God would have never given us the Great Commission to go into all the world and preach the gospel if He never intended for that to really happen. Second Peter 3:9 tells us that, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” God would not say this if it were not possible. But none of us can do this alone. No Pastor can fulfill this calling by himself, no matter how gifted he may be.
At FWC, God has given us a Mission:
“Family Worship Center is a community of Spirit-Filled Believers committed to God’s Purpose of changing lives, by Worshipping God, leading others to Jesus, and building unified teams to reach and care for all in every stage of life”
This is our Mission. God is holding all of us accountable to fulfill the Mission He has given us. But we have to understand that none of us can do it alone. God never intended for us to do it alone. But, we can do it together.
Pastor Wayne Cordeiro, in his book, Doing Church As A Team, says:
“May we learn God’s design for His people and begin to respect and appreciate each other’s giftings. There are few things more beautiful to God than seeing His people serving and working together is a unified rhythm. It’s like a symphony to His ears. That’s how we were created to function. God has designed us to need each other! For us to reach our communities, much less the world, we will need every ministry doing it’s part and every member of the congregation excitedly doing church as a team.”
This is called “Interdependence”. Webster defines “Interdependence” as “a relationship in which each member is mutually dependent on the others”. The Apostle Paul basically says the same thing in Romans 12:4-5: “For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” And again in First Corinthians 12:14-21: “For the body is not one member, but many. 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. 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. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
This is “Interdependence”. Interdependence is not the same as independence. Independence means “freedom from the control, influence, support, aid, or the like of others”. While this may sound good at face value, the truth is that one day you will look around and discover that you are all alone–that you do not have any support, any help, or any one around you to lift you up, to encourage you, or to work with you–and it’s then that you realize just how small and inadequate you really are. God never intended any of us to be this way. Having an independent spirit is a weakness, not a strength.
Stephen Covey, in his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, says:
“Independent thinking alone is not suited to interdependent reality. Independent people who do not have the maturity to think and act interdependently may be good individual producers, but they won’t be good leaders or team players. They’re not coming from the paradigm of interdependence necessary to succeed in marriage, family, or organizational reality.”
If you are going to move forward in you personal life and enter into the place of fruitfulness and effectiveness that God has for you, then you are going to have to rid yourself of an independent spirit and embrace the power of Interdependence.
If your Church is going to move forward to a new level, and experience the level of effectiveness that God intends for it to function in, then it will have to rid itself of an independent spirit and embrace the power of Interdependence. There are no limits to what we can accomplish for God if we understand and embrace The Power of Interdependence.
Four Steps To Embrace Interdependence
1. See everybody as important:
Everybody has something to offer to the kingdom of God. God has a purpose and a plan for everyone reading this today. You are important to the plan of God! Two Stories in The Word Of God that illustrate this are found in Luke 19:1-10 and Luke 7:36-50. Take a minute and check it out.
2. Accept the fact that God has gifted everyone to serve:
Everyone has been given specific gifts from God to serve in some capacity. I don’t have every gift. You don’t have every gift. But I do have some God-Given gifts, and so do you! The Apostle Peter says,
“As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10).
3. Rally around a common Mission:
Interdependence is not about “doing your own thing”. It’s about coming together to accomplish something much bigger than what you could ever do on your own. This is where you must know the Mission of your Church and keep it constantly before your leaders and your congregation. Genesis 11:4-8 is a great story of a group of people that were united around their mission. God said of them, “… nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.” Take a minute and read it.
4. Get busy and go to work:
Lastly, there comes a time when you just have to join a team, get busy, and get it done! I have to do my part; You have to do your part. I have to carry part of the load; You have to carry part of the load. I don’t have to carry it all, and neither do you. But, each of us are expected by God to do our part.
The rewards of the Power of Interdependence is seen in the words of the Apostle Paul, “…As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:14-16).
This is Interdependence. This is what it’s going to take for you personally to experience a SHIFT. This is what it’s going to take for every Church to experience a SHIFT. It’s time to make the change. Don’t continue to stay in the rut you’re in. God has something better for you! Make the SHIFT; Experience The Power Of Interdependence!