{"id":19086,"date":"2020-01-17T08:35:35","date_gmt":"2020-01-17T13:35:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/?p=19086"},"modified":"2020-01-17T08:36:05","modified_gmt":"2020-01-17T13:36:05","slug":"the-one-trait-great-pastors-and-coaches-have-in-common","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/the-one-trait-great-pastors-and-coaches-have-in-common\/","title":{"rendered":"The one trait great pastors and coaches have in common"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and shunned evil.<\/strong> <\/em>–Job 1:1<\/p>\n

Job, you have instructed many.\u00a0 You have strengthened weak hands; your words have upheld him who was stumbling; and you have strengthened the feeble knees.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 –Job 4:3-4<\/p>\n

Authenticity: Job had it.<\/p>\n

It’s my observation that in sports the best coaches and in church the most effective pastors are all authentic.<\/p>\n

They are the real deal.<\/p>\n

They don’t try to be someone else.\u00a0 While they have surely picked up traits and lessons and insights from others, they do not do their imitation of other people.\u00a0 They are themselves.<\/p>\n

The word–I love finding the root meaning of words–comes from autos<\/em>, meaning “self,” and hentes<\/em>, Greek for worker, doer, author.\u00a0 So, we might say “authentic” means “coming from the author” or “genuine.”<\/p>\n

The Bible is authentic.\u00a0 It comes from the Original Author (of all things!).<\/p>\n

What started me thinking about this was a sports discussion on the radio one morning recently.\u00a0 A former UCLA coach made the observation after the LSU-Alabama slugfest back in November, that both coaches, Nick Saban and Ed Orgeron, are authentic.\u00a0 They are originals, copying no one, imitating no one, just being who they are.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The speaker said, “Coach O would tell you, if he were sitting here today, that when he went to Ole Miss as coach (2005-2007), he made the mistake of trying to imitate someone else, not being himself.”\u00a0 If that’s the case, and I expect it is, Coach O then had the lesson reinforced at subsequent places where he coached, that the only way to do this is by being yourself.<\/p>\n

The slang these days is “you be you.”\u00a0 Some of us\u00a0 recoil at the offense of that, but if it’s calling for authenticity, it’s good. If it’s saying you are to give sway to every urge inside you, no matter what, it’s not good.<\/p>\n

I think I’ll stick with the word authenticity.<\/em><\/p>\n

For a pastor of the Lord’s flock, what would authenticity involve?\u00a0 Some thoughts on that…<\/strong><\/p>\n

One.<\/strong>\u00a0 Be the person God created you to be.\u00a0 Accept what He did when He made you and believe He knew what He was doing.<\/p>\n

Don’t try to be someone else.<\/em><\/p>\n

Two.\u00a0<\/strong> Bring your personality to the cross and make sure Christ is Lord of all that is you.<\/p>\n

Don’t let your humor or talk run unrestrained<\/em> and try to justify it with “that’s just who I am” and “it’s me being me.”\u00a0 We all have best selves and lower natures.\u00a0 Christians are always working to be their best self for Jesus’ sake.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, do not repress your humor or your originality when you enter the pulpit.\u00a0 One of the most delightful personalities I ever knew was a pastor who left it all behind when he began to preach.\u00a0 He could have been twice the preach he was had he stayed with the way God made him.\u00a0 (Just my observation; I’m not his judge.)<\/p>\n

Three<\/strong>. Recognize that as a disciple of Jesus Christ, you should always be growing in Christlikeness.\u00a0 The nine qualities making up the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) will increasingly describe your mature character.<\/p>\n

At no point will you arrive in this life.\u00a0 You should be a better you this year than last.\u00a0 Authenticity means being your best self. (No, Joel Osteen did not copyright that expression.\u00a0 You may use it. Smile, please.)<\/p>\n

Four.<\/strong>\u00a0 Feel free to share the story of your pilgrimage, insights picked up along life’s journey, with others.\u00a0 One way to let people see you are the real deal\u00a0 is to let them see your scars.<\/p>\n

Another\u00a0 way of looking at the subject might be to ask “What would inauthentic look like?”\u00a0 And the answers would include things like…<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/b>–You faked your resume, claimed experiences and degrees you didn’t have.\u00a0 Not good.<\/p>\n

–You hide your inner self from others, never shed a tear, never let them see you sweat, never reveal to others that you are hurting.\u00a0 Not good.<\/p>\n

–You are one way with some people and another way with others.\u00a0 Two faced, yes, and even multi-faced.\u00a0 I keep thinking of two verses: “A double-minded man is unstable in all his way” (James 1:8) and “Unite my heart to fear Thy name” (Psalm 86:11).<\/p>\n

–You are spiritual and godly with your church and a tyrant at home.\u00a0 I’ve seen that and it’s not a pleasant thing.\u00a0 The children will drop out of church the first chance they get.\u00a0 Not good.<\/p>\n

–You are wonderful\u00a0 with most church members and a tyrant with the staff.\u00a0 Or, spiritual with the congregation but worldly with a few big shots.\u00a0 Or, on the golf course\u00a0 you place bets and laugh at the dirty jokes, etc.\u00a0 Not good.<\/p>\n

Authenticity in a pastor is an essential.\u00a0 Inauthenticity is hypocrisy and a deal-breaker.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A few years back I reconnected with someone who used to be in the college Sunday School class I had taught a generation earlier.\u00a0 As we connected, at one point she said, “I need someone to talk with, but you’re not the person.”<\/p>\n

I said, “How did you decide that?”<\/p>\n

She said, “You’ve got it all together.\u00a0 You’ve not had any failures and setbacks in life like the rest of us.”<\/p>\n

Hmm, I wondered.\u00a0 How did she come to that conclusion?<\/p>\n

I said, “I had cancer, surgery for it,\u00a0 and radiation. I live with the after-effects of the cancer.\u00a0 I’ve been run off from a church where I thought I was going to stay twenty years. My wife is a semi-invalid and my life is all about helping her.”<\/p>\n

She was quiet, then said, “Oh. I had no idea.”<\/p>\n

Right. That’s how it works.\u00a0 If the people around us look like they’ve got it all together, we assume they’ve not had the bumps and bruises the rest of us deal with every day of our lives.<\/p>\n

It’s not my assignment to go around showing my scars and telling my life story.\u00a0 But as it comes up, it actually helps establish a connection with people when they learn we have also come through the fires.<\/p>\n

We do not have a high priest who cannot be touched with our feelings of infirmity, said the writer of Hebrews. He was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.\u00a0 Therefore, we come boldly to His throne of grace…<\/strong> (Hebrews 4:14-16).<\/p>\n

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There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and shunned evil. –Job 1:1 Job, you have instructed many.\u00a0 You have strengthened weak hands; your … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[86,5,38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hebrews","category-pastors","category-suffering"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19086"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19434,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19086\/revisions\/19434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}