“It’s The Pedal On The Right—Speed UP!!!!”

Have you ever yelled that out loud in reference to the car in front of you? I could not tell you the number of times I have!

Or another thing that bothers me—REALLY bothers me is when a person just sits at a GREEN LIGHT! AHHHHH! I begin to scream, “It isn’t going to get any greener—GO!”

Why am I like this? Simple—I want progress, don’t you? And this can be a good thing at times; however, if I am not careful it can get me into a lot of trouble…and it can get you in trouble as well—let me explain.

The other morning I was on my way home from the gym and managed to get behind the slowest person in the entire world. (I think a couple of people passed us jogging!)

So we’re going down this road—making VERY LITTLE progress—and I begin to think, “I should pass this person.” Keep in mind that the speed limit on the road was 35 and there was a double yellow line…but I began to reason with myself, “This person is holding me back—I am a bird…I need to fly…”

I had nearly convinced myself to “go for it” and prepared for the bold move…and then we came over this little hill and there was a police car sitting off to the side of the road with his radar gun, zapping people. (Did I mention we were in a school zone?)

I would have probably been put UNDER the jail! I would have had to have become like the Apostle Paul—he had a pretty decent “prison ministry,” I guess it might have worked.

The bottom line here is I want to move—but someone (slowest person in the entire world) was holding me back. BUT in this case it was a good thing because if it had not been for this person I could have been in some serious trouble…and if I had decided to bypass this person the results could have been very bad!

To me this is a simple lesson in leadership.

As a leader I am wired to move—I want progress. I do not stay awake at night dreaming about how to maintain the status quo. I want action—I want to see the charts going up and to the right…and the church NEEDS leaders like that!

However, although I know that I am called to lead the church…I am not called to lead it alone. God has put together an incredible team around me…and they exist to protect me and protect the church from making rash decisions.

I admit that at times as a leader I have wanted to make a decision—and in my mind it was the right decision—it meant progress—it meant results—lives would be impacted—ministry would take place…but from time to time someone steps in and begins to ask questions—lots of them. When I was a young leader this used to frustrate me, “Can’t you see you are slowing down the process? Can’t you see you are in my way? It’s the pedal on the right—the light is not going to get any greener—MOVE!”

But as I look back…it is by God’s grace that He has placed the right people in leadership to ask the right questions…I am not saying it wasn’t frustrating having to slow down…but it has always been good because it forces us as a team to think through the decision…and on more than one occasion we have not followed through on some “fast idea” that I had—and we were better for it.

This works for any area of life. SINGLE PEOPLE—listen, you have been there…or maybe you are there—the relationship looks great—he/she looks good, they take a bath daily, their breath smells good…and you want to move forward—quickly. Slow down—get some people you know in your life to ask you questions about the relationship and BE HONEST when you answer, it might slow down the process—but it might also save you from the 66% of Americans who get divorced!

This works in the area of making a huge purchase. You see it (car, home, whatever) and you want it…NOW! You can rationalize buying it—you can make the minimum payment…but slow down. Get some people in your life that can ask you the right questions…slow you down, make you think. I know if I would have done that then I would have been protected from making several stupid decisions.

It’s not bad to slow down and think about things—we need to do this! Do you have those people in your life?