#19 Trusting Your Team

(“Thoughts I Want To Leave Behind” is a collection of thoughts and impressions I want to leave behind as I begin to make my final pastoral transition.)

#19 Trusting Your Team

When I was a young police officer, I was part of a SWAT team.  On these special operations units you constantly trained your body and mind.  Each month we trained with FBI SWAT instructors learning how to execute tactical advantage in high-stress situations.  We trained for every conceivable scenario one might encounter when dealing with a broken world.  As a young man, I was at the top of my game in each area the job required of me – martial arts, weapons, strength training, mental acuity, physical endurance and hostage negotiation skills.

What I could not train for was trust.  Trust was something I chose to give. I gave the gift of trust to the other members of our team because my life depended on it.  I trusted our sniper to deliver a round downrange with unbelievable accuracy. I trusted our utility man to carry all the gear we would need for each incident while he walked backwards making sure no threat approached us from the rear as the rest of the team moved forward to clear a building. I trusted the other entry man to follow the training drills he and I had practiced together hundreds of times before.  Our lives depended on our precise and practiced timing as we entered a room where a threat was present.  I trusted our team leader to orchestrate our team tactics so that injury and the loss of life would be held to a minimum. Trusting the other members of my team was more important than all my physical training.

As you lead others, train your team to hear the voice of God.  As you train them to hear God’s voice you will be able trust them to do the right thing when a situation heats up. Train your team to listen to the ultimate leader of your team, Jesus, and to have the courage to follow His instructions when yours may not make sense.

Proper trust training will help each member of your team navigate the spiritually life-threatening scenarios you are sure to encounter in the future.  You will know you have arrived at a place of team synergy when your team can do their job without a command from you.  The fruit of this kind of leadership is seen at the end of a deadly confrontation with darkness where you were able to work your way to those held hostage by the lies of hell and set them free without taking any casualties.