Coaching Defined

Christian coaching is the art and practice 

of enabling individuals and groups to 

move from where they are 

to where God wants them to be.

~Gary R. Collins

August 18th marked the beginning of my first online college course through Liberty University. As my passion for coaching, counseling, mentoring, and discipling other believers increased during the past three years, I traded out a few of my free elective credit tests for coaching and counseling courses. This course is entitled "Introduction to Life Coaching". It is eight weeks long, and during the course, I will be sharing four of my assignments here, Lord willing. These assignments (500 words maximum) are based on the textbook and lectures that I listen to, as well as answering the given questions for the assignment. 

The conversations that have resulted with friends or with my CP coach have been wonderful. This is a topic that daily catches my interest (whether or not I'm studying it), and I believe it's a ministry that the Lord has called me to in the near future. What that will look like, I'm not sure, yet, but gaining this knowledge and wisdom from my studies and others around me will be invaluable for whatever He has in store later. 

I'd love to hear thoughts or comments about the assignments I share here. I'm always seeking to learn a bit more. ;) Because of the specific word count, I'm not able to detail many terms in each assignment, as it is assumed the student is pulling from the text and lectures. Feel free to ask questions, as I would be happy to clarify, if needed. :) 

Week One's assignment prompt was this: Describe the difference between coaching and counseling, mentoring, and discipleship? What makes Christian Life Coaching distinctive from secular life coaching? 

*****                         

Coaching is a fairly new term used to describe a method of ministering to people. It differs from counseling in that it is proactive--looking ahead to the future, setting goals, determining outcomes, and walking a person through the needed steps to fulfill specific goals. It is referred to as positive psychology because it focuses on the present and future, in order to turn ideals into tangible outcomes. (Collins, 2009)

Counseling typically refers to helping a person heal and move on from difficult life situations that have affected their everyday living. Counseling deals with emotional trauma, addictions, or mental instability. It’s known as negative psychology because it focuses on the past, and works through it, in order to bring healing to the present and future. (Collins, 2009)

Mentoring is defined as dealing “mostly with succession training and seeks to help someone do what the mentor does”. (Collins, 2009, p. 20) Mentoring is focused on supervising a person, in order to each him something the mentor already knows. Often the older will teach the younger. Titus 2 mentions the older women teaching the younger women how to care for a home and love her husband and children. Mentoring doesn’t work on healing past experiences like counseling, nor does it focus on having a person “draw from his or her own resources and experiences” (Collins, 2009) like coaching does. Mentoring is teaching people to learn.

Discipleship is a spiritual endeavor; one that Jesus specifically demonstrated and used on His own disciples. Making disciples was also one of the commands He left to His followers in the Great Commission. (Collins, 2009, p. 25) It differs from coaching, in that it is spiritual by Divine design, but coaching can definitely demonstrate discipleship aspects, such as giving “instruction and guidance that will enable individuals to grow in Christlikeness and in the knowledge and favor of Jesus Christ”. (Collins, 2009, p. 21)

Secular coaching often directs its mission toward helping people achieve their own personal goals and get from where they are now to where they want to be in the future. (Collins, 2009) Christian coaching takes this basis and raises the standard even higher. Christian coaching is distinctive from secular coaching, in that its focus is directed toward Christ. Secular coaching may include spirituality such as New Age or Eastern spiritual themes, but Christian coaching has an eternal purpose, vision, mission, and reward. (Collins, 2009) A Christian coach will direct others to pursue God’s vision and fulfill His unique calling for their lives. A Christian coach will create an awareness of God’s work in a person’s life, and strive to help him set goals and accomplish missions that will further that person’s spiritual growth and lead to the advancement of God’s kingdom. (Collins, 2009)

References:

Collins, G. R. (2009). Christian Coaching: Helping Others Turn Potential into Reality. Colorado Springs: NavPress.

*****

You don't need lots of techniques or years of experience to be an effective life coach. What contriubtes to people most is your level of commitment to them. That commitment doesn't come from technique or experience. It comes from the depths of your being.

~Dave Ellis