Somebody Push the Button

For the past two days we, the pastors at PFB, have been in planning and vision meetings.  This has been a great time.  Yesterday we went from 8:30am - 4:30pm, talking about what we think God is doing and where he is leading us next.  When it was finished, a group of us gathered our stuff and went to the elevator.  The doors opened.  It was empty.  About five of us got in.  As we got in we all just waited as the elevator started to move.  The only probably is this: no one on the elevator had pushed the button for the first floor.  Rather, we all just stood there talking.  The elevator went up to the third flood because someone up there pushed the button to call the elevator up there.  We all felt kind of stupid and someone finally pushed the button for the first floor.

Here's what hit me: leaders are the ones who need to be willing to push the button.  To have a group of people in one place who are there for a specific reason/purpose is one thing.  However, if the group is just meeting with itself without making a difference in any one else and not going any where, the group of leaders aren't leading.  A leader has to be willing to push the button.  Pull the trigger.  Whatever your favorite expression, the message is still the same: leaders lead.  If we are leading, we need to make sure that we are willing to make the decision and deal with the ramifications.  We pray for guidance.  We seek counsel.  We meet with others and work through the process.  But at the end of the day, we need to push the button if we are going to be going anywhere.  If we don't, someone else will and we will be where we were never supposed to be.