Team Work

Theresa and I were able to attend a conference this week.  It was sponsored by the Christain Camp and Conference Association.  (3CA)  Cedar Springs is a member camp.  It was at a beautiful camp in Westboro Wisconsin.  I went with just a little apprehension. We are a small camp with lots of needs.  I knew who would be there.  I knew there would be a lot of camps who had great facilities and tons of resources backing them.  I expected to feel overwhelmed, intimidated and, yes-jealous.  Fortunately I didn't let these feelings stop us from going. 

It turned out to be a little overwhelming, but over-all I walked away feeling incredibly energized.  I learned a whole lot of stuff.  Most beneficial for me was the Hazardous tree removal workshop.  We have a lot of those and now I'm more confident in dealing with them.  But beyond all of the new stuff I learned I gained something else much more valuable.  I gained a family who cares and are there to help.

Let me be honest for a minute.  I wasn't sure about going there because these guys are the competition if you think about it from a business standpoint.  I met many folks from camps in Iowa who are drawing from the same population base as we are-but not a single one of them treated Theresa and I as the competition.  It was a little weird.  They were excited to meet us and treated us as part of the team. 

Now isn't that the point?  Christians should live and act differently from the rest of the world.  These folks had the right perspective, they see the bigger picture; they realize that we are all on the same team with one goal-to reach people for Jesus and share His love.  As Christians, no matter what church we go to, or what camp we operate, we are all working for the same boss with the same bottom line.  We are not in competition with each other.

Now, I don't mean to sound naive, like this is the first time I have realized this.  This is a principle that I preached on and trained my leaders in.  But if we are all honest with ourselves sometimes the ideal is not the reality.  Too often we do not work with each other, preferring instead to go it alone, not wanting to share the work-or the success.  That's a shame because, when it comes to the Kingdom, we can accomplish so much more when we work together.  It's the most important business in the world, why are we letting jealousy and pride keep us from accomplishing our goal? 

The apostle Paul was really upset with the church in Corinth.  They had a problem treating each other with respect.  The some of them thought they were "better" than other members in the church because of the spiritual gifts they had.  Paul gave them a tongue lashing making the point that we are all parts of one body, working together to accomplish the work God has for us.  He makes the case that love is the most important gift and we need to practice it towards one another.  (1 Corinthians 12-14) 

So I'm excited about the new relationships we have made.  I look forward to having the Iowa members of the 3CA over to our camp so they can give us some pointers.  And as often as I get the chance I intend on stopping by their camps too.