Saturday, March 23, 2013

Coach Jesus (The Fourth Quarter)



I'm trying to get my students to flesh out how they perceive Jesus as a person based on what they see in our readings or what they believe about what they have heard concerning the Messiah. I try to make Jesus, who was a carpenter , real as it relates to their society. Today, I had all of my classes answer this question: 
What kind of coach would Jesus be?

 Here are some responses. All are used by permission and I allowed the students, if they chose, to pick a specific sport. These are all  high school students in my Gospels; classes, with girls in pink and boys in blue. This is the fourth installment!


If Jesus was a coach, He would be the assistant coach. God would be the head coach. The reason Jesus would not be the head coach is because of the characteristic He displayed while on earth. God would be head coach because He would push His players, His people to the best they could be. God would be head coach because God can release His wrath when needed and be justified because He is the fairest of all judges. Jesus would be the PR coach. He would appeal to the masses and say what needs to be said to not only the other team, but also to the fans of the sport and to His own players. If Jesus was a coach, He would be unlike any other coach I have had because He would be fair and convicting.
                                    -Austin Fuller


Jesus would be the perfect coach because He would be the most moral leader. As well as teaching the basis of a sport, He would teach the players spiritual traits. He would concentrate on the social skills that are behind sports-- team building, kindness, and cooperation. He would be honest with his players, and frankly tell them their weak and strong points. He would be a servant leader and would teach by example.
                                    -Julia Poage


I think if Jesus was a coach, he wouldn't be great because of His sense of conscience. When coaching, you may sometimes have to exaggerate things that happen to get your players to do something or to work harder. Jesus can do no wrong or sin. He would also have to deal with viciousness being rewarded in some sports, and some circumstances which happen on the field of play. Jesus would also have the problem of being nice to everyone and sometimes you just can’t be a nice guy- you have to be mean and stubborn and unmoving.
                                    -Stephen Scott


I feel like Jesus would not be considered a good coach in this modern time. In the Bible, Jesus constantly puts others ahead of Himself, He lets anyone with faith join His “team,” and He treats others with kindness. As a coach, your job is to win games. Winning games doesn’t necessarily mean being nice to the other team, or allowing everyone who wants to play on the team to do so. Yes, there are some polite and considerate coaches out there, but coaches  who let terrible athletes play more than outstanding athletes, and never yell at their athletes, are not very popular. Those kind of coaches don’t win many games therefore, they will not have the job for very long. I feel like Jesus will be a coach like that, so He wouldn't be employed for long.
                                    -Simone Edwards


I think Jesus would be the best coach the world has ever seen. It would be really hard for the players to play with confidence. I think He would still get angry at the players and yell at them, but He would do it without sinning. He also could tell the players how to win the game but I don’t know if He would do that because I don’t know if that's considered cheating. I also think Jesus is very competitive so He would want His team to always win.
                                    -Kirk Berger

Applicable quote of the day:
"When I was coaching, the one thought that I would try to get across to my players was that everything I do each day, everything I say, I must first think what effect it will have on everyone concerned.  
Frank Layden (Utah Jazz)

*the picture at the top is from happyjesus.blogspot.com*

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail meat steve@hawleybooks.com

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