Everybody needs a coach—whether to help you plant a garden, build a home, improve a golf swing, or lead a small group. The question is: What does coaching look like? How do we inspire, shepherd, and develop leaders of groups so that they grow in wisdom, maturity, and skills?
To help our coaches, we've outlined four key practices for the oversight of leaders.
Modeling: Pursue Christ-likeness. Grow in the life of full devotion you're inviting others to lead. Paul said, "Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1). I remember when Ryan, now almost 16, was about four years old. We were walking down Michigan Avenue in Chicago and I was holding his hand. I let go to pick up a large piece of paper in our path on the otherwise clean sidewalk. I threw it in a trash can and turned to grab Ryan's hand—but he was gone. For a split second, I panicked—it was a busy street with many passersby. I turned around and discovered he was several feet behind me, picking up another piece of trash he had spotted. He threw it in the can and grabbed my hand. It struck me—he watches everything I do!
We're always modeling, whether we realize it or not. Coaches should pursue the Jesus way of life for their own benefit and growth, but should be aware that leaders are looking to them—at least sometimes—to show the way and to live a life worth emulating. We inspire others when we pursue Christ. It's job one for coaches.
I'm not sure what your lives are like, but mine is progressively getting faster and more complex. As the doors of opportunity increase and the pace of ministry exponentially advances, I find myself struggling to create margins and live a life that is not only pleasing to our Lord, but also aligned with who I am and what I value.
Gandhi once said, "You must be the change you want ...
This seven-session course will remind us of how to live the basic Christian life.
When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he knew they needed to be instructed in the basics. Today, we also need to be taught the basics of the Christian life. This seven-session course from 1 Corinthians will remind us why we go to church, how to use our bodies to honor God, how to find unity in diversity, how to love, serve, and worship together, and how to face death.
Printer view of these results
