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This May Be The Most Important Lesson Dad Can Teach

We have all heard, “more is caught than taught”. I think all of intuitively feel that this statement is true, so if it is should we not be teaching our boys to be good catchers? It sounds like I am not speaking to this literally but I am. There are several lessons tied together in this podcast and here are the highlights: Leaning to catch builds self-esteem, learning to catch is relationally rich and opens doors that many times are closely guarded, good catchers make good leaders.

Self-Esteem

In Dr. James Dobson’s book Hide or Seek he equates low self-esteem with feelings of inadequacy, inferiority, self-doubt, and an inadequate sense of personal worth. We are living in an identity crises culture and low self-esteem can leave a young man vulnerable to the identity the enemy has crafted for him, but an identity in Christ will connect every young man with God’s purpose for their lives. Learning to become a good catcher builds confidence and self-esteem that can ward off feelings of inadequacy that will inevitably come as boys become young men.

I love the Volkswagen commercial where the dad is playing catch with his son. The like is highlighted in the blog post. The dad would never be accused of being a baseball player, but he obviously understands the value in playing catch. https://youtu.be/VxAo8_JySkM

Open Doors

Opening those closely guarded doors of our boy’s hearts and minds takes nothing short of a locksmith, but there’s a way to get them to open them for you and even better, invite you in. All of those hands-on teaching moments are great relational moments that slowly but surely dissolve those barriers and allow dads and mentors the opportunity to poor wisdom into their boy’s lives. By they way, invite the village. The more Godly men that can be one of those reinforcing touchpoints the better. But, this doesn’t mean that, dad, you can delegate away your responsibility. Boys need time with their dad’s or the father figure God has placed in their lives.

Leaders Catch

In baseball, catchers are one of the smartest players and is usually looked at as the leader. Catching takes focus, being ready to receive, and patients. These are traits that serve all of us well, and all of that can start with a simple game of catch. In a discipleship ministry that is so heavily focused on raising the next generation of Christlike servant leaders you must understand how boys learn best and catching is where it all starts.

Go play catch!

Let me encourage you dad’s. The only way they will become good catchers is if you spend the time teaching them. So, let’s play ball!