WHY SHOULD I CARE? DISEASE
Building a successful ministry team, especially a volunteer one, is about everyone caring to the same degree. Wonderful things happen when a group of individuals with the capacity to care deeply come together and participate fully in a team. What follows is often a season I like to refer to as the glory days!
I have experienced the glory days several times in my life so far. They have been some of the best, joy-filled days of my ministry career. During the past twenty years I have made it my personal goal to study the body of Christ in action, to observe how spiritual gifts work and then to intentionally create structures in which individuals have an opportunity to experience it. In my journey I have discovered that the whole is much greater than the parts and we can do more when we work together! Much can be accomplished and God receives even more glory!
Seasons of team building have been some of the best days of my ministry career and to be honest also some of the worst. All it takes to ruin a vibrant team is for one individual to become sick with why should I care? disease and then infect the rest of the team. Once infected this particular sickness is devastating. It strikes at the heart of what makes a team successful, the ability of each member to care deeply, and then weakens the entire team to the point of eventually destroying it.
What is there to do about this malady that attacks and destroys successful teams? Perhaps a further exploration of the actual words involved will shed some light.
WHY - refers to the reason or purpose something exists.
SHOULD - expresses a sense of obligation (binding in law or conscience), propriety (acceptable conduct or speech) or expediency (suited to the end in view).
I - refers to someone possessing personal individuality.
CARE - refers to desire or esteem that causes a troubled or engrossed state of mind.
? - an interrogative expression used to test knowledge.
DISEASE - a condition which impairs the performance of a vital function: SICKNESS, MALADY.
What causes why should I care? disease? It is caused by a virus which grows and multiplies in living cells and eventually poisons the desire to care deeply. It is the virus of self-interest above the shared interests of the team. Since self-interest must justify itself, it gains a foothold by asking Why should I care about your interest? Note that it is no longer "our" interest but "your" interest. Self-interest then spreads infectiously throughout the whole team.
Before entering the world of team building I need to ask myself are the glory days worth the pain of watching a team die? The bottom line, of course, is nothing lasts forever. So how do I know when my team is terminally ill? It is when the signs and symptoms of disease are present. It is when I make the diagnosis that distractions of self-interest are prevailing. Then I know it is time to let go. It is time to step back and grieve because the ravages of why should I care? disease are fatal.
