MikeThis is the final of several blogs inspired by NCAA basketball’s “March Madness” championship tournament. In a week, March Madness will be over. The new NCAA men’s and women’s basketball champions will have been crowned, the trash will have been picked up in the arenas, the bets will have been paid off in office pools, and most of America will move on with their lives. Most, but not all. Around the country, a handful of college basketball coaches will still be thinking about the past month – about what they could have done different, about what they will do differently next year. This description may have a familiar ring for many of you because you’ve just finished your own season of madness. If you’re a pastor or church leader, you may feel a lot like those college basketball coaches. Holy Week is over. For some of you, it couldn’t have gone any better. Others may have some regrets about things that could have been better. Either way, here are four things that college coaches do after the madness that might be instructive:
- Rest. After an intense season, everyone needs a chance to recharge. No one is made to run at full throttle all the time. Basketball offers an obvious time for a break at the end of the season. Perhaps you launch a new initiative right after Easter and this isn’t the right time, but it is vital for you to find ways to refresh physically and spiritually.
- Review. Basketball coaches know that achieving a better future starts with understanding the past. That’s why they watch films of their games. Reviewing the team’s performance will show them the changes that they need to make and the things that they need to focus on for the coming season. Ministry leaders also need to take the time to look back with a critical eye and ask what did or didn’t work. It really is true that “those who refuse to learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.”
- Prepare. After you’ve rested and reviewed, you’re ready to prepare for the future. College basketball teams won’t begin to practice again until October, but their coaches don’t rest that long. They’re recruiting a new group of potential stars, making sure that their players are doing off-season conditioning, and planning for the new season. The things that matter most in your ministry require this same kind of far-sighted, focused preparation.
- Collaborate. When the TV camera pans the bench of a college game, you never see just one person in a suit. There may only be one head coach, but he or she always has several assistants. And when it’s time to review and prepare, these “second chair” leaders will be sitting around the table with the head coach, offering their critique and suggestions. Achieving your ministry’s God-given potential is only possible with the kind of collaboration that reflects the teachings on complementary gifts in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12.
