The Gospel of Gordon Bombay: Restorative Leadership for Churches

Aug 16, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: When Leaders Trade Joy for Control

The weight of a coach’s words can crush a child’s love for the game. Gordon Bombay’s childhood passion for hockey turned bitter under the pressure of a leader who weaponized shame. Coach Riley’s demands twisted hockey from a source of joy into a burden of performance. His leadership left Gordon believing his worth depended on goals scored and approval earned. This pattern mirrors spiritual abuse that distorts God’s character into a taskmaster. Jesus reserved his harshest warnings for leaders who wound the vulnerable. [28:15]

“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea.” (Mark 9:42, NIV)

Reflection: When have you experienced leadership that made you feel small or unworthy? How might those experiences still shape your view of God’s heart toward you?

Day 2: Sharp Skates and Thick Socks

Hans didn’t care about Gordon’s trophies or failures. He dusted off an old newspaper clipping to remind the broken lawyer of the boy who once flew across the ice. Restorative leadership looks for the buried spark of God’s image beneath the rubble of shame. Like Jesus healing the bent-over woman, Hans focused not on fixing Gordon but reminding him who he was made to be. True restoration begins when someone says, “I see you—not your scoreboard.” [35:47]

“The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:31, NIV)

Reflection: What forgotten part of your God-given identity might Jesus want to resurrect? How could embracing this truth help you love others more freely?

Day 3: The Image Beneath the Jersey

A hockey jersey can’t make a duck into a hawk. Gordon’s value wasn’t in his stats but in being Hans’ friend. The Genesis creation account declares every person—regardless of performance—carries divine fingerprints. James warns that cursing others insults the Artist who made them. When leaders reduce people to roles or metrics, they vandalize God’s masterpiece. But healthy leaders point to the eternal worth stamped on every soul. [44:15]

“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27, NIV)

Reflection: Who in your life feels hardest to love? How might seeing them as God’s image-bearer change your next interaction?

Day 4: Cake Eaters Welcome

The Ducks didn’t want Adam Banks—the rival “cake eater”—until they realized he belonged. Jesus’ table flips exclusivity, inviting enemies and outsiders to become family. The church often acts like gatekeepers when we’re called to be welcomers. Gordon’s team found strength in diversity; the Kingdom thrives when we stop policing uniforms and start celebrating the unlikely faces God adds to His flock. [50:29]

“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28, NIV)

Reflection: What group or person feels “outside” your idea of God’s team? How might extending Christ’s invitation to them expand your view of His Kingdom?

Day 5: Flying in Formation

Ducks fly farther together. Communion reminds believers that Christ’s broken body makes our unity possible. Just as Gordon’s team needed every player—the enforcer, the goalie, the cake eater—the Church reflects God’s fullness when we stop comparing roles. Healing happens when we stop flying solo and lock wings with others who’ve known both failure and grace. [53:32]

“Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.” (1 Corinthians 10:17, NIV)

Reflection: Who in your spiritual “flock” needs you to fly closer this week? How can you actively strengthen your formation with them?

Sermon Summary

Gordon Bombay’s story in *The Mighty Ducks* becomes a picture of what bad leadership can do and what healthy leadership can restore. Coach Riley turns hockey into a bottom-line religion where worth comes from scoring, winning, and never letting anybody down. Coach Riley’s little jabs, especially around Gordon’s dead father, leave Gordon small, hurt, and still trying to prove himself years later.

Bad leadership takes words that can sound like encouragement and packages them with abuse. Spiritual abuse does even deeper damage because leaders who claim Christ’s name can twist a person’s image of God, making God seem angry, demanding, and just waiting for failure. Jesus takes that kind of leadership seriously, warning that causing little ones to stumble is a millstone-level offense. The tongue carries life and death, and Christians carry the weighty responsibility of representing Jesus when they leave the building.

Hans stands in direct contrast to Coach Riley. Hans remembers Gordon as the kid who flew on the ice, not merely the kid who put up 198 goals. Hans says, “It’s not about winning,” and calls Gordon back to joy, healing, and the kind of leadership that teaches people how to fly. Restorative leadership listens, sees people, and seeks to restore what has been broken.

Jesus embodies that restorative work completely. Christ heals, feeds, listens, corrects, and restores creation toward what it was meant to be. Healthy leadership reminds people that value does not come from volunteer hours, church attendance, big numbers, or making the team proud. God gives value because every human being bears God’s image.

