(session to West Coast students today) “What I Look for in a Team Player” (Part 1) Over my 23 years of ministry I have served in several roles. I have been a camp counselor, a college representative, a High School Bible teacher, college instructor, a junior high youth pastor, a youth pastor, assistant pastor, DSS board member, substance prevention coalition director, and now a senior pastor. In every position, I have worked someone, alongside someone, and over someone. That experience has taught me a simple truth: no leader fulfills a vision alone. People often see the person preaching, leading the meeting, or standing at the front of the room. They do not always see the team working behind the scenes. They do not see the person who arrived early, solved a problem, prepared the details, encouraged a volunteer, prayed for the pastor, or quietly carried a responsibility without needing recognition. Those people make ministry possible. Now as a senior pastor for the past (almost) 16 years one of my responsibilities has been to hire pastoral staff as well as identify volunteers. A healthy team is not built merely by hiring talented people or gathering people with similar training. It is built when people choose to trust one another, communicate clearly, respect their roles, and put the mission ahead of personal recognition. Pastor Chappell once told me , “A plus leaders hire A plus leaders.” Strong leaders are not threatened by capable people. They want gifted people around them. Yet talent alone does not make someone a good team player. Competence and connections may get you through the door, but character will keep you there. The real test of a team player is not what happens when that person is given the microphone. It is what happens when someone else gets it. Can he celebrate another person’s success? Can he receive correction without becoming defensive? Can he carry out a decision that was not his idea? Can he remain faithful when his work is overlooked? Can he serve with the same spirit when he is pouring water as when he is leading the meeting? Scripture gives us three powerful examples of people who learned to serve in what we might call the second chair. Joseph served faithfully wherever God placed him, though he would spend much of his life assisting others. Joshua supported Moses without knowing when he would be asked to lead. Elisha served Elijah while knowing that God had called him to become the next prophet. Their circumstances were different, but each man understood that serving another person did not diminish God’s calling on his life. It prepared him for it. Their stories also stand in sharp contrast to Absalom. He had influence, ability, access, and ambition, but he used those gifts to build his own following and weaken the leader he should have supported. His life reminds us that every person on a team has the power to strengthen the ministry or slowly tear it apart. The question is not simply whether someone can do the job. The deeper question is whether that person can be trusted with responsibility, influence, relationships, and the mission God has given the church. Joseph, Joshua, and Elisha reveal ten qualities I look for in a team player. No leader fulfills a vision alone. Healthy churches and effective ministries depend on people who know how to work with others, carry responsibility, and strengthen those around them. Joseph: Excellence and Integrity Joseph served his father, Potiphar, the keeper of the prison, and eventually Pharaoh. In every setting, he accepted responsibility and earned the trust of those around him. His circumstances changed, but his character did not. Joseph represents the team player who knows and is content to be the second man. 1. Demonstrate Excellence and Faithfulness A strong team player develops a pattern of excellence and faithfulness in both large and small responsibilities. This includes the tasks people notice and the ones no one sees.