Coaching

A friend of mine is a soccer coach working with a high school team. This morning he explained how the team had done in their last game. He didn't say if they won or lost or the final score. Instead he mentioned thirteen straight passes at the onset and thirty-one shots on goal to the opponents six. He emphasized playing. What are the objectives of a good coach, winning at all costs or helping each player, with their different skills and experience, to be the best player they can be, and to work together as a team? Might the Church in America learn something here? Too often the pastor tries valiantly to do everything and gets burned out, or goes to the other extreme and thinks he is the only one that can do anything because of his specialized training. "Equip the saints for the work of ministry" (Ephesians 4:12) sounds like coaching to me.