Something happened in a stairwell on the campus of Baptist Bible College of Pennsylvania in January of 1998 that I’ll never forget. I was walking down the stairs of the five-story academic building after a class, and my college basketball coach, Mike Show, was running up the stairs. He worked in admissions, so seeing him around the building in business attire was normal. As he ran past me, I blurted out, ‘Coach, where are you going? Is everything alright?’
‘Chris, I’m too slow. I need to be faster in everything, so I’ve decided I’ll always run the stairs’ as he ran past me.
It was wild, but I learned that is how Coach lived his life. Everything he did - I mean EVERYTHING - was an opportunity to better himself. That was 26 years ago, and not a day has passed that I don’t think about Coach’s example. Coach Show once left practice to go home to apologize to his wife. We had no idea where he went as the assistant coaches scrambled to keep practice going. When Coach Show returned, he stopped the practice to teach about the importance of humility and asking for forgiveness. He has left an eternal imprint on my life as a Christ-follower, husband, father, and leader. I often say that Coach Show was a psychopath in all the right ways. His imprint on my life had little to do with what he challenged me to do, though he challenged me often. It had everything to do with how he challenged himself.
Dr. Erdvig, in Beyond Biblical Integration, noted the power of modeling with Augustine’s suggestion to ‘Attract them by your way of life if you want them to receive teaching from you.’ Dr. Jeff Meyers in ‘Cultivate’ stated, ’When a trusted person demonstrates good desires, students are drawn to change their desires to match their mentors.’ I don’t believe the eyes of our students are the main reason for good behavior or healthy habits in our lives. A life worth modeling must be lived authentically before the Lord. But, the author of Hebrews clarified that the accountability of watchful eyes is healthy. ‘Since a great cloud of witnesses surrounds us, let us…’ Hebrews 12:1.
We will model something this year. Blaise Pascal said it this way, ‘You have to wager. It is not up to you; you are already committed.” You can’t NOT bet your life on something. You can’t NOT be headed somewhere. We live leaning forward, bent on arriving at the place we long for.’
So
How will you ‘run the stairs’ this year? What will it be about you that will intrigue students to live their lives for the Lord? Can you claim Paul’s bold stance in Philippians 4:9, “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Be a psychopath in the right ways this school year, IRCS.
God bless & Go, Eagles!