I want to be more than a baseball coach. I want to have more to say than just some critiques of current performance and instruction for greater future performance. I want to be remembered for far more than games won or lost.
When I played, I wanted more than just a baseball coach. I wanted a man I could look up to, someone whose life was worth emulating.
Proverbs 4:11 is a challenge to both coaches and players. We should all desire more than a baseball coach. “I have directed you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in upright paths.”
Two challenges.
If you have the title of coach, be more than a baseball coach. Be a leader of young men. Be a follower of Jesus whose life is worthy of your calling, whose attitudes, words, and actions are like the Savior’s. I’m convinced that what our young men need isn’t simply better baseball instruction, but better men leading them. Let’s face it, many times, our players play on our teams and go through our programs never knowing if they were anything but a potential asset to the team. Prove to them otherwise. Lead them in paths their wives and children will one day appreciate. Ask the Lord to show you how to direct them in the way of godly wisdom. Be more than a baseball coach.
If you’re currently a player, desire more than a baseball coach. If that’s all you have, you don’t have much. Honestly, there are hundreds of websites and Twitter accounts from which you can learn more about the game. Refuse to be impressed by a man who knows the game and cares very little for you as a person. Expect leadership from a man whose goal is for you to be a godly husband and father, who demands from you that you honor and respect your parents, that you treat everyone with dignity. And, if that’s the kind of baseball coach you have (more than a coach), follow him to the ends of the earth. He’ll teach you the ways of wisdom and lead you in upright paths.
Lord Jesus, make me/give me more than a baseball coach. Make me/give me a godly leader of young men. Amen.
