Coach Jesus ....Third Inning

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. Several weeks ago, as I did last year, 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. Tonight, all the thoughts are from 8th graders, with girls in pink and boys in blue. We will post more of these for several days! I do think it is fascinating how some of the kids consider what believers see as attributes in Jesus to be liabilities as a coach!

I think Jesus would be a great coach! No, He wouldn't do all the normal things a normal coach would but He would show us the real reason to play the sport: to have fun. Most teams have coaches who are all about winning and who do not care about having fun.Although winning is nice, it doesn't mean it's the most important thing in life. Jesus would show us why we should play. For example, if I'm playing in a soccer game and miss the goal, a regular coach would scold me sit me on the bench. Jesus would try to help me and show me to keep trying and have fun!
Briah

I believe Jesus would be a horrible football coach. Football requires coaches to look past the opposing teams' injuries. You have to possess a competitive mindset; you have to have that passion to win. Jesus would want everything to be equal. Yet, He could definitely control how the game goes! He could re-route the game so His team could win. But, if a player cursed, Jesus would most likely sit them on the bench. He would crack down on disrespect and disobedience!
Emmanuel

I think Jesus would be a good basketball coach. He has the values of the perfect leader and in order to be a good coach, you have to be a good leader.  I think Jesus would do anything to get a good outcome and effort from his players. I do not think He would bench the good players and play the non-experienced ones out of pity but He would give everyone a reasonable amount of playing time. In terms of scouting, I don't think Jesus would reject scouting. It might be considered cheating but He would scout to make some connection to a lesson about cheating. I also think Jesus would handle talent well because He would use that player and turn them into a leader so they can teach their skills to the other players.
Kevin D.

I think Jesus would be a great coach- doesn't He coach us in life to get us into Heaven? As a basketball coach, He would not necessarily have to yell 
or do any other crazy basketball stuff because He knows the importance in relation to the purpose of us. I think if someone did something intentionally wrong- profanity  or using His name in vain- Jesus would rebuke them to get them back on the right track. I don't think winning or losing would matter to Jesus; He would let the talents of the players come out. I think Jesus would be similar to the coach in the movie clip we saw (Editor's note- Gene Hackman in Hoosiers, the pre-game scene of the state championship) because He does love us. Jesus would be a nice, strong, and thoughtful coach. He would make His players apologize every time they fouled someone on the other team because He knows we all make mistakes. If there was a coin flip, Jesus would let the player make the call!
Christina

To watch the clip from Hoosiers referenced by Christina, copy and paste the link below!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gKbrj2nZis

Applicable quote of the day:

“Intelligent coaching is sometimes no coaching.” 

Marty Stern

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com