TITUS CONNECTION Volume 18, Number 3 – March, 2024

Welcome Everyone.  We continue looking at Team Dysfunctions and the downward spiral.  The third level is lack of commitment.  The first level is absence of trust followed by fear of conflict.  I hope these discussions encourage you and help to develop the teams you are on.  Mike

When an absence of trust and a fear of conflict permeates a team, the next dysfunction that arises is a lack of commitment in the team.  When people are not willing to confront others when needed to be confronted, commitment to the team or organization will wane and deteriorate.  People simply develop a lack of commitment.
Why bother, they think because their opinions do not matter.  During meetings where there is little or no open and passionate discussion, people may nod in agreement over what was just decided but buy-in is absent.  No commitment and heart towards the decision results.
The leader(s) in charge must be willing to challenge the person on improper behavior, to hold people accountable.  This does not mean the leader is always the one who does the accountability because if peers see that their leader is holding the person in question to a high standard, peer-to-peer accountability may very well result.
This point must not be missed.  Accountability starts with the one in charge.  No one risks their neck when they know that their leader does not have their back.  Behavioral accountability shows love to another person.  People must know where the leader stands.  No ambiguity allowed.  Behavior is clear as there is no room for interpretation trying to figure out what the leader really wants or is willing to stand up for.
The leader must be comfortable making decisions that ultimately may turn out wrong.  She/he must keep people on task and push for some sort of closure with what is being discussed.  Not everyone will like this nudging, but it is easy to talk something to death and get nowhere, like ready, aim,…..aim…..aim and never fire!
Great teams make clear timely decisions and move forward with complete buy-in from all the team.  Various team members may not have all the facts they want but their voice has been heard and considered.  Everyone knows the decision on the direction the team is going.  A lack of commitment comes when there is ambiguity and not everyone is on board in the direction the team is headed.
Cohesive teams ensure that those around the table leave with the same understanding and commitment as everyone else around the table.  Make sure the team agrees upon what was understood and what will be communicated to others.  If not, problems abound!
Great teams provide voice to their members.  “Voice” is when everyone’s ideas and opinions are genuinely considered.  This encourages willingness to rally around whatever decision is made.  Put your thoughts on the table.
The major dynamic for Christians is to be in tune with the Holy Spirit’s leading, sensitivity to His leading.  There is no excuse to not be growing in the Word of God, obeying what you are prompted to be following, communicating with the Lord through prayer and serving and being in fellowship with other Christians. Scripture is clear.  As a Christian if you are not following Jesus through these avenues, you are not living your spiritual responsibility.  Christians need the Holy Spirit’s guidance at all times.
Many decisions are made without having all or even very little of the information needed.  A decision is better than no decision.  No decision creates ambiguity.  Teams can hash things over too much and the window of opportunity can quickly close.  Timing is important as opportunities can be missed.
A team may very well have the information needed to decide but there is little open, vibrant discussion due to a lack of trust and accountability.   Have discussion to hear people’s hearts, their voice.  With lack of confidence and fear of failing, you do not get buy-in.
Jesus was clear regarding unity among the body of believers to be like what the Father and He had (John 17:20-23).  Remaining (abiding) in Him (John 15:1-8) reveals the relationship that a believer needs to have with Him, just as He had with the Father.  That comes from building a growing relationship, one that involves His and our voices.
He let Peter and the other apostles have their voice with Him even though they did not always agree or say what Jesus saw (Matthew 16:21-26, John 6:1-8, Mark 9:33-37).  Other times He commended what they said (Matthew 16:13-19).
Jesus worked on the apostles’ commitment level throughout His time with them.  As they grew in their trust in who He is and then allowed conflict to be a part of their team development, commitment also grew, which finally came to fruition after His death and ascension into heaven.
The vision of why Jesus came to earth and the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven was constantly placed before the apostles and Jesus’ focus was developing the apostles for when He returned to heaven.  His mission accomplished.

Imagine having all the people you have known and know now gathered in one big auditorium and you are the focus of attention.  Now imagine someone grabbing the microphone and asking the crowd if you had ever done anything wrong to any of the people assembled in the auditorium and not made things right between each other.
Silence as people would think upon that question.  Would anyone raise their hand and say that you had done them wrong, that when you wronged the person in any way, you did not make it right?  For nearly the total population of the world, we all will wrong someone someway.  But what will we do then?
If you are a person of integrity, someone who is honest and has strong moral principles, you would do what you need to make things right, doing the right thing.  That is being above reproach or blameless, that no one can say that you did not make things right and in all your life dealings, you pursue living a moral, upright life.
In the Old Testament, having lived a long life as a public figure (the prophet of Israel), Samuel stood before all of Israel (1 Samuel 12:1-4).  Hundreds of thousands of people, maybe well over a million, gathered to here the old man speak.  Samuel had served the people of Israel for a long time, from the time of being a boy to now an old, gray-haired man.
He was not a perfect person.  He had two sons who were dishonest, perverting justice and accepting bribes.  They were people of corruption, not following in their father’s footsteps.(1 Samuel 8:1-4)
As Samuel rose before all of Israel, he set several questions before them.  Samuel asked, “Have I stolen anything from anyone of you?”  “Have I cheated or forced anyone to give me anything, taken a bribe to give an unfair decision or been a person of corruption?”  “If I have done any of these things, I will give it all back!”
Not one person of the huge crowd shouted out that Samuel had cheated or been unfair to him or her.  That is amazing.  This indicates, too, that if Samuel had been unfair to anyone during his long tenure as prophet, he made things right, right away.
Talk about a person of integrity, someone who would teach the Bible and live out what he or she teaches.  Ask yourself (or often for a more realistic assessment, someone who knows you well) how honest you are?  When you do something against someone, do you shrug it off and think to yourself that what you did was not a big deal or perhaps that person deserved what you did?   I need to ask myself the same questions.
Think about how often in your lifetime, someone came to you seeking forgiveness when they did something against you.  Do you need more than one hand to count the number of times?  When you did something to someone, how often have you gone to ask for forgiveness and possibly offer restitution?                     Going and saying, “I am sorry, but…(it was your fault or I could not help myself or whatever other excuse that can be given)”, is not seeking forgiveness but rather rationalizing your actions.
It is difficult to humble yourself and admit that you have done wrong to another person.  How you handle yourself after committing a sin, hurting someone shows the real character of a person.  What kind of character is inside of you?  This world needs to see a generation of young people who just do not talk about Jesus but live how He would live and think as He would think.  Let no one be able to throw dirt on your Christian testimony.