God’s image in every person makes racism, hatred, homophobia, and contempt for enemies impossible to hold alongside faithful love. Christianity is an open invitation, not an exclusive club for people who already look, act, or think alike. The Ducks become a team when Gordon invites even Adam Banks, the former Hawk, into the flock. Together, different people become more brushstrokes in the picture, showing a clearer and more brilliant image of the invisible God. Christ’s broken body and spilled blood finally ground that hope: even when people are not at their best, the risen Savior remains faithful and makes room on the team.

Key Takeaways

1. Bad leadership leaves deep wounds [27:27] Bad leadership does not merely create frustration; it can alter the trajectory of a life. Spiritual abuse becomes especially destructive when Christ’s name is used to make people feel small, guilty, or disposable. Jesus refuses to treat that damage casually because wounded people may struggle to separate the abuser from the God that person claimed to represent. [27:27]
2. Value comes from God’s image [43:19] God’s image gives a person worth before achievement, performance, or approval ever enter the picture. Healthy leaders do not make people earn the value God has already given them. Love for neighbor becomes hollow when people deny the God-given dignity in themselves or in those they find difficult to love. [43:19]
3. Healthy leaders teach people to fly [36:47] Hans points Gordon back to the joy that Coach Riley stole from him. Christlike leadership seeks restoration instead of control, growth instead of shame, and healing instead of a bigger score sheet. People remember leaders who helped them become whole far longer than leaders who demanded results. [36:47]
4. The invitation is open to everyone [50:29] Christianity does not belong to a select group with the right background, politics, personality, or reputation. Christ makes room even for enemies, outsiders, and people who arrive halfway through the season. God’s glory becomes clearer when the flock includes people who would not naturally choose one another.

## [50:29]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[16:13] - Why The Mighty Ducks Matters
[19:33] - The Gospel of Gordon Bombay
[20:58] - Two Leaders in Gordon’s Life
[23:05] - Coach Riley and Performance
[27:27] - Church Hurt and Spiritual Abuse
[33:39] - The Tongue Brings Life or Death
[35:21] - Hans and Restorative Leadership
[40:31] - Jesus Restores What Is Broken
[42:11] - Loving Neighbor as Yourself
[44:15] - Every Person Bears God’s Image
[46:30] - Ducks Fly Together
[50:29] - An Open Invitation to Follow Jesus
[52:53] - More Brushstrokes of God’s Image
[55:33] - Communion and Christ’s Victory

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Mark 9:42
“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea.”
[28:15]

Mark 12:29-31
“The most important one, answered Jesus, is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
[42:11]

Genesis 1:26-27
“Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
[44:19]

Proverbs 18:21
“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
[33:36]

James 3:9-10
“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.”
[44:48]

Observation questions

What does Jesus say is the consequence for someone who causes a believer to stumble in Mark 9:42? What does the strength of that warning reveal about how seriously Jesus takes harm done to vulnerable people?
What are the two greatest commands Jesus names in Mark 12:29-31, and how are love for God, love for self, and love for neighbor connected?
According to Genesis 1:26-27 and James 3:9-10, what is true about every human being, including someone a person strongly disagrees with? [45:17]
What kinds of words and leadership patterns made Gordon feel small, and what did Hans do differently that helped bring healing? [36:47]

Interpretation questions

Mark 9:42 speaks about causing “little ones” who believe in Jesus to stumble. How might harsh, manipulative, or shame-filled leadership make it difficult for someone to trust Jesus?
Proverbs 18:21 says that the tongue has the power of life and death. What might “death” look like in a relationship, family, workplace, or church when it is caused by words rather than physical harm? [33:46]
If value comes from being made in God’s image rather than from performance, how does that challenge the idea that a person must earn acceptance through serving, giving, attendance, achievement, or reputation? [43:41]
Jesus restores people while also telling the truth and calling people to change. What makes correction restorative rather than controlling, humiliating, or abusive? [40:42]

