1 Samuel 29:3
“Then the princes of the Philistines said, ‘What are these Hebrews doing here?’ And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, ‘Is this not David, the servant of Saul king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or these years? And to this day I have found no fault in him since he defected to me.’”

Team dynamics is a key to success. Birds of the same feather fly together. We are looking for unity in vision and nature, not uniformity. If there is disunity at the core, the team will fall apart, and if the team does not sync, there can be no victory.

So, don’t be naïve and keep your enemy on your team. Know when to separate. Your enemy is not necessarily from outside. Your enemy is the one who bears a different core, calling, and nature, but remains within. Opinions may differ, but hearts must be the same.

You may need to be ruthless in weeding out some people from your team. It may seem hard, but it is necessary to keep the team moving forward. There is only one solution when people differ from your team at the core level. Separate!

Successful leaders know that it’s sometimes necessary to fire people rather than lose the entire team. If you find someone on your team who is of different stripes, don’t keep them. As pilgrims, be careful about emotionally keeping people who will drain you.

Achish really wanted David and his men to join him and the Philistine army to fight the army of Israel, but the lords of the Philistine thought otherwise. They knew David and his men were different and could not be trusted in battle.

And they were right. We don’t know what David would have done if he and his men had gone into the battle, but it’s hard to imagine that he would have joined the Philistines to kill Saul, Jonathan, and the Israelite army. It’s not likely.

Don’t wait until the heat of things to discover loyalty. Find ways to discover the stripes of your team member and slowly begin to note those who differ from your core values. You need to release them even if you love them like Achish loved David.

Successful teams flow together despite their differences because their differences are superficial. Toxic teams insist on staying together despite deep differences at their core. Don’t be emotional. Know when to separate and keep your journey on the right course.