The Significance of Sport Chaplains and Character Coaches in the 21st Century

We just completed the second Fellowship of Christian Athletes Sport Chaplains Conference at St. Simons Island, Georgia in the USA. It was an excellent conference with outstanding presenters from both FCA staffers and volunteers who serve in both the high school and college sports.

 

Below is the address which I delivered as the keynote address on Monday evening. I hope it serves to encourage and to challenge you. We are in a unique and exciting position. Let’s serve wisely and well.

 

The Significance of Sport Chaplains and Character Coaches in the 21st Century

 

Ministry in Sport has changed greatly in the last sixty years.

• It began with iconic figures and very few details about their lives. FCA was founded on this dynamic. FCA’s founder, Don McLanen, selected high profile, Christian athletes to proclaim their faith in public, just as they were being used by companies to promote their products.

• Ministry in Sport grew through the influence of two-dimensional, heroic Christian athletes who were used by various ministries to achieve growth and financial development. FCA grew through this dynamic.

• The last twenty years have revealed a huge tear in the fabric of many sports ministries. Our intentions have been questioned, our integrity has been examined and our methods have been scrutinized. FCA is part and parcel of this dynamic.

The present world of sport and much of sports ministry is characterized by three primary weaknesses.

• The prevalence of compartmentalized lives; that is a lack of integrity. This is easily seen in situations like the fall of coaches, players, and even prominent Christian athletes (the names of coaches, athletes and Christian athletes I mentioned are withheld here).

• The horrible lie of performance based identity. A player’s sense of personal worth may rise or fall based upon his most recent performance on the field of competition. A coach’s sense of God’s pleasure with her may ride on her team’s win/loss record. Even worse, a sport chaplain’s sense of his or her being in God’s will can be shaped by the relative success or failure of the teams being served. Each and all of these scenarios are emblematic of the terrible lie that assaults the hearts of sports people.

• The collapse of the American family structure. Most of the young men and women whom we serve are now from single parent families. They start their lives relationally and spiritually handcuffed. Worse still, if they are so blessed as to be athletically gifted, they may find that their coaches, teammates, agents, peers, lovers, even their parents and sport chaplains use the player for their own personal gain.

Sport Chaplains and Character Coaches in the 21st century are uniquely qualified to address these issues.

• If we will lovingly lead and serve with integrity of heart and not simply follow the culture’s flow of compartmentalization, we can make a real difference. We can lead players, coaches and our colleagues in ministry toward lives of real integrity and don’t treat it as a mere buzzword to impress our donors.

• The issue of performance based identity is most poignant for these days and will only increase in importance in the future. Please watch this three and one half minute video clip from Dr. John Ashley Null. Ashley leads the International Sport Coalition’s Serving the People of Sport - Major Sports Event Chaplaincy Team. http://vimeo.com/15621759  

• The self-perpetuating cycle of broken people growing up in broken homes can be overcome by the life transforming power of the Gospel of Christ in the lives of sportspeople. Not for the sake of the masses who follow them, but for their own lives and families. They are worth it, regardless if anyone else is watching.

My challenge to each of you, to FCA corporately and to sports ministries globally is:

• To conduct your ministry with a whole heart. To fully integrate the presence and power of Christ in all of life; sport, ministry, family, all of it.

• Guard your hearts and those you serve from the insidious lie of performance based identity. Help them to see that their lives are inextricably tied to the infinite value of Christ Jesus as they are in Him.

• Dynamically impact the lives of the people of sport with the Gospel and thereby extend Christ’s influence in their families, teams, communities and the world.

More from "Tribes"

Last week I quoted the book, “Tribes – We Need You to Lead Us” by Seth Godin (Portfolio) and made some remarks related to application of its ideas. More of the same follows below.

 

Today’s item is from the section titled, “Improving a Tribe.”

 

“As we saw earlier, it takes only two things to turn a group of people into a tribe:

• A shared interest

• A way to communicate

 

The communication can be one of four kinds:

• Leader to tribe

• Tribe to leader

• Tribe member to tribe member

• Tribe member to outsider

 

So a leader can help increase the effectiveness of the tribe and its members by:

• Transforming the shared interest into a passionate goal and desire for change.

• Providing tools to allow members to tighten their communications, and

• Leveraging the tribe to allow it to grow and gain new members.

 

Most leaders focus only on the third tactic. A bigger tribe somehow equals a better tribe. In fact, the first two tactics almost always lead to more impact.”

As before, we’ll look more intently at each section with some application points for each.

