Where Do We Go From Here?

When we first started the Gate here in College Station, I was meeting pretty often with another local pastor. He told me of a church that had attempted to do much the same thing we were doing, but after a few years, their sponsor church pulled funding, and they were left wondering what to do. They felt very strongly that God had called them to serve here, and to reach the students. They had been reaching people, but they weren't as successful as their parent church wanted them to be. I was told that they were asking the question of "Where do we go from here?"

Most of the time, when I hear that question, it is asked after some sort of tragedy, or failure, some rug-pulled-out-from-under-you moment. The question just always carries an air of confusion with it that seems best fit to not so good moments.

What if we are asking the question in the wrong way? It is a great question simply because it begins to motivate us to survive and pull ourselves back up to our feet. Maybe it should not be a question asked when someone dies, or we lose a job, or fail a test. It doesn't have to be a question asked out of despair- what if it is a question asked out of a deep sense of hope and excitement?

I have always talked about three key questions we need to ask ourselves- this being one of them.

Where Have I Been?
We are who we have grown to be. Our memories, our experiences, victories and yes, our scars, shape our identity. But since I've kinda beat this horse to death and back lately, I'll move on.

Where Am I Going?/Where Do I Go From Here?
We need vision, and we need it badly. Proverbs 29:18 says "Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law." Without vision, we are anarchy, uncontrolled, un-apologetically hedonistic- we are animals. Vision is focus. And vision has become a church buzz-word in last decade. Sad to say, it seems it is often used to describe the type of programming the church offers. I've seen and known pastors whose vision is solely based upon the book they just read or seminar they just attended. These are good things, in and of themselves, but where is the personal vision for the people they serve? Or for themselves? Why stop at the leadership? The people need a vision for themselves and for the church they are the hands and feet for. Too many times I see churches with a visionary leader, but not churches of visionaries. Where are YOU going? Because your direction and your church's direction are tied together. You, after all, are the church.

Who Am I?
Identity. We can't know it until we remember from whence we came and determine where we intend to go. So much of our life is spent trying to find that out. The truth is, identity is not static. Sure, you will always have some things at your core, but politics, outlooks, some of your personality, preferences, and yes, even your religious views can and will change over the span of your life. In high school, I was a single, argumentative, arrogant, competitive, and intellectual. Now, I'm married.

So the truth is that our identity is tied to where we are going. We need to know not necessarily the end destination, we just need the vision for the next step. But we NEED vision. I have a vision for where our church will end up, where I personally want to be in a few years, but both of those, in order to happen, must begin with a vision for tomorrow. And a vision of tomorrow begins with looking at yesterday and today and asking, "Where do I go from here?"