Roadmap Goal:
Build a Team Mentality
How is a Family Like a Team?
We are created with a desire to belong, specifically to belong in relationship. There are lots of places this desire can be fulfilled, but the family is the first and best place! Thinking of the family as a team moves us from being individuals living under the same roof to a sense of being a team.
1. Teams Have a Shared Purpose
Think of any team playing any sport: they all have a shared purpose: to be their best and win.
While families aren't looking to win competition the way a sports team is, a united family is still pursuing the same goal. When your family has a clearly defined vision everyone can unite to reach the goal together.
2. Teams Have Clearly Defined Roles
Every sports team has clearly defined positions. Take football for example: there's a quarterback that throws the ball, the linebacker who keeps the other team out of the way, the wide receiver who catches the ball to make a run for the end zone...
But what happens when the linebacker decides to take his focus off his opponent and try to catch the ball instead? Linebackers don't train to catch the ball, so he's more likely to drop the pass. But even more, he's likely to push the receiver out of the way and prevent his teammate from doing his job.
When roles are clearly defined within a family, everyone knows what their purpose is. Toes aren't stepped on (as often!), and there's less conflict because everyone understands their place on the family team.
3. Teams Need Leadership
Every team out there has a coaching structure in place. Without coaches to analyze the team's performance, create a practice strategy, and provide direction in the heat of the moment, there will be no success.
God is the head coach of the family, with fathers and mothers as his assistant coaches. Under the guidance and authority of Scripture, Dad and Mom are equipped to guide their children to a life of success.
We’re not individuals just living under the same roof. The family is a team.
Ideas to Strengthen Your Team
Have Weekly Family Meetings
A team should meet together regularly to ensure everyone is still working towards the same goal. Family meetings give everyone a chance to feel seen, heard, and valued. Sitting down together weekly provides a predictable time to discuss any family concerns, as well as a time to plan your next family fun event.
Create a System of Accountability
A team keeps each other accountable--because the team can only be successful when each of the individuals is successful. We all need correction at times. Setting clear expectations of what will happen if a given rule or standard is broken makes it easier to address missteps in a calm, rational manner.
Establish Trust
It's very difficult to obey someone that we don't trust. How do we know they want what's best for us? We're all under a system of accountability: parents to God, children to parents, employees to employers. Showing our kids they can trust us by showing our trust in God will bring about improved obedience.
Read the Bible Together Daily
While children are directly under the authority of their parents, we're all under the authority of God. Reading the Bible together will reveal God's heart to everyone in the family.
Pray Together Daily
When we bring our requests to God, we acknowledge that our ability to control is limited, and we express our trust in Him to lead an guide. This is also a way to widen our focus beyond our own needs and desires and show care and compassion for the concerns of other family members and people around us.
Understand Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
Our culture is trying to sabotage God's created order by confusing what it means to be a man or a woman. The family must clearly understand and demonstrate these uniquely created roles--not in a cultural sense, but through Scripture--teaching that both are equally valuable and wonderful because they are of God's design.
Ask for Forgiveness
Teaching children to apologize to and ask forgiveness of each other seems to come naturally. We believe it's equally important for parents to apologize to and ask forgiveness of their children. This shows humility and lets our children know that even grown-ups mess up. When this is true, it's ok for kids to mess up, too!
