“Going Where the Puck is Going”

Topic(s): Christian Life, Church, Finish Line

I truly enjoy sports, both playing and watching. Of course, when it comes to playing sports the old adage, “the older I get, the better I used to be” becomes more and more apropos each time I lace up my basketball shoes. One of the most profound sports quotes I have heard is attributed to professional hockey great, Wayne Gretzky. He was once asked why he was such a prolific scorer and his response was to the effect: “I go where the puck is going, not where the puck has been.” The profundity of that statement certainly has relevant application to the Lord’s church. Does the leadership of the local congregation have a vision for the future of the work, or are they looking back over their shoulder to “where the puck has been,” thereby missing opportunities for growth and increased effectiveness as times move on?

Solomon penned in the Proverbs, “Where there is no vision, the people perish…” (Prov. 29:18). I understand that the word vision here makes reference to prophecy and how without a regular revelation the people would “cast off restraint” (as the ASV 1901 renders the word “perish”). However, if you will indulge an accommodative use of this verse, the application rings true regarding Christians today. When the leadership of the local church has no vision, no ideas, no goals for the future, the people will suffer and in some cases may perish spiritually. Though we have no guarantee of tomorrow and certainly not all year (Jas. 4:13), it is still appropriate to focus and to set forth goals towards which the congregation can aspire as they labor in the vineyard. The dreamer Joseph was despised by his brothers and misunderstood by his father, yet his dreams became a reality because he focused on God the entire time and never lost sight of his original vision (Gen. 37:1-11; 50:20)

The Apostle Paul wrote of his plans for a visit to the Romans (Rm. 15:23-25) and was single-minded in his focus of forgetting past things and moving forward towards those things that were most meaningful in a spiritual sense (Phil. 3:13-14). I urge the leadership of all congregations to make plans, to set goals, to share a vision with the people for the future of the work of the local church, and then to lead them effectively towards that end. It is difficult for the congregation to move forward collectively unless they go where the puck is going and avoid the redundancy and futility of going where the puck has been.

—Steven E. Yeatts, Murfreesboro, TN (used by permission)