Shooting hoops in confidence!Anyone who has played competitive sports will recognize the importance ofย confidenceย in being a successful athlete. When I was playing competitive basketball, confidence made a world of difference. Why would anyoneย everย drive through the lane when there are sometimesย fiveย opponents guarding the hoop? Confidence often gives us the push to either drive or shoot or attempt to block a shot. When players go into a “shooting slump,” coaches will tell them to keep on shooting and trying because they are trying toย buildย confidence in their player. You have to get back up on the horse, right?

Last night I was playing basketball with some friends after a longer hiatus than I care to admit. Back in the day I played ballย nonstopย and was far more likely to be on the court than on a computer blogging. I was a baller, after all! But I noticed last night that one of the changes in my approach to playing ball was in the area of confidence. When I was 20, I would drive on anyone, use the crossover on anyone, and attempt to block every shot that came my way. Fourteen years later, I’m just trying not to die from either tripping or having a asthma attack… and I don’t even have asthma! My confidence is all but gone.

My thinking about confidence and athletics caused me to think a lot about church leadership. In fact, here are three thoughts I had about how leaders can think about confidence in their lives and ministries:

(1) As leaders, our confidence is not in ourselves but in God.
Being a leader is hard sometimes. Most pastors that I know of are constantly having to address issues or people that requireย someย form of confidence. If our confidence is in ourselves, than we generally address those issues or people from a self-focused perspective that is often concerned with self-preservation. Yet if we approach those issues and people with the confidence that we areย inย Christ and empowered by the Spirit that was poured out on Christ’s followers, it’s much easier to “take it to the hole” so to speak.

Recently someone in our church posted one of the kindest notes on Facebook. She wrote,

“And, Luke, I will always appreciate the strength you had to have to discipline us both way back a few years ago, because without what you did, I would have gone on living my โ€œperfectโ€ persona, admitting nothing was wrong, and blaming all of my outside circumstances as the reason for things that were wrong. My pride, my choices, and my decisions were to blame. Without ever coming to that realization, I never would have grown in the Lord the way I have had the privilege to do the past few years. Being released from my pride and my perfectionism was the best thing that ever happened to me. And your obedience in the midst of that tough time helped make that happen.” (permission granted by the author, Karen Atter)

I had almost completely forgotten about this situation. And I’m very thankful that the Lord graciously worked throughout the entire process to bring repentance and restoration. But it reminds me of something that I doย remember.ย Quite frankly, the only reason why I even cameย closeย to moving forward on addressing those issues that this person references was because I had a God given confidence in Christ. I justย knewย that God would honor his Word and that the Spirit was going to work throughout the entire process. My confidence was in God and the gospel. At the time when this confrontation and discipline was carried out, I had very little experience and very little training. Those are ingredients, in my life, for a complete lack of confidence. Yet I remember that during that situation, I had a lot of confidence in God. That’s important for church leaders.

(2) Confidence will beย lostย and confidence can beย gained.
I’m pretty convinced that if I keep playing basketball I’ll get my confidence back. I can still dribble well and have a decent post game but most of my lack of confidence comes from the simple fact that I’m out of shape andย muchย slower than when I was younger.

But…ย I can get back in shape, which will help my speed. I’ll never be as fast as I was in my twenties, but I can get faster.

Leaders make mistakes. I’ve made many, many,ย manyย mistakes as a leader and I know that I’ll make more. That’s why I’m suggesting that confidence willย be lost in your life as a leader.ย It’s in those moments of feeling like I’ve totally blown it where it becomes really easy to lose all sense of confidence in Godย andย my calling as a pastor. But that confidence can be gained back. How so? By looking to Jesus and remembering the nature of the gospel.

One of the most important stories in the Bible on this issue is found in the conversation that followed Peter’s denial of Jesus. In that conversation, found in John 21:15-20, Jesus restored Peter back into the ministry of serving God’s people by teaching and shepherding. This is amazing. Peter denied Jesusย three times!!!!!!ย That seems pretty serious. And yet Jesus loves him and recognizes Peter’s love and points him in the right direction. When I have failed and my confidence is gone, I look to Jesus.

(3) Confidence is not the same thing as arrogance or pride.
There is aย seriousย differences between the “confidence” found in athletics and the confidence I’m referring to as a Christian leader. A lot of the “confidence” that I had as a young high school basketball player was pride. This pride made me arrogant in how I played basketball as well as how I interacted with other players.

As I stated previously, our confidence is in God, not ourselves. Having confidence shouldn’t be the same thing as being and arrogant jerk. Yet that’sย exactlyย what some people say when you accuse them of being arrogant. People sometimes say, “I’m not prideful, I’m just confident.” Hmmmm.

The kind of confidence that Scripture indicates should mark the life of a follower of Jesus is extremely humble. We have confidence to go directly to God because weย couldn’tย go directly to God until Jesus entered the picture. Our ability toย haveย confidence is grounded in the reality that we couldn’t have confidence prior to God’s great act of redemption. This is what the writer of Hebrews gets at:

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb. 4:16)

Did you see that? Confidenceย isย in the Bible! And it’s rooted in the humility of Christ’s cross. Not only can we have confidence to approach God when we need help, we can have confidence to leave behind sin (Heb. 12:1-2).

*************************

What do you think? What would you add about the role of confidence in leadership? How can we take this too far or not far enough?

Facebook Comments Box
Join My Mailing List

Join My Mailing List

Stay up to date on my latest biblical, theological, and pastoral resources, as well as what I'm currently reading or have found helpful for the week!ย 

You have successfully subscribed! Stay tuned for some sweet resources coming your way once a week!

Share This