Celebrity Pastors and Coaches

Mike Leake 3 Comments

Isiah Thomas. Love him or hate him, the dude could play basketball.  An exceptional passer, Thomas averaged 9.3 assists per game over his 13 year career. Though he never could master the correct spelling of Isaiah, it is obvious that Thomas understood the game of basketball. He is regarded as one of the top 50 players to ever play the game.

A point guard in basketball is like the quarterback in football. He is the field general, he runs the plays, he sets things into motion. To be a good point guard you have to possess a great feel for the game; something that is also required of a great coach. It was only natural that such a talented point guard would move on to be one of the greatest NBA coaches of all time.

If you follow the NBA you are laughing at my last sentence. Thomas was a train wreck as an NBA coach and executive. In his final season with the Knicks, Thomas only won 23 games. Things were so bad that Isaiah Thomas (a point guard for the Kings, that correctly spells his name) is booed whenever he comes to town.

Great players seldom make great coaches. Wayne Gretzky is unarguably the best hockey player to ever play the game. That success did not transfer to the bench, as Gretzky retired with a 47% career winning percentage.

How This Relates to the Church

One would think that a great player like Isiah Thomas or Wayne Gretzky would have a wealth of wisdom to share with players. Who better to teach players a slapshot than Gretzky? Who better to show young players how to lead a team than Isiah Thomas? Yet, for some reason it doesn’t translate. Why?

Likely, because Wayne Gretzky isn’t coach Wayne Gretzky and Isiah Thomas isn’t coaching Isiah Thomas. Granted athletes become great because of practice—something that we can all do. But great athletes also a great athletes because of God-given talent. Some things come naturally to Gretzky that won’t come natural to Ernie the Plumber no matter how many times he practices that slapshot.

I think this principle is also true in the church. And I believe it is one of the dangers of our celebrity culture.

Al Mohler can read thirty-six books per day and remember every word*. You probably can’t. Mark Driscoll (like him or not) can walk into the pulpit with a napkin and preach a solid sermon. You probably can’t. Mark Dever can work 35 hours on his Sunday morning sermon and run his ideas through a team of interns. You don’t have a team of interns.

Listen, I’m not saying that Mohler, Driscoll, and Dever make terrible “coaches” and that we shouldn’t listen to them. That’s foolish. But at the same time I have to wonder if there isn’t something very unhelpful that happens whenever our celebrities are the only ones telling us how we ought to go about doing this church thing. We’re only hearing one voice.

The church loses something valuable whenever we choose to ignore seasoned pastors that are just like us—plodding along in small churches, trying to be faithful with the underwhelming talent that we posses.

I’ve benefited greatly from the ministry of John Piper, Mark Dever, and a host of dead theologians. But when I come upon some real pastoral doozies I don’t do a web search on Desiring God, I call my friend Terry. He’s a guy that’ll probably never speak at T4G but he’s faithfully served his local church for some twenty years. (Not saying that Piper, Dever, and such haven’t, but he’s done it without being Piper and Dever and that’s my point).

Perhaps you need to put down that book from your latest celebrity and get to know a real pastor that’s just like you. Learn from him. Then maybe get back to reading that book from the experts.

—

*That may be a slight exaggeration.

Today in Blogworld 01.07.14

Mike Leake

A Calvinist Revival

A NY Times piece (yes, that NY Times) has published a piece on the rise of Calvinism. I’m not sure that the author really understands—but it was an interesting article nonetheless.

I’m Better Than You

I’ve known for awhile that Tim Challies is better than me. Glad to see that he’s finally admitting it. (This is actually a really honest look at a struggle we all probably have).

Browns fans tired of being sick and tired

This article sums up my frustration as a Browns fan. I’m not even sure that I can continue to be a Browns fan because I don’t want an ounce of success for Banner and Haslam. Chudzinksi was messed over bad by this regime. And it’d feel dirty to cheer for the Browns now.

An Oh-So-Subtle Twist

I was reluctant to read any other article having anything to do with Duck Dynasty. But this one really isn’t about the Duck Dynasty fiasco. It’s about the way we talk about sin. (HT: Challies)

This is an amazing and non-politically correct trick play:

Pray For Your Daughter: 31 Day Challenge—Day Seven

Mike Leake

Day Seven: That she would be a loving sister.

I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. (Philippians 4:2, ESV)

Sisters have a truly unique kind of relationship with their siblings. In His good creation God made women with an amazing and deep capacity for relationship; this is never more so on display than within the family of the local church. Here Christian women become sisters of numerous brothers and sisters, both older and younger, playing an integral role in the unity and health of the local church body. However, for as long as we are still battling that abiding sin nature, relationship will also have the potential for argument, hurt, resentment and gossip. Let us pray that God will help our daughters to be supportive and encouraging sisters who are united by a love for Christ and His church, and who refuse to be divided by petty differences.

