Cul-de-sac living is no living at all. I’n previous posts I defined “Death in the cul-de-sac” as well as “three distinct cul-de-sacs of comfort.” It’s inside our cul-de-sacs of comfort that we simultaneously die and grow. How you ask? Consider this:
- Trust in God dies while fear of change grows
- Risk-taking dies while comfort-seeking grows
- Kingdom progress dies while kingdom perks grow
- Selfless serving dies while self-serving grows
- Vision for the future dies while traditions of the past grow
- Bold resolve dies while bureaucratic red-tape grows
- Personal growth