 

As we saw earlier, it takes only two things to turn a group of people into a tribe:

• A shared interest – Sports teams are already ahead of the curve in this process as their shared interest in their sport is central to their being together. Sport Chaplains, Character Coaches and Sport Mentors are also uniquely equipped to add another layer of shared interest as they weave faith in Christ into their relationships with players, coaches and support staff.

• A way to communicate – For sports teams this is usually face to face at practice and on game day. At other times it may mean phone calls, emails, text messages, etc… The team’s Sport Chaplain can enhance their communication and thereby greatly increase the team’s effectiveness. Team building exercises are most effective in this process. Please contact me if you’d like to discuss this more deeply. We can also model ways of communicating more effectively for the coaching staff and for competitors as well.

 

The communication can be one of four kinds:

• Leader to tribe – This usually looks like Coach to Player. It can also be Character Coach to Coach or to Player. The Sport Chaplain’s leadership role within the life of the team can be powerful and of tremendous worth. Don’t discount your influence. You may be leading the tribe.

• Tribe to leader – This is usually Player to Coach and is much different than that mentioned above. This kind of communication is usually in the coach’s office or somewhere with more privacy when the subject is personal. It’s often exercised while watching practice video or discussing technique and strategy. The Sport Mentor can help the tribe to communicate more effectively by helping them understand how to speak with respect to those who lead them. The tribe may be speaking to the Character Coach also, listen closely and you can serve them better.

• Tribe member to tribe member – The modes for this communication are widely varied from relaxed joking in the locker (changing) room to trading SMS text messages to facebook posts, tweets, phone calls and things I’m not even aware of yet. Improving this area of communication may be the most difficult as the methods and culture change so rapidly. Sport Chaplains can also enhance the tribe’s communication, member to member, by working to establish relational connections, to build trust and to make commitments to each other.

• Tribe member to outsider – In the world of sport this looks like coaches or athletes speaking to the media or signing autographs for fans. Those on the inside of the team communicate differently with those inside the team (tribe) than they do with those outside. Usually that’s a good thing which is necessitated by the outsiders’ lack of technical knowledge or a disparity of values. The Sport Mentor can do a real service to the tribe as he helps them to define their values and consider wise communication skills with outsiders.

 

So a leader can help increase the effectiveness of the tribe and its members by:

• Transforming the shared interest into a passionate goal and desire for change. – Sport Chaplains are in a perfect spot to do this as our shared interest in the sport is enhanced by the shared interest and passion for Christ. The shared interest and passion can be transformational. Let it be.

• Providing tools to allow members to tighten their communications, and – Character Coaches who learn how to use technology well and to connect more deeply than the 140 characters allowed in a Twitter post can greatly enhance the communications between team members, their coaches and even each other.

• Leveraging the tribe to allow it to grow and gain new members. – Please don’t get caught in the trap of fixating on this item to the exclusion to the first two. They actually lead to this one. Properly focusing on them will allow this one to happen rather naturally.

In summary – Sport Chaplains, Character Coaches and Sport Mentors may be in perfect position to be dynamic leaders among their teams (tribes). We must look for the Lord’s grace to serve and to lead with Christ-honoring character. Go ahead, lead.

"Tribes - We Need You to Lead Us"

A couple of weeks ago the book, “Tribes – We Need You to Lead Us” by Seth Godin (Portfolio) was recommended to me by Silas Mullis of Operation Mobilization’s SportsLink. I strongly recommend reading this book as its insights are most useful. The next few weeks’ articles will relay some of the ideas from the book and applications to ministry with people of sport.

A recurring theme in the book is Leadership and why it is important for people to lead from wherever they are in the organization’s flow chart.

“My thesis:

• For the first time ever, everyone in an organization – not just the boss – is expected to lead.

• The very structure of today’s workplace means that it’s easier than ever to change things and that individuals have more leverage than ever before.

• The marketplace is rewarding organizations and individuals who change things and create remarkable products and services.

• It’s engaging, thrilling, profitable and fun.

• Most of all, there is a tribe of fellow employees or customers or investors or believers or hobbyists or readers just waiting for you to connect them to one another and lead them where they want to go.”

Now for some observations and applications of these ideas.

“For the first time ever, everyone in an organization – not just the boss – is expected to lead.” This is very similar to the Jesuits’ thesis that “We’re all leading and we’re leading all the time, whether well or poorly.” The sport community has known this for a long time as we look for leadership from among the competitors and not just from the coaching staff. While it’s expected, it’s not always at hand among some teams. We who lead sports ministries can be very effective as developers of leadership in both coaches and competitors. Even better, we can model and instruct people in Jesus’ way of servant leadership and thereby greatly transform the lives of everyone involved.

