The Sweater-Wearers
About a month ago, a college football coach died unexpectedly. He had been with his team on Saturday to practice for an upcoming bowl game, had gone to a holiday party that evening, had a massive heart attack early Sunday, and was dead by Tuesday. He was only sixty-one years old.
Mike Leach was unique in a lot of ways. He had a law degree, but never practiced law. He became a successful coach at the college level despite having never played football on that level. During an interview about football, he didn’t always stick to the subject. Instead, he might launch into a discussion about pirates, military strategy, his opinion about the proper way to eat certain foods, the types of candy he liked or disliked. or any host of other things.
During one of his interviews during which the subject of football was actually discussed, coach Leach was asked about another coach. He described his fellow coach as “an x’s and o’s kind of guy and not a sweater-wearer.”
I understood the x’s and o’s part of the description. Most people who know about sports would as well. That’s “coachspeak” for those who understand the game, actually design plays, are involved in coaching their players to execute their assignments, etc.
I didn’t understand the label “sweater-wearer” though, but I didn’t have to wait long for the coach’s definition of these people. In almost the same breath, coach Leach described these people as the ones who wear the school’s sweater and for whom, in his opinion, coaching was mostly “a public relations thing.” In his mind, they were not interested in sacrificing the time and energy it would take to be what he thought a coach should be.
After hearing this definition/description of sweater-wearers, I started thinking that there may be way too many of them in a lot of segments of our society. It seems to me that there are many people in business, industry, education, etc. who are more enamored with the positions they hold and the titles they wear than they are in actually fulfilling their responsibilities.
I have an opinion that is unpopular in some circles about some people who have been in various public offices during various times in the history of our nation. I believe that they are in the same position a dog who chases cars would be in if he ever caught that car. Now that he/she has it, he/she has no idea what to do with it. When they are seen in public, they are probably attired in a wardrobe befitting the office, but could actually be sweater-wearers.
Jesus had to deal with sweater-wearers during His time on earth. Actually, they were robe-wearers. Some of His most scathing denunciations of people were directed at those who loved to wear those robes, the positions that allowed them to wear those robes, and the accolades they received from people when they wore those robes. Instead of commending these people, Jesus’s commendations were for those who followed His example of sacrificial service.
Sadly, it is my opinion that there are still robe-wearers in religion today. I’m not confining that assessment to those who wear actual robes. I’m thinking that there are those who wear titles that are intended to depict certain types of work, but who have done little or nothing to earn the title they seem to love so much. After getting that title and having the responsibility that goes with it, some of these people continue to do very little or nothing. I’m wondering if there are too many sweater-wearers in some churches today.
Is there a difference between parents being called “father and mother” and being called “dad and mom?” Maybe not. Maybe it is just two ways of identifying the same two people.
I think that there may be a difference, though. Two people can become a father and a mother merely because of a physical relationship. A child (maybe even an adult child) will not typically crawl up in the lap of, or ask for advice from, somebody whose name merely appears on a birth certificate or other legal document. Those kinds of relationships are reserved for those who have put in the time, effort, and prayer it takes to earn respect and trust of the one(s) they have helped bring into the world. Those kinds of parents are definitely not sweater-wearers.
I guess that I could go on with other examples, but, since the civil government, the church, and the home are all found in God’s word, I thought that I would limit my thoughts to them. I think that you get the idea, though. I think that the world would be a much better place if there were a lot fewer sweater-wearers in all areas of our lives.
AUTHOR: Jim Faughn
