Logan Leadership

The Bible never commands us to coach. In fact, the word coach is never used. So why coach? Should we even coach? Is coaching biblical?

The Bible does command us to do certain things: to make disciples, to encourage one another, to listen to the Holy Spirit, to follow what we sense God is calling us to do. Yet in most cases it never tells us how. How are we to make disciples? Is one method right and another wrong?

The post below is by Randy Lovejoy, pastor of Silverlake Community Church.

I had an opportunity to use a different metric for ministry this past week.  This Sunday we had an unusual convergence in our worship service.  Not only did adults and youth join.  Not only did we have a baptism. We had both of these things as well as the commissioning of a mission team to Africa.  And all of this in one service.

In my years of working with many different types of groups, I’ve found that there are two extremes to avoid when it comes to planning.

One is simply going into all-out planning mode where we think through our project on the human side, make all the decisions, then turn around and ask God to bless our plans. When we do this, we’re living our lives as if there were no God—like a functional atheist.

Often in ministry, we start to feel overwhelmed by the task before us. Engaging in what I call the action-reflection loop can help. Plan some time for reflection and take stock of where you’re at. Dream about where you want to be. You need clarity in terms of where you currently are and in terms of where your desired destination is, but beyond that, all you need to know is the next step. You don’t need to know the whole way to get here.

At our last ViaCordis campfire gathering, we gathered leaders of the churches who are in the ViaCordis network. We had a time of prayer and listening to the Lord and see what the Spirit might be prompting people to share. My friend and associate Doug Lee shared that the Lord really impressed this upon him: “Make the next five years be the best five years.”  Instead of coasting or just continuing on, he felt God telling him and his church to really respond to the Lord by focusing on making a strategic investment that will make the most difference for the kingdom.

Over years of working with churches and church leaders in a wide variety of denominations and networks, one thing that continues to amaze me is how many people view planning and spirituality as completely separate and even antithetical practices. On the one hand, some will say that planning is unspiritual, and as such, should be avoided; let the Spirit lead and what happens happens. On the other hand, some lean toward planning and forget to even attempt to engage in a posture of spiritual dependence on God.