“The very structure of today’s workplace means that it’s easier than ever to change things and that individuals have more leverage than ever before.” Many organizations and even some sports clubs are becoming flatter and more responsive to those at the fringe. Many coaches have begun to purposefully listen to their players and have instituted groups like “team councils” to speak for the team and to help the Head Coach have a finger on the pulse of his team’s attitudes and thoughts. Some even include these team leaders in their decision making on certain matters. Sport Chaplains and Character Coaches are even included in some decision making as those who lead the team or the club seek wisdom and insight. If we’re available, we can strongly shape the organization, even though we have no real “organizational power or authority.”

“The marketplace is rewarding organizations and individuals who change things and create remarkable products and services.” In the sports world this is best seen in the recruiting of talent. Whether collegiate, club or professionals, people want to compete for the organizations and leaders who are doing something remarkable. No one sets out to be pedestrian or mediocre. The sports world is full of people who are achievement oriented and they’re drawn to innovators and dynamic personalities. We who serve Christ in sport may be the most innovative and dynamic people in the culture. We may also be rather bland and unimaginative. It’s up to us. Those in your club, team or community will seek you out if they see something which raises their curiosity, whets their thirst for Christ or engages their hearts with real life. Let’s be risky and remarkable rather than safe and predictable.

“It’s engaging, thrilling, profitable and fun.” Sport, at its best, is engaging, thrilling, profitable and fun. Don’t choke on the word “profitable” by just thinking about money. The profit in sport for most of us in about many things, but certainly not money. I’ve been engaged in sport since I was able to stand up and swing a baseball bat. Over fifty years later, I still find it to be engaging, thrilling, profitable and fun. After seventeen years of serving as a sport chaplain and character coach, I still feel the same and with increasing measure as I learn more about serving well. Greater still is the engagement, thrill, profit and fun which I experience as I have my faith in Christ both poured into and nurtured by the people of sport.

“Most of all, there is a tribe of fellow employees or customers or investors or believers or hobbyists or readers just waiting for you to connect them to one another and lead them where they want to go.” The author defines a tribe as, “a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea.” Sport teams certainly qualify as tribes. Sports ministries also qualify. The point of his statement is that these tribes are just waiting for someone to lead them well by connecting them to one another and to help them connect with their mission. This is what good team captains, good coaches, good CEOs, good Sport Chaplains, good Character Coaches and other Christ-honoring leaders do. Look around you, there is a tribe just waiting for you to help them connect with one another. Help them do that. In the process, you can communicate the transforming power of life in Christ and thereby lead people into the life-long adventure that follows such a commitment.

We are providentially enabled to be powerfully influential with the people of sport. We need not have the loftiest title nor the most powerful position to lead well, effectively and honorably. From wherever we are in our organization’s structure, we can and must lead people by helping them connect with each other and with their goals. Lead on.

Time Management

Time management is a continual issue for those of us who live in the sports world. How to balance work, family, ministry, travel, practice time, game days, study, church, exercise and leisure is a dynamic, daily process. Added to all those factors is the ever-changing nature of our station in life. The proportions of time for each of the above listed matters is drastically different for the twenty-five year old father of a new born than for the fifty-five year old empty nester.

 

Throughout my adult life, making choices related to time management has been an important issue. In my twenties I didn’t give much thought to it beyond, “Do I have enough time to get from work to the ball park in time?” I would leave work at 4:30, be at the ball park by 5:30 for a double header fast-pitch softball game and not get home before 11:30. That all seemed very reasonable to me until I was the father of a two year old son and suddenly time was getting squeezed a little. It seemed like a good idea to prioritize some time for my wife. Goodbye fast-pitch, hello slow pitch. In that game, a double header could be played in two hours. Good move.

 

In my thirties, after a couple of job changes, I was the father of a son playing two sports at the same time. As I looked at a potential career change with lots of travel and nights out of town, I instead chose to be home more, to play basketball with Jason in the driveway, to have time for playing catch, for playing hockey (complete with facial scars), for soccer games and more. That was one of the best decisions of my lifetime.

 

In my forties, I had already started my work in sports ministry and was getting my feet on the ground when the Head Football coach asked me to travel with the team to road games. That privilege brought on even more adjustments to my schedule and shifting of priorities. It also came with some criticism and misunderstanding. It cost me every weekend for fourteen to sixteen weeks each fall. I would review my calendar from time to time and find that I had worked every day for several weeks. It was wearing me out. I had to find time to rest, but it was not easy.

