As a child, stepping up to bat can be a somewhat terrifying experience.
You may remember the first time that you settled your feet into the batter’s box and looked up at the pitcher as he menacingly adjusted his grip on the ball. Your heart may have even skipped a few beats as he wound up and lunged forward, hurling a 5-ounce sphere of cowhide at 70 miles an hour in your direction.
No matter what sport is being played and no matter what age the player is, there is something intimidating about stepping onto the field. But every experienced athlete knows that the enemy of intimidation is preparation — and sufficient preparation can only come from an experienced coach.
Why We Need Coaches
As children, we needed coaches to walk us through the basics. Because we haven’t mastered the art of the sport and don’t yet have minds confident in our abilities, we need strong and experienced coaches to lead us – coaches who have already rounded the bases many times over.
But somewhere during the courses of our lives, we felt that we no longer needed coaches. Once we received our trophies and moved onto more mature pastimes, we began taking pride in our self-reliance. As we enter the arenas of college, career, marriage, and child-rearing, having coaches to guide us tends to seem unnecessary.
However, both Scripture and common sense do not support this individual approach to life. In fact, the majority of the New Testament was written by a variety of spiritual “coaches” to leaders in the early church.
King Solomon, the wisest man to ever live, exhorts us to “listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future” (Proverbs 19:20). Early in Israel’s history, God himself commanded the young men to “rise up before the grayheaded and honor the aged” (Leviticus 19:32).
Showing honor towards the aged means more than simply possessing a certain degree of respect and courtesy for the elderly. As leaders, we should seek out the “grayheaded” men who have gone before us — godly men who are willing to steer us away from the pitfalls they have experienced.
Seeking Christ-centered mentors is just one of many steps that you can take towards becoming a true man of God. The latest small group series from Light the Dark, “Common Man – Uncommon Life,” will help you take those next steps with confidence.
Find Your Coach
This series encourages men at all levels to seek out those who have gone before them and learn from them. It’s common sense to have a coach in all aspects of your life. You will never grow in your skill level as a father, leader, husband, or man if you aren’t being shaped by those who have been all those things longer than you.
You can watch the series trailer below.