February 24, 2020 - Make Sure You Have Good Coaches In Your Life

Last week I talked about choosing teammates that are like-minded with you… have the same goals. Off the court this translates to having a solid peer group. Yet having good teammates (a solid peer group) is only part of being a championship caliber team… there must be a way to avoid the chaos of too many voices… having the same goals is not enough by itself…

Everyone on your team wants to win (same goals) but not everyone is headed in the same direction… or another way of looking at it is that a team needs the right heart (goals… passion… motivation) but also needs the right mind (purpose… preparation… plan) to accomplish the goals.

In first Corinthians 15 we see the word “vain” appear multiple times…

In verse 58 we see the answer to making sure our “labor is not in vain in the Lord.” The word there means “without effect, void of truth.” In other words, it is possible to be “abounding” and not be productive. John Wooden used to say, “Don’t mistake activity for achievement!” Therefore, we have to figure out what leads to ineffectiveness…

In verse 2 we see the word “vain” but not referring to one’s labor but instead referring to one’s belief (mind.) In English it appears to be the same idea since the word “vain” is used in both verses… yet in the Greek it is actually two different words. Here the word means without purpose… or without just cause. Here it refers to having the right “why”/plan/purpose.

Goals without a Game Plan = chaos and confusion

Game Plans without Goals = lethargy

Last week = we need good teammates

This week = we need good coaches

What the coach says gives the direction to reach the goals. In the Christian world we need first and foremost to understand that what The Coach (God) says in His Playbook (the Bible) is the authority. Unfortunately, in this peer-based society we tend try to define the Bible through the chaos of all the voices instead of allowing the Bible to determine the validity of those voices.

The leads me to encourage you to learn to rightly divide the Word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15) And then also find solid Bible teachers/pastors to serve as coaches/mentors in your lives. This is how we become “steadfast and immovable” as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:58… then our “abounding in the work of the Lord will not be in vain" (without effect, void of truth.)