Application questions

Have words from a leader, parent, coach, teacher, employer, or church person ever made God seem angry, impossible to please, or disappointed in you? What truth about God might you need to remember or receive again? [29:19]
Think about the words you have used this past week at home, online, at work, or around church. Did they bring life, courage, and dignity—or did they leave someone feeling small? What is one conversation that may need encouragement, apology, or a gentler approach? [34:34]
Where are you tempted to measure your own value by your productivity, volunteer hours, income, appearance, success, church attendance, or the approval of others? What would it look like this week to live from the value God has already given you? [52:08]
Is there someone you have trouble seeing as made in God’s image—perhaps because of their beliefs, politics, background, behavior, race, religion, or past? What would it look like to seek God’s image in that person without pretending that every disagreement disappears? [45:56]
When someone around you is struggling or acting out, is your first instinct to win, correct, withdraw, or listen? What is one practical way you could help restore a relationship instead of simply proving a point? [39:39]
Who might feel like they do not belong among Christians because of church hurt, shame, failure, or being different? How could this group make room for that person in a real and meaningful way? [50:27]
Healthy leadership teaches people to “fly” rather than simply demanding results. Who has helped you heal, grow, or rediscover joy, and how might you offer that kind of life-giving presence to someone else this week? [37:03]

Sermon Clips

29s

#IdentityInChrist

“You don't have to work. You don't have to score goals, you don't have to put up big numbers on a score sheet or volunteer or show up every Sunday for your value. That's right. Your value comes from Jesus Christ. Your value comes because you were made in the image and likeness of God the Father and that he loved you enough to put you here. That is where your value comes from.”

29s

#JesusRestores

“Let's look at Jesus. Everything about Jesus was restorative. His whole mission was to restore creation to himself. Everything that he wanted to do, he healed people, he fed people, he took care of people, he listened to people, he called people out. Everything was to restore things back to balance to the way that they were intended to be. That is the story of Jesus in a nutshell.”

61s

#FaithIsInclusive

“The call to follow Jesus, it's an open invitation to everyone, even our enemies. The people who we dislike the most, they get to follow Jesus too. And they get to become a part of the team and experience the championship with us. That is what is so beautiful to me about Christianity when it's done right. It is as inclusive as it gets. Forget about what you see on TV, please. Forget about what's on the news. Forget about what's on social media. Real Christianity that understands the nature of Jesus Christ and why we're created is an open invitation to everybody.”

71s

#ImageOfGodForAll

“Healthy leaders can speak life into people by showing them that their value is real. And something that I wanna pull from this James passage, if every person from every walk of life and every religion, every race is created in the image of God, then if one person has value, all people have value. That means we can't be racist. means we can't be homophobic. That means we can't hate another religion. The person that you think of when I say your enemy, you can't hate them. Amen. As a matter of fact, Jesus teaches us to pray for those who persecute us. Love your enemies. Understanding that we ourselves have value because we carry God's image means that when we look at other people, we also seek God's image in them. Every person, again, from every walk of life has value.”

63s

#ValueFromCreator

“Our value comes from our creator. And because that's where we find our value, we get to see that value in people around us. And quite frankly, sometimes we will see that value the most. We will see that image of God the most in the people that we have absolutely nothing in common with. See, we find our value in Jesus, and we see Jesus in other people, and that leads us to our one thing for today. Together, we reflect more of the image of God who made us. Together, we do that. See, on our own, we're just one of the painting. We're one brushstroke. On our own, we're fragmented. On our own, we can show shades of the brilliance of God, but we can't show the whole thing.”

45s

#TogetherReflectGod

“But that can only happen together. That can only happen when we set aside the differences, when we stop abusing each other, when we stop fighting, when we stop listening and buying into what social media tells us, when we stop listening to the news every day, when we stop listening to the Coach Riley's of the world. I wanna see a clear image of Jesus Christ. I want to see the most brilliant image of God that I can possibly see. And if we tell one group of people that they can't be here with us, we miss out on that part of God's glory and God's magnificence.”

39s

#HealingLeadership

“Gordon, when we first saw him in that conversation with coach Riley, was dejected, broken, coming off a DUI. But then he had someone like Hans to speak life into him, and it helped him heal. And that's the thing about good leadership. When leadership is mimicking Christ in a healthy way, when we are a real representation of Jesus, not only does healthy leadership make new healthy leaders, but it heals people who are broken.”

42s

#LoveYourNeighborAsYourself

“As a church, we are really good at loving our neighbor. We're really good about talking about how to love your neighbor. But if you're going to love your neighbor, you must love yourself first. Just going by what Jesus said, love your neighbor as yourself. This isn't self love that assumes that we don't need a savior or that we're better than somebody else. This is an understanding that we are God's creation, and because we are created in the image of the one true God, we have value.”

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