Teamwork

A Reflection on the Second Reading for May 28th, 2023:
Pentecost Sunday

1 Corinthians
12.3B-7, 12-13

Brothers and sisters: No one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. 

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Sprit; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we ere all baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free- and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Picture this if you will: You’re in high school. You’re sitting in your classroom. The teacher is standing at the front of the room and says, “Okay class, time for a group project!”

Did I just hear you groan? I know I often did. It was mostly because my strong introverted tendencies balked at the idea that I had to talk to other people. The other challenge of group work is, well, the challenge of the group itself! Each person had their own unique personality and trying to navigate the differences always seemed to be more work than the actual project. The group often included a variety of characters: the bossy kid, the smart kid, the socially awkward kid, the kid who was friends with everyone, and then inevitably there would be that classmate, the kid who would ride the coattails of everyone else’s work. Yet this was a way to teach us the valuable life skill of working with others because as they say: teamwork makes the dream work. 

Everyone, everywhere has had an experience of teamwork -- the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Books on teamwork dos and don’ts fill the shelves in bookstores and libraries. People study teamwork -- in teams no less. We know what it means to be on a team, be it sports teams, volunteer teams, or work teams. So what happens when teamwork doesn’t…work?

I draw wisdom from this letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians. He reminds us how teams should work. Recognize the unique giftedness of each individual creation of our God and acknowledge that we are to use these abilities as one “team” for the betterment of all. That is, the gifts we are all given, as manifested by the Spirit, are not meant simply to serve our own needs but rather the good of the whole world. 

Much like our “forced” teamwork in high school was not so much about the actual project, but rather about learning to work together, similarly, the gifts that God gives us aren’t the point. Yes, what the gifts are is important, but that they are used in collaboration with the gifts of others, is of key importance. It is through using our gifts, witnessing what God has given, that we are able to gift the world with God’s presence through us.

Comparing the Church to a team isn’t the typical image we use, but guess what? God has assigned us a “group project.” And it’s a pretty big one: spread the Good News and make disciples. And who is the group you’re working with? All the baptized. Talk about a challenge! This is where using the team metaphor for the Church falls short. Our connection to one another is deeper than being assigned a team. We have been adopted into a family by our baptism.  We are united in a way no assigned team could ever be. And the one who unites us is the Holy Spirit.

Come Holy Spirit, come!




Aurea Sadi

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