A mediocre person
tells. A good person explains. A superior person demonstrates. A great person
inspires others to see for themselves." - Harvey Mackay
I came across this quote the other day, which I quickly put into my most favorite quote folder. It made me think of the
former great football coach of Baylor University, Grant Teaff. Teaff was an incredible motivator who turned
that football program around in the 70’s leading them to the Southwest
Conference championship with the miracle on the Brazos in 1974. His inspiring stories and coaching moves are
legendary and considered the key to his greatness as a coach. I was fortunate to be a student athlete at Baylor when we won the conference.
One legend was how he used the illustration
of eating a worm to inspire his team to victory. Coach Teaff wanted to emphasize taking care
of details so he shared the ice fisherman’s secret to catching fish. Coach Teaff said the secret was to keep the
worms warm. He explained that the ice
fisherman would keep the worms in his mouth until it was time to put them on
the hook. Warm worms attracted the fish
and that small step was the difference between catching a lot of fish or coming
home without any. The coach then pulled
out a big long earth worm and put it in his mouth, saying the difference
between winning and losing was taking care of the small details. The players went berserk, ran out on to the
field and pulled off an incredible upset.
If I were to give what I
thought is the most important thing for a pastor to strive for outside of being
Biblically sound, it would be to inspire his flock. When you prepare a sermon, Bible study,
lecture or testimony, think about what you want to accomplish. Shouldn’t
you always have a goal to inspire others to change. What sets the great
preacher apart from the good is inspiration.
When I walk away from a
great sermon, I'm motivated to change. As I thought more about the
significance of inspiration, I could see how important it is for all those who
want to make a difference in the world. Whether you are preaching,
teaching, coaching or parenting, inspiration is such a critical ingredient to
helping others change, and yet so many miss the opportunity.
Preaching today often is
either all intellect and no inspiration or all hype and no substance. There is
a trend in many churches today to emphasize teaching and imparting information
in the name of discipleship. The goal is to dump a lot of information and hope
some of it sticks. The problem is that
without inspiring others to own it, apply it, and share it with others, the
information is just that. Inspiration is what separates the mediocre from
the superior communicator. We can criticize the preachers who preach to
thousands each week for their lack of deep content but what most every one of
them has in common is that they do a great job of inspiring.
Whether you are a
preacher, coach, parent, teacher or mentor, to be great, you must consistently
inspire others. Aim to inspire.
Watch this great film about Grant Teaff and a game in the 1973 season
Watch this great film about Grant Teaff and a game in the 1973 season
