2) It keeps me thinking and working on the fundamentals. I found that coaching is not the same as teaching, where you prepare a lesson plan and present material in a classroom setting. As a coach, you have to "think on your feet." And that brings what you know to the surface and then packs it back deeper inside you. Plus, the questions I ask as a coach come back to haunt (help) me as I am preparing my upcoming message. Whatever you teach, you learn.
3) It stimulates creativity and fresh ideas. The reflective interaction with another pastor stimulates creative thinking in both mentor and protege. Talking about Scripture, applications and illustrations provides fresh ideas and insights. Plus, it's a great two way networking opportunity.
Advertisement
4) It has a multiplied impact. Helping another preacher benefits the congregation to which he preaches. It's a good thing to help one person; it's a better thing to help a person who can help others. The time I invest in the one is multiplied in the many. After I helped Jeff with one of his sermons, he commented in an e-mail: "I preached that message on Sunday to 230 people. People you will never know, but who were face to face with God through His word because you were helping me as a communicator of that truth. This really is worth your while. An investment that will pay dividends to literally thousands of people over the course of the next twenty-five years."
5) It's a need I understand and can do something about. As a preacher, I am uniquely qualified to role-mentor others who have been where I've been and still am.
6) It's something I can do on whatever scale I choose. I can mentor one, two, three people; once a week, every other week, once a month. I can decide how to best fit it into my schedule.
7) It's part of the legacy I can leave. Certainly I want to leave a legacy in raising godly children. I invest time mentoring staff and discipling few men in the congregation. But there's something in me that wants to pass on a part of what I know and do vocationally to the next generation.
In his national bestseller, The Seasons of a Man's Life, Daniel Levinson states that "being a mentor with young adults is one of the most significant relationships available to a man in middle adulthood." I have certainly seen the truth of this in my own sermon coaching experience. Not only am I helping other pastors, but I am growing myself. As Levinson goes on to say, "The mentor... is making productive use of his own knowledge and skill in middle age. He is learning in ways not otherwise possible."
The commitment to preach carries with it a commitment to people. Not only a commitment to your congregation, but also a commitment to the next generation of Timothys. God does use effective preaching to change lives. God also changes lives through mentoring and coaching relationships -- student and coach alike.