Teamwork

Numbers 4:31 “And this is the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the tabernacle of the congregation; the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and sockets

How do you feel about numbers? Maybe you like them and enjoy working with them, but I do not have a natural interest in numbers. I have found that my interest in numbers comes from the fact that they make up a significant part of things I have interest in. If you like numbers, then the beginning of the Book of Numbers is “sheer numbers”-almost entirely about numbers! Think of the thousands of people in each family, and by extension the colossal size of the nation of Israel. Talk about numbers!

In the midst of numbers-in Numbers-you also find the elements of individual responsibility and a common goal. That is the definition of teamwork: shared goals and individual responsibility. Notice the words “charge,” “burden,” and “service” in verses 28, 31, and 37. If someone is “in charge,” he has the responsibility for something. Each family received a different “charge,” but the different charges all related to the same thing: the care and transportation of the tabernacle.

Teamwork is shared goals and individual responsibility. If you switch these points, you have utter chaos. Can you imagine the thousands upon thousands of Israelites with individual goals? What would they accomplish with individual goals and a “someone else will do it” attitude that accompanies shared responsibility? No matter the size, a group will not be what it should be if there are individual goals and shared responsibility.

Verse 37 describes the charge-the personal responsibility for the common goal-of the Kohathites. We meet this same family later in Numbers 16, when a man named Korah and a group of Israelites rose up in rebellion against Moses. A paraphrase of what happened is this: Korah and the rebels said, “Moses and Aaron, what makes you think that only you can lead us? Isn’t the nation holy?” Was the nation of Israel special to God, set apart to Him? The answer is “yes, they were.” But that was not the point; God had chosen Moses and Aaron, not Korah. In defiance and arrogant rebellion, the rebels offered incense (only the High Priest could do that) and were struck dead by God. Korah had an individual goal instead of an individual responsibility to the common goal.

For any team to work properly, there must be individual responsibility and a shared goal. When you lose the common goal and your individual responsibility, the team is hurt. May God help us to be “team players” in our churches, jobs, families, and ministries. A shared goal and individual responsibility-that is teamwork.