Go Fast or Go Far

Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. (NIV)

Teamwork is lauded everywhere you look – in successful companies, winning sporting teams, churches, families. It’s a great concept, but man, those other people can be such a pain in the neck!

The problem with teamwork is that we all come at things from different perspectives. We can all be looking at the same issue and yet interpret it in completely different ways.

And you know how it goes … you want everyone to see it your way. You want your solution to be the one that gets up because you know absolutely that your way is the right way. That’s when the attitude of “my way or the highway” entrenches your position. The conflict arises when others adopt the exact same stance.

I remember talking to the CEO of a large company. When I mentioned his “management team” he laughed and said, “Management team?! They’re just a loose confederation of warring chieftains.”

And yet, if you really want to achieve things, you need a team, right? As the old saying goes: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. True!

So how do you do that when everyone sees things from different perspectives?

Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. (NIV)

It’s natural to want our ideas and our solutions to be the ones that get up. But when, instead of clashing like two swords, we allow each other’s perspectives to sharpen our own, it’s amazing how powerfully God can work through a team to achieve the best outcome. His outcome.

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.