The Name on the Front

In February 1980, coach Herb Brooks led a group of amateur college hockey players onto the ice at Lake Placid to face the Soviet Union — a team that had dominated Olympic hockey for nearly two decades. The Soviets were professionals in everything but name. No one gave the Americans a chance.

But Brooks had spent months doing something more important than running drills. He had broken down the bitter rivalries between players from competing college programs — Boston University and Minnesota chief among them — and forged them into something they had never been: a genuine team. His driving conviction was simple: the name on the front of the jersey matters far more than the name on the back.

When they stunned the Soviets 4-3, it was not because any single player was extraordinary. It was because twenty young men had learned to play as one.

The apostle Paul would have understood. He told the Corinthians that the body of Christ has many parts, but they all belong to each other (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). No eye can say to the hand, "I don't need you." No star can win alone.

The church that transforms its neighborhood will not be built on one gifted pastor or one talented worship leader. It will be built the way Herb Brooks built his team — ordinary people choosing to put the name on the front above the name on the back.