Yoda

Last week, I wrote about sharing additional thoughts on the recent Youth Sunday sermon given by our graduating youth members. One part of their sermon that was a highlight for me was the rhetorical question: Who is, or was, your Yoda? They were asking you to think of one person who is a mentor or shining example for you, one person to whom you look up, one person to whom you pay attention, and whose wise counsel motivates you. Caleb, for example, said that his Yoda was his barber. 

I am sure when some of you heard that, you might have asked yourself, "How come a barber is your Yoda? What in heaven’s name can a barber offer?" It seems to me that we can often be very dismissive of people who don’t belong to a certain category of professions. We wonder about the extent to which they can be that voice of reason, conscience, formation, direction, and guidance in the life of a young person.

I have come to appreciate that one doesn’t have to be in a certain category of profession to offer a sense of belonging and grace to a youth in their formative years. All that a young person needs is encouragement and the sense of belief that they are capable of doing big things, are capable of being good, and are capable of changing the world. All that a young person needs is someone who believes in them, no matter what their station in life is. A Yoda is one who believes in another person - especially a young person.

There’s a story about the athlete Jesse Owens, who once went to a coach and shared with the coach his desire to be in the Olympics. I don’t remember the exact words the coach shared with him, but the coach made him aware that if he were to focus, he would most certainly win gold medals at the Olympics. Jesse Owens did, in fact, compete at the 1936 Olympics, and he won four Gold medals there. As good an athlete as he was, it was the coach who became his Yoda. The coach became that one person who, outside of Jesse’s immediate family, believed in him and his ability to do great things. 

Don’t we all wish we had someone who believed in us? 

One thing worth noting is that even professionals need someone, a Yoda, to help them navigate the complexities of their careers, be good leaders, and, in fact, to be successful at whatever they are doing. The point really isn’t about how good you are but how great you can be. 

The question is, how do you get better? How do you become great?

Here are two theories, as shared by a surgeon. First, the traditional way - go to school, study, practice, graduate, go into the world, and make your way on your own. There are numerous problems with this theory; one is that you may not recognize the problems that are in your way, and even if you do, you may not necessarily know how to fix those problems. And if we do not know how to fix the problems we encounter or overcome the obstacles that stand in our way, we then begin to make things up, which exacerbates those problems. The downside is that we stop improving and then slide to oblivion. 

Second - a contrasting view that comes out of sports, and is captured by this truism: ‘You are never done. Everybody needs a coach.’  Think about all the great players we see and know today... Michael Jordan had a coach. Joe Montana had a coach. Kobe Bryant had a coach. LeBron James has a coach. Gordie Howe - Mr. Hockey - had a coach. Tom Brady had a coach. Katie Ledbecky has a coach. Patrick Mahomes has a coach.

It is interesting to point out that the coaches of these athletes were not better athletes than they are, but they trust in their judgement because of their ability to see what they themselves cannot see or a belief that they cannot comprehend about themselves.

You may want to ask yourself, "If we idolize all these athletes as great stars, how come they all had coaches? Why did they have coaches?"

The point is this: you don’t have to be great to have a coach or a Yoda, nor do you have to be good to have a coach or Yoda, you only need someone how believes in you, and knows that you can be great, and that’s what a coach or Yoda does - guides your footsteps into what you can become. 

A story shared by that surgeon is that he invited his former professor, who had retired, to his operating room to observe him. The first surgery went well, and he didn’t think there was much that the professor had to say. But the professor had a whole page of notes. They were minutiae but the notes created a whole new sense of awareness for him, and in his view, that is what great coaches do - they are our external eyes and ears, providing us with a more accurate sense of our realities, recognizing the fundamentals, breaking our actions down, and helping us build them back up again.

After two months of coaching, he felt himself getting better again, and after a year, his complications decreased even more. 

According to him, it was a painful process because he didn’t like to be observed. But he understood that coaches are on to something profoundly important, which is that it isn’t about how good you are now, but how good you might become, how great you can be. Coaches are about maximizing the potential in any person or opening a window for a person to see themselves, not necessarily as they are in the present, but who they can become in the future. A Yoda or a coach taps into the potential embedded in any person.

The reality is that you cannot be better by yourself alone. You need a Yoda. You need a coach. You need someone who believes in you. 

Until recently, I had four Yodas, but now I have five. I learned about the faithfulness of God from one, I learned the joy of welcoming the stranger from one, learned the joy of ministry from another, learned the blessing of being a brother from one, and learned the joy of parenthood from another. Beyond these five, several people play different roles in my life and ministry, and they enrich my life of service. They, too, are my Yodas because I value their counsel. 

Leo Tolstoy once remarked that ‘Each person’s task in life is to become an increasingly better person.’ The truth is, you cannot be a better person by yourself alone. You need a coach. You need a Yoda to tap into the potential in you to be the best and greatest person that you can be. 

I avail myself to learn from people from all walks of life - big and small, wise and foolish, the believer and the indifferent, the educated and the uneducated, the rich and the poor, the callous and the careful. And I do so because even the foolish has something to share about how not to be foolish!

So, who is your Yoda? Who is your coach? Let them tap into that divine potential in you, let them unearth the boundless creativity in you. Let them help you see yourself a little differently. Let them help you see what God has in store for you. Let them open the window for you to see all the possibilities that lie ahead of you. 

You are never too old to have a Yoda.

Manny+