Guest post by David Judge (Coach)
While I was commissioner of a soccer sports ministry, we found it necessary to institute an interview process for potential coaches. As a sports ministry, our primary concern was that the coach was a believer – soccer skills were secondary. It was paramount that the coaches would be proper Christian role models and be able to share the Gospel with the children and parents.
In the past, we had simply asked on the coach’s application to describe your relationship with Jesus Christ. Some answered fully, but others simply described their relationship with Jesus Christ as “good.” After some of the coaches fell short of our expectations for appropriate behavior on the field, we knew we would have to go deeper.
In most cases, the men and women who volunteered to coach were able to articulate a sound doctrinal 
relationship with Jesus Christ. Yet for others, their answer revealed their misunderstanding of what it means to be in a relationship with Jesus Christ.
At one time in my life, I was that way. I grew up thinking I was a Christian, but if you had asked me why, I would have said because I was raised in a Christian home and because I have lived a good enough life to maintain my relationship with Christ. Yikes!
The truth is that I didn’t become a Christian until I was 38 years old when I took an honest look at my life and realized that I really wasn’t a good person in spite of all the good things I did. The Holy Spirit convicted me and I knew I deserved to go to hell. Praise God that at that moment when I realized I had no hope, the only Hope of man took me to be His own.
So what does this have to do with coaching? Everything. In fact, it has everything to do with every relationship you have. I once gave a sermon on Father’s Day and told the fathers of the congregation that the #1 priority in being a father is to be in a right relationship with Christ. Without Christ you cannot be a good father, mother, husband, wife, son, daughter or coach. Without Christ you can’t really love your wife, you can’t raise up your children in the way of the Lord, and you can’t lead another person to the cross.
So I ask you now to describe your relationship with Jesus Christ. If it is dependent on you in any way, please go deeper. You are saved by grace through faith, not by anything that you do – grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone. Make your calling and election sure and bring your relationship with Christ into every relationship you have.
