John 16

The Holy Spirt as our life coach

My Coaching Experience

One of the smartest decisions I ever made after I started my own business was to enroll in a coaching program called The Strategic Coach. I was completely overwhelmed with the complexity of being in business for myself. I needed someone with wisdom and experience to guide me in my new role.

The program showed me how to think like an entrepreneur and: 1. It taught me repeatable tools and techniques to maximize my performance. 2. It gave me new insights into how to operate within my strengths. And 3. It encouraged me to stay on track when I started to drift.

Jesus Introduces the Holy Spirit

This coaching process reminds me of how Jesus introduced the Holy Spirit to the disciples on the night before his arrest and crucifixion. In John chapters 13-16 he tries to prepare them for life without his constant physical presence.

To help them with this transition he tells them about the Coach he is sending to guide and to teach them – The Holy Spirit. He is going to the Father and they are staying behind to do the work of his ministry. He even tells them that they will do even greater works than he did once he is gone.

It Is Good that I Am Going Away

Jesus tells the disciples that after he leaves them physically, he will send his Spirit to be with each of them. He calls his Spirit another advocate or the Holy Spirit. Jesus describes this third person of the trinity by the Greek word parakletos, meaning one called alongside.

 They could not grasp the idea of God’s Spirit permanently indwelling them because this was an entirely new concept. To them the Holy Spirit was the Old Testament image of the Spirit of God coming upon some hero or prophet for a special purpose and then departing again; not remaining forever.

To help them understand he explains if he doesn’t go away, he cannot send the Holy Spirit to coach them. But when he does, the Holy Spirit will be with them forever and do three things for them:

1. He will teach each of them all truth.

2. He will be a constant guide and coach them.

3. He will only come to them, but not to the world 

Truth - Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Truth who will live in them and with them forever. He will teach them all things and remind them of all the things Jesus taught them. They, in turn, wrote down his words so future believers would have them in what we now know as the New Testament.

Guide - Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Comforter because He would be a constant guide to them. He will show them what to do and how to live in a way that glorifies the Father. Because Jesus could not do this for them physically, the Holy Spirit does this for each of them individually in spirit.

Conviction - Jesus says the Holy Spirit will Convict the world. He will not come to those in the world. He only comes to those who believe in the Son. Therefore He will convict or reprove the world that it is in the wrong because it lives as if there is no God

At Pentecost the disciples finally understood when they were filled with the Holy Spirit and boldly proclaimed the power of the resurrected Jesus. As a result, the Church was born and has been changing hearts and lives ever since.

The Holy Spirit Today

So what does a 2000-year-old conversation that Jesus had with his disciples mean for us today? In a word – everything. The Holy Spirit is still the least understood member of the Trinity. It is still hard for us to grasp that we are eternally filled with God’s Spirit at the moment we receive Jesus as Savior.

We are called the Body of Christ because the Spirit of Christ indwells us. He acts like a Coach in us just like Jesus promised the disciples. Our Spiritual Coach: 1. Teaches us truth through the Word of God. 2. He gives us spiritual gifts that allow us to operate at our best for God’s glory. And 3. He produces fruit of the Spirit in us to cause us to live differently than the world.

I paid a lot of money to work with my business coach but, when I used what I learned, life worked better. Jesus paid an even bigger price to give us a Spiritual Coach so we would have Godly wisdom to help our spiritual life work better.

Maranatha,

Andy