 

Now, well into my fifties, I am constantly budgeting time and making decisions about where to invest my time, my energy and my heart. Not everything weighs the same to me. Some matters are very important and others are less weighty. I have to prioritize my calendar like any other commodity of great value. Of late, I’ve been prioritizing time for those who seem to hunger most. Last week I wrote about the economy of opportunity and this is a major factor in my decision making. Over the last several years, international ministry and travel has been added to the mix and with it has come an even greater need to budget time wisely. Having become a grandfather just over a month ago radically changed my priorities and I’m constantly looking for a reason to make the one hour drive to see Addison Faith Lipe.

 

So, how do we manage time? Like it or not, each of us only has twenty-four hours in any day. Some of that is given to sleep (a discipline as important as any), some to work, some to family and the remaining to a wide array of other priorities. The issue is constantly: Setting priorities and holding tightly to them. I would challenge you to live purposefully and to shape your calendar, appointment book and wrist watch by your priorities. Once those priorities are set, write them down and keep them where you can see them. Tell someone else about them for accountability and then hold tightly to them. Each day has the same twenty-four hours, each week, seven days and each year fifty-two weeks. Each life has X years. The X factor is more an issue as I approach fifty-five than it was at twenty-five. Let’s follow Moses’ wise advice in his prayer from Psalm 90. In doing so we can fulfill the Lord’s purposes for our lives as mentioned in Acts 13:36.

Psalm 90:12

12 Teach us to number our days,

that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Acts 13:36

36 “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed.

Economy of Opportunity

After almost 45 years as a follower of Christ and 20 years of vocational ministry, I think I’m beginning to understand our Lord’s Economy of Opportunity. Across those years and across several continents I have seen hundreds if not thousands of ministries which are “needs driven.” Those who lead the ministries, either a part of local churches or parachurch ministries, identify the “felt needs” of a particular community, then seek to meet them as a means of expressing the love of Christ Jesus or as an avenue to sharing the Gospel. Noble goals both. However, such a focus on needs can occasionally obscure the recognition of genuine opportunity the significant impact which comes along with it.

 

Jesus was very familiar with the needs of people and dealt properly with them daily. He also seemed to value opportunity even more highly. Please read the following passage and listen for the moment when opportunity trumps need.

John 12 (The Message)

Six days before Passover, Jesus entered Bethany where Lazarus, so recently raised from the dead, was living. Lazarus and his sisters invited Jesus to dinner at their home. Martha served. Lazarus was one of those sitting at the table with them. Mary came in with a jar of very expensive aromatic oils, anointed and massaged Jesus' feet, and then wiped them with her hair. The fragrance of the oils filled the house.

Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, even then getting ready to betray him, said, "Why wasn't this oil sold and the money given to the poor? It would have easily brought three hundred silver pieces." He said this not because he cared two cents about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of their common funds, but also embezzled them.

Jesus said, "Let her alone. She's anticipating and honoring the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you. You don't always have me."

Did you hear it? “You always have the poor with you. You don't always have me." It is always the right thing to care for the needs of the poor, we always have them. We do not always have the remarkable presence of Christ at a particular moment of greatest impact. This is opportunity and this is why it outweighs need in the Lord’s economy. Bethany was certainly well populated with poor people and I’m sure Lazarus, Mary and Martha were generous toward them, but they were not Mary’s focus on this day. She anticipated Jesus’ death and burial and was ready with an extravagant gift of love and respect.

 

For us who serve the men and women of sport, there are every day, regular even mundane tasks of ministry. There are constant needs for those whom we serve. It’s always right to meet those needs. However, there are occasional, even rare moments when opportunity makes its presence known. Sometimes our moments of opportunity come to us in crisis, as it did for Mary. We would do well to follow her lead and to recognize the opportunity, to marshal the resources, to prioritize the time, to risk being misunderstood and to extravagantly express love and respect.

 

When our ministries are driven by needs we can easily become consumed by the need, the needy and the constant urgency to meet the daily needs. Sadly some of the most compassionate and gifted leaders and servants in Christ’s kingdom become overwhelmed by the needs and have their hearts numbed by the constant pain and distress of the needy. In such a condition they are also desensitized to the presence of opportunity as it arrives. Opportunity may be gone in a week, a day, an hour or maybe even in a minute. As soon as it appears, it is suddenly gone and with it the chance to make significant impact.

 

We all have some people around us who resemble Judas in this passage. No matter how much wisdom there is in our value of opportunity, they will criticize and complain about waste and misappropriation. Don’t worry about it. Jesus has your back and He says, "Let her (him) alone. You always have the poor with you. You don't always have me."