Dan Czaplewski posted on March 26, 2008 12:41
I have had some very rewarding times as a coach. This year I got to coach boys basketball (Middle School) and track. It was time consuming, but rewarding and, honestly, fun.
One of the great rewards of coaching is to see individuals perform to the best (and sometimes beyond the best) of their abilities. Whether a player is gifted or a beginner, to see them do their very best is pure joy for me as a coach.
There is only one thing better as a coach and that is to see a team that plays like a team. When a team is at its best, it makes every individual a better player. There is nothing like watching a high level of team play if you are a coach.
Though the analogy breaks down on a number of different levels, but there is nothing like watching “team play” in a congregation if you are a pastor. When one person invites a friend and that friend is warmly welcomed by other members of the congregation. Through a network of connections over a period of time, that one friend becomes the friend of many others. It is a beautiful thing to watch.
As I write this, there is some exciting team play going on at Shepherd of the Coast. One man who has considerable artistic talent is painting a mural in our sanctuary. The mural is over the spot where there had been a stained glass window before hurricane Wilma. I couldn’t do what this artist is doing and I don’t know of anyone else in our congregation who could. But God placed this man in the right place at the right time.
I said that the analogy between coaching a team and being a pastor of a church breaks down. The greatest difference is that, in a church, it is God’s hand that moves the various “players into position.” As a coach, I was responsible for finding the right chemistry between players. As a pastor, my primary job is to get myself and others out of the way of what God is doing.
PS – Sorry it has been so long between posts. Lent, Holy Week, and Easter have been hectic.