When I hear the word “coach” used I immediately get an image of an older man standing on the sidelines with a whistle in his mouth giving orders and direction to his team. Last class brought a new image and direction for my mind to follow as I was introduced to the concept of a coaching ministry. The concept was not new, as it’s been introduced to me in all of the sports that I played growing up, but the application of that term towards ministry and not sports started me thinking.
It was challenging to work with someone and try not to implement your own ideals or values when discussing issues with someone else. I wanted to tell them that they should do what I thought was right instead of truly coaching them and letting them develop their own idea of what they should be doing and the proper reasoning to back it up. Working with someone to teach them how to think through an issue and develop possible right and wrong can be incredibly challenging because if the other person decides on what they should do and what they think is far from what you believe to be right, then how does a proper coach handle the situation? Does the coach make a firm correction to the person, and if so then how does the coach get them thinking what’s right, especially if the coach isn’t supposed to impart his or her own opinion? There is a large number of difficulties in coaching someone else, however, there is a clear benefit to coaching someone over telling them everything that is right. If an individual is properly coached then what they walk away with, every bit of it, will have a personal value and meaning to it which they will not let go of easily and help them in their walk of faith.
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