the Lakers, if one of the “Big 3” players had an off night or got injured (as Kevin Garnett did earlier in the year, it would not have as big of an impact.

So, when you are looking at forming your Youth or Young Adult TEAM, here are some things to keep in mind:

1. Find people who are teachable.  Youth and Young Adult are an ever changing demographic.  As they change, our strategy to reach them must change (Please note, I said strategy, not philosophy).  We must adapt as they adapt.  That means, we need people who are willing to learn and adapt with them.  Ministry team members who get stuck into a certain “way” or pattern of doing things, who believes they know the 100% right way to do ministry is not someone who is going to be helpful to your ministry goals.  You need people who are willing to learn and try new things for the sake of the kingdom.  Just because it worked in the ’90s doesn’t mean it can work today.
2. Find people who are flexible and can roll with the punches.  There is nothing normal about Youth and Young Adult ministry.  You may have early morning breakfasts with students, lunch or even late night movies. You may dress up 1 night for a luau and the next night give an in-depth Bible study.  You may also have something planned to minister to 40 students, but only a few people show up.  What do you do then?  You have to be flexible and roll with the punches.  If something does not go as planned, that does not mean that God will not and cannot use it for His glory.  He can do anything, we just have to be flexible, go with it and see where the Lord leads and what He chooses to do with it.
3. Don’t just target 1 type of leader.  The key word is diversity!  Do not just look for all young adults to lead your team.  Look for everyone – parents, singles, young/old married couples, college students.  It doesn’t matter. For example, even though Celtic Big 3 worked together great, they had additional help.  In particular, they had this young, very talented player named Rondo.  Rondo is a young gun who energized and inspired the rest of the team with his play.  In the same way, you need a diverse team to reach all students.  That means you need to look for diversity in ethnic background as well.  Again, to reach all students, that means you need to have all types of leaders to reach them.  Do not limit what God can do with all sorts of people who have all sorts of backgrounds.

So, as you are looking at forming or adding to your ministry team, take into consideration the above 3 suggestions.  They are not the only 3 suggestions you should consider, but they are 3 that I have learned over the years that do make a big difference.

TAKE A MINUTE right now and look at the above 3 suggestions and see how your team stacks up against them.  Do you have people who are teachable, flexible and diverse?  If not, what do you need to do to find team members like that?  Also, how can you help train your team to be like that?  Finally, pray to God that he can provide you additional team members to reach the students He has blessed you with.

If you have a thought or comment, please post one so that we can all benefit from your experience.