You have to start if you are going to accomplish anything.

As some of you know, in 2013 I got an auctioneer's license.  I enjoyed going to auctions and decided to take the classes that would prepare me for the exam that would allow me to become an auctioneer.  At various times throughout the year I would run ads in several local papers offering my services, but nothing ever came from those ads.  Towards the end of the year I decided that if I was going to be an auctioneer I would have to have an auction.  I rented a facility for an auction in January, hired the people I would need, and began to advertise the auction.  The only thing I needed was something to sell!  A few phone calls to some folks and some advertising on Facebook and I had plenty of items consigned for the sale.  Several people couldn't believe that I actually rented space and hired employees before I even had anything to sell, but that's exactly what I did.  I'm now having auctions on a fairly regular basis and have people calling me now asking me to sell for them.

This is not the first time I've done something like this.  In the early 1980s I was beginning to preach in some local churches when their pastors were gone.  I went several months without having an opportunity to preach anywhere.  A friend of mine, who was also a bivocational minister, and I rented a building and scheduled a week-long revival.  We invited some local singing groups, took out ads in the local paper, and posted fliers up around town.  We attracted decent crowds and had a great week of services.  As the planning for this event was taking place Hebron Baptist Church invited me to fill the pulpit for them for a few weeks.  On the Sunday following our revival services I preached a trial sermon for that church who called me to be their pastor.  I then served that church for the next twenty years.

In 1996 I wanted to write a book that would help bivocational ministers.  I knew nothing about writing a book, but I began to write.  When I finished the manuscript I sent a query letter to a couple of publishers.  The first publisher rejected me.  The second said they might be interested, but my manuscript needed a lot of work.  I made several changes they recommended, and in 2000 my first book was published.

I'm a big fan of John Maxwell, and in his excellent book The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth: Live Them and Reach Your Potential he writes "You cannot win if you do not begin!  The people who get ahead in the world are the ones who look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, they make them."  

Pastors and lay leaders often tell me they would like to see this or that happen in their church, but they do nothing to make those things happen.  They want their church to grow, but they do nothing that would cause the church to grow.  In a doctoral class I had with Elmer Towns he told us that we didn't have to worry about growing our churches.  All we needed to do was to identify the walls that had been built around our churches that kept people out and remove those walls.  Once those barriers were gone, growth would happen.  If you want to see your church grow, begin to remove those walls.  Don't wait until all the circumstances are perfect...just do it.

In virtually every conference I lead pastors complain that they have few people in their churches that are willing to help the church move forward.  Their deacons are resistant to change; few people in the church are willing to serve; most of the church is satisfied with the status quo.  These pastors don't know what to do, so they do nothing hoping that someday things will get better.

Guess what...they won't get better until somebody does something about it, and if you're the leader then that somebody better be you!  What I tell these pastors is to identify the ones who do want to make a difference and begin to work with them.  You have to run with the horses that want to run.  As a pastor you love everyone and you minister to their needs, but you invest yourself in those few that are excited about ministry.  You don't need large numbers of people to make a difference.  If you only have four or five people excited about doing ministry you can make a big difference in both your church and your community but only if you are willing to begin.

You can either sit around wringing your hands and complaining about how bad things are or you can get up and do something positive to improve things.  At first, it may only be you, but if you are consistent in doing the right things you will attract a few others to join you.  Soon, you may look up and see that several others have joined in as well, and one day you may be surprised to see how much things have improved.  The choice is yours, but you will have to start if you want to accomplish anything worthwhile.  But, it starts by you being willing to take the initiative and begin.

BTW - I highly recommend Maxwell's book I mentioned above.  It's one of his best.  I've read it every year since it was released.