God Wants Us to Be Coachable

Everybody says they’re coachable.

It’s easy to be coachable when the coach is telling you what you want to hear.

“You’re starting today.”

“You’re hitting third.”

“You’re our shortstop.”

“I trust you in this spot.”

Yeah, coach. Absolutely.

But then baseball happens.

“You’re not starting today.”

“We’re going with someone else.”

“I need you to change this.”

“You’re moving down in the lineup.”

“You need to be better here.”

Or maybe the hardest one:

Your coach tells you something you genuinely think is wrong.

Now are you coachable?

Because coachability isn’t really tested when you agree with your coach.

It’s tested when you don’t.

God Cares About How We Respond to Authority

Romans 13:1 says:

“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.”

Paul is specifically talking about governing authorities here, so this verse isn’t saying your baseball coach has the same authority as the government.

But the principle of respecting and submitting to legitimate authority shows up throughout Scripture.

And that should affect the way we play baseball.

We live in a culture that tells us to respect authority when we agree with it and push back when we don’t.

Baseball can become the same way.

We respect Coach when we’re playing.

We trust Coach when we’re hitting well.

We listen when his advice matches what we already think.

But the second we don’t like his decision, everything changes.

We roll our eyes when he walks away.

We complain about him in the dugout.

We tell our teammates how stupid the decision was.

We call our parents after the game.

We stop giving the same effort in practice because, What’s the point? He’s not going to play me anyway.

That’s not just a baseball problem.

That can become a heart problem.

What If My Coach Is Wrong?

Here’s where this gets important.

Sometimes your coach is wrong.

Coaches are human.

They can make the wrong lineup.

They can misjudge a player.

They can communicate poorly.

They can misunderstand a situation.

They can give you an adjustment that doesn’t work for you.

They can play somebody over you when you genuinely believe you’ve earned the opportunity.

Being a Christian does not require you to pretend your coach is always right.

Submission isn’t the same thing as believing everything an authority says or does is correct.

And being coachable doesn’t mean you can never advocate for yourself.

But here's the challenge:

Your coach being wrong doesn't give you permission to respond wrong.

That's where humility comes in.

There’s a huge difference between saying:

“Coach, can I talk to you about what I need to do to get more opportunities?”

and:

“This dude has no idea what he's doing.”

There’s a difference between asking:

“Can you explain what you're seeing with my swing?”

and completely ignoring him because you already decided you know more.

There’s a difference between respectfully disagreeing with a decision and trying to get half the clubhouse to agree that your coach is an idiot.

You can disagree and still show respect.

You can ask questions and still submit to authority.

You can advocate for yourself and still be humble.

Someone else's bad decision doesn't give you permission to have a bad response.

Humility Is Part of Coachability

First Peter 5:5 says:

“All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.’”

That phrase is strong:

Clothe yourselves with humility.

For a baseball player, humility sometimes looks like admitting:

Maybe I don't see everything Coach sees.

Maybe you're right about the situation.

But maybe you're not.

You see your at-bats.

The coaching staff sees the entire roster.

You see how hard you work.

They see how everybody works.

You see the decision from your perspective.

They have information you might not have.

That doesn't mean they're automatically right.

It means you should be humble enough to consider that you might not be either.

That's hard.

Especially when you've poured hours into this game.

Especially when you believe in yourself.

Especially when your parents believe you should be playing.

Especially when your teammates are telling you that you should be playing.

But humility allows you to listen before immediately becoming defensive.

Maybe there’s 10% of what Coach said that you can use.

Take the 10%.

Maybe you completely disagree with the swing adjustment, but there’s something underneath it that you need to hear.

Ask questions.

Listen.

Try to understand what he’s seeing.

You don't have to blindly accept every piece of baseball information you're given.

But don't let pride make you unteachable.

Your Coach Controls the Lineup, Not Your Character

This might be the most practical part of all of this.

Your coach can control a lot.

He can put your name in the lineup.

Or leave it out.

He can hit you second.

Or ninth.

He can start you at shortstop.

Or put somebody else there.

He can give you opportunities.

He can take opportunities away.

But there are things your coach cannot control.

Your effort.

Your attitude.

Your preparation.

How you treat your teammates.

How you respond to disappointment.

Whether you allow bitterness to grow in you.

Colossians 3:23 says:

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”

That verse changes things.

Because now I'm not working hard only when Coach rewards me.

I'm not being a good teammate only when I'm starting.

I'm not taking batting practice seriously only when I know I'm getting four at-bats that night.

I'm working for something bigger.

Coach can sit me.

He can't make me stop working.

Coach can start another player over me.

He can't make me root against that player.

Coach can misunderstand me.

He can't make me bitter.

Coach can make a decision I hate.

He doesn't get to decide what kind of man I become because of it.

That's between me and God.

Submission Doesn't Mean Staying Silent About Everything

There also needs to be a clear boundary here.

Submitting to authority does not mean blindly doing whatever someone tells you.

If a coach asks you to do something sinful, abusive, seriously inappropriate, or genuinely unsafe, respecting authority does not mean staying silent.

Coaches should be accountable too.

If something serious is happening, talk to a parent, administrator, athletic director, trusted leader, or another appropriate adult.

Biblical submission isn't permission for someone to mistreat you.

And honoring authority doesn't mean authority is above accountability.

But most of the situations we face in baseball aren't that.

Most of the time it's:

I don't like my playing time.

I don't like where I'm hitting.

I don't agree with what Coach told me.

I think I deserve a bigger role.

Those moments might feel huge.

But they can also become opportunities for God to work on something inside of us.

Maybe God Is Working on You

We spend a lot of time asking God to change our circumstances.

God, change Coach's mind.

God, give me an opportunity.

God, put me in the lineup.

And those aren't necessarily bad prayers.

But maybe there’s another prayer we should be willing to pray:

“God, what are You trying to change in me?”

Maybe God is teaching you how to listen.

Maybe He's exposing pride.

Maybe He's teaching you patience.

Maybe He's teaching you how to have a difficult conversation respectfully.

Maybe He's teaching you to work without immediate recognition.

Maybe He's teaching you how to support someone else when they're getting the opportunity you wanted.

Maybe He's teaching you that your effort can't depend on whether somebody notices it.

Sometimes we become so focused on proving that our coach is wrong that we completely miss what God could be doing in us.

Baseball Won't Be the Last Time You Deal With Authority

Eventually, baseball ends.

One day, there won't be a coach making out a lineup.

But there will still be authority.

You'll have a boss.

You might work underneath leaders you don't agree with.

You'll have people making decisions that affect you.

Some of those decisions will be good.

Some won't.

You're going to spend a lot of your life learning how to respond when somebody with authority makes a decision you wouldn't have made yourself.

Baseball is giving you practice right now.

Not just practice hitting a breaking ball.

Not just practice fielding ground balls.

Practice being humble.

Practice listening.

Practice communicating.

Practice disagreeing respectfully.

Practice controlling what you can control.

Practice submitting without becoming bitter.

Practice being coachable.

Because anybody can listen to a coach when he's telling them what they want to hear.

The real test comes when he doesn't.

Your coach doesn't have to be perfect for you to respond with humility.

You don't have to agree with everything to show respect.

And you don't have to stay silent to be submissive.

You can ask questions.

You can have the conversation.

You can disagree.

You can advocate for yourself.

Just don't let disagreement turn into disrespect.

God wants us to be coachable.

Not because every coach is always right.

But because humility shouldn't disappear the moment we think we're right.