Why Bethesda?

Over the past few months since launching bethesdaleadershipgroup.com, I’ve been asked many times, “Why Bethesda?” Many have asked if there is any correlation to the suburban town in Maryland. The short answer is no. It actually has its echoes in a much different place from long ago.

We learn about a pool called Bethesda (or Bethsaida) in the fifth chapter of John’s gospel in the Bible. It was a place where the blind, lame, and crippled gathered. The pool itself was believed to occasionally be stirred by an angel, and when it was, the first person to get in would be healed. In fact, the name Bethesda itself means “house of mercy,” a compound word of the Hebrew “beth” meaning housing and “chesed” meaning mercy.

The story in John’s gospel recounts Jesus’ visit to this pool. There he finds a man who had been an invalid for 38 years. Jesus asks him, “Do you want to be well?”

“Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me,” he replied.

Jesus responds by healing the man, telling him to take up his mat, and walk. He does this on the Sabbath, which violated Jewish law and riled up the authorities. It was another reason for them to be critical of Jesus.

As I started my coaching practice—back when it was Josh Vanada, Leadership & Business Growth Coach—this story caught my attention and has since become foundational.

I love that Jesus asks the man if he wants to be well. We may read that question and think it sounds silly. I think we all know people, however, who would rather sit in their mess than be well. They are perpetual victims of their own creation, abdicating responsibility to everyone else but themselves. To be clear, I’m not judging them. We all fall below the line, as The Oz Principle calls it. There is no health in establishing a home there, however.

I love the fact that Jesus fights for the possibility of this man being well and not the limitations that the man introduces. Jesus is unphased by his current condition. Jesus doesn’t let the man’s explanation of how he cannot get in the pool first deter him in any way. He sees something different for that man and he is going to offer that to him. To me, this is a core tenant of coaching. I once was talking with another coach who asked me what coaches sell. Like many new coaches, I went to the tactical things: tools, methodologies, solutions, etc. He responded back and said, “No, we sell hope.” Good coaching isn’t intimidated by current circumstances. It sees, calls forward, and helps to realize potential.

It can’t be missed that what the man was unable to do in his own strength, Jesus did. The first value of the Bethesda Leadership Group is Human Ability & Divine Power. It’s such a mysterious tension, but one where we believe the miraculous happens. True transformation happens in the tension between what we do and what only God can do. The continual testimony of the Scriptures is that God wills good things for us. God comes to us. In fact, He never leaves us regardless of our circumstances, feelings, emotions, or anything else that is going on. For those of us who have been crushed under the weight of oppressive, try-harder preaching, I’m sorry. I believed that was the way for a long time. Thanks to some dear friends, I’ve come to understand God’s mercy as inexhaustible, His grace as lavish, and His love as entirely unconditional. That’s who He truly is! Tim Keller said it best: “The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” This story demonstrates that beautifully.

And, the last thing that really connected with me in this story is that Jesus heals this man on the Sabbath. I’m not going to go into the theological significance of that here. Suffice it to say that He was challenging convention. He created a new way. I think that’s also at the heart of what effective coaching unlocks. It isn’t bound by convention, rules, social etiquette, and many other things that feel necessary but are restrictive. Excellent coaching challenges these, pushes the limits, and unlocks creativity.

If you’ve been reading this up to this point and are thinking that coaching is only for the “blind, lame, and crippled,” you’re right. The truth is that’s all of us. We all have blind spots. We all feel like we are stuck at times and we can’t move forward. That’s not something that we should be avoiding or pretending isn’t true, because the only person that we are fooling is ourselves. In fact, it’s why professional athletes have multiple coaches. They are at the top of their game and they have coaches because there is always more potential to be unlocked. There’s no shame in them and there shouldn’t be in us. This is an opportunity for thriving, which the man in this story got to experience for the first time in 38 years—and he found it at the “house of mercy.” The name isn’t lost on us. His infirmity became such a gift because through it Jesus offered him more abundant life than he ever had.

That’s true for us, too. Our areas of greatest struggle are the places that can become our greatest strengths. We want our clients to know that they are never going to receive judgment from us. We are going to meet them where they are, and not leave them there. The very things that brought us together will one day be a strength of theirs.

I recently did a quarterly planning session with a client who walked in and whose face looked massively stressed.

“How are you?” I asked.

For the next hour and a half we talked about the challenges he and his wife were facing in the business. We talked about thought patterns. We talked about the temporary pressure a sale would relieve, and yet still leave the same problems 10 months later. We went deep. There was nothing held back and kudos to him for being that vulnerable. He wanted to be well. Later on in the day, he shared that he felt lighter, his hope was restored, he understood the way forward, and he realized why coaching was something that he not only wanted, but needed. We just did what Jesus did.

And that’s why we’re the Bethesda Leadership Group.

Quote:

“We are products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it.” - Rick Warren

Question:

Where do you need to start fighting for possibility, as opposed to limitation?

Call to Action/Next Event:

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