Father, I am in wonder of the way you have created women, and I praise you for their unique gifts in creating and fostering relationships. Thank You for using them to strengthen and grow your church! I ask that you would bless my daughter with the grace and abundant love to use her gifts for the unity of the church, speaking words of wisdom and peace, avoiding all manner of back-biting, bitterness and gossip. Please help my daughter to be a loving sister for the advancement of the church, to the glory of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

—

Ryan Freeman is husband to Janis, father of Wesley, Jaedyn and Tobias, and a Deacon and founding member of Grace Fellowship Church of West Toronto. He is the president of Strider Search Marketing, a small online marketing firm serving SMBs, non-profits, and churches.

Wesley Freeman is the proud protector of his sister, Jaedyn, and cousins Susannah, Caitlyn, and Madalyn, and mentor to younger brother Tobias.

Parenting and the Sufficiency of Scripture

Mike Leake

I don’t know if it was the ice storm or the reality of what I was doing that made my hands shake as I drove home. For the first time in my life as I looked in my rear-view mirror I was met with a car seat. Strapped into this car seat was our little bundle of joy, Isaiah.

I kept looking in the mirror. Then the road. Then back in the mirror. Is he breathing okay? Is he too hot? Too cold? There was no reason to believe that this little guy wasn’t perfectly healthy but as a first time daddy I had no clue what I was doing. I vaguely knew how to change a diaper. I was still scared to death to hold the little guy for fear that I might break him. All of this not to mention the high calling of raising him to know the Lord.

I’d laughed at comedians in the past that made some lame joke about babies not coming with an instruction manual. I probably rested in some weak theological statement; something like this, “babies do come with a manual it’s called a Bible”.

Idiot.

Habakkuk doesn’t tell you how to change a diaper. Malachi doesn’t tell you what to do when your 6 month old is laughing and giggling as he’s bathing in a pool of yellow paint. Yellow paint that he somehow opened and spilled all over his floor.

Overwhelmed by my own ignorance I did what any nerd like me does—I scoured the web for the best Christian parenting books. And I bought as many of them as I could afford at the time. (So I likely bought a couple of free samples).

My wife and I poured over article upon article. Book upon book. We were met with rules upon rules. Occasional grace but mostly a list of things to do as a parent and things not to do. We learned about how to biblically discipline. How to shepherd our child’s heart. How to bring up a boy. How to talk to him. How to swaddle him. What not to do. What to do. 30 reasons why pacifiers are the devil incarnate. And 55 reasons why they aren’t.

Through all of this reading we developed a theology of parenting. And in that theology of parenting were several rules. If we broke these rules we were being bad parents. (For some reason, a couple of years later I found myself back on Amazon searching for books on grace for parents).

The Sufficiency of Scripture

Wayne Grudem defines this doctrine well when he says,

“The sufficiency of Scripture means that Scripture contained all the words of God he intended his people to have at each stage of redemptive history, and that it now contains everything we need God to tell us for salvation, for trusting him perfectly, and for obeying him perfectly. (Grudem, Systematic Theology, 127)

One of the implications of this doctrine, as noted by Grudem, is that “nothing is sin that is not forbidden by Scripture either explicitly or by implication”.

That is really helpful for weary parents that have read many books giving advice that might be good and wise but it’s not necessarily explicitly or implicitly spoken of in Scripture.

What does the Bible say?

I don’t want to be guilty of simplism but there are many issues in parenting to which the Bible does not speak. I think the Bible says three overarching things to parents. First, disciple them with my life and my lips (Dt. 6 among other places). Second, Don’t be a heavy-handed jerk to them (Ephesians 6:4). Third, treat them as the Bible tells you to treat any other human being (with love, grace, and everything else that models Christ).

Maybe I’m not a terrible parent, in danger of the fires of hell, if my kids eat Cinnamon Toast Crunch instead of something twig flavored like Kashi. I agree with Kevin DeYoung when he says, “They will remember our character before they remember our exact rules regarding television and Twinkies”. (From Crazy Busy)

If I really believe in the sufficiency of Scripture then I’m going to chill out as a parent. I’m not going to beat myself up and feel guilty if I don’t do it by the book—unless of course that book is written by God Almighty. Everything else falls under the category of helpful advice. But only rebellion against Holy Writ ought to cause me to tremble. And it’d probably be best if I held other parents to the same standard.