Is your tech team culture like a spiritual green house, or is it more of a cellar? A greenhouse creates the perfect conditions for growth. It's climate-controlled, has good sunlight, and a water source. A cellar is dark, cold, and is normally a place where things get stored. It's really only conducive to growth for fungus.
Let's examine the language of the day so we can understand some biblical principles of growth. For many of us, the Bible's examples of plant life might be totally foreign to us. We are more familiar with plug, play, and adjust, than plant, water, and prune.
“The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how.” - Mark 4:26-27
In the first century world, everyone understood that plants required an abundance of water. They would completely understand phrases like “watering with the Word.” If the Word is the water, what is the source in your tech community? Do we regularly read from the Word and study it together?
Ultimately, our church services are about spreading the seeds of the Gospel and watering the growing plants of our congregation. But how about the internal structure of our tech team?
Next, check out Paul's words to the church in Ephesus, one of the largest groups of Christians by the close of the 1st Century:
“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” - Ephesians 4:11-12
Notice that first he says that God places leaders in churches for the purpose of "building up the body of Christ.” This is actually a construction term. It means to make a structure stronger. Imagine planting a young tree. We often tie the thin, weak trunk between two sticks. The sticks are a structure to strengthen the plant until it's strong enough to stand on its own.
The church tech team is part of the structure to help strengthen the Message. Are the internal workings of the tech team helping to strengthen us individually? We make the imagery to support the services, and we use sound and lighting so that the pastor can be heard and seen. Ultimately, our church services are about spreading the seeds of the Gospel and watering the growing plants of our congregation. But how about the internal structure of our tech team? Are we supportive of one another?
Paul goes on:
“… until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” - Ephesians 4:13-14
Here Paul gives us more information on the growth process. He says that as we grow, we will become more unified and have more knowledge about Jesus. The last phrase in the verse makes me think of a young plant tossed in a storm. What distrupts our team--human cunning, craftiness, and deceitful schemes? As we grow in our faith, we will become more aware of the enemy's traps. So growth has some real, tangible benefits.
Let me challenge you: Are you personally growing? How about your team? If we use Paul's words as a test, we can see that growth is evidenced in our unity, our knowledge of Christ, and our ability to spot the lies of the world. If you are not growing, then these things should be warning signs. For example, when we see division in the church, or maybe even on our own tech team, Paul would tell us that growth is what we need.
To use another biblical-growth concept, if you are growing, then you will see fruit. What kind of fruit does a Christian produce? A believer's fruit is listed for us in Paul's letter to the church in Galatia:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. - Galatians 5:22-23
Using Scripture as our growth chart, how are you doing in these areas? Are you showing more love, joy, peace, and so on? How is your patience, kindness, goodness, etc.? If you think that you or your team could use some work in any of these areas, then it's time to get growing.
I know how it goes, we often spend so much time in the tech department--busy with the “doing” of church--that we miss the “growing” part of church. Remember my initial question: Is your tech room a cellar? The tech room can be dark, and we may not see growth. Oh sure, you may be getting lots of water from the Word because you're exposed to multiple church services each week, but you still might not see growth. Maybe it's time to break up some of the soil, let in some light, and start to make your tech environment a greenhouse. Try studying the Bible together, praying together, and supporting one another. Keep an eye on those other young plants that you work with. How can you support them?
This week spend some time of self-reflection on the fruits in Galatians 5. Where do you need some work? Pray for the others on your tech team and ask God to help you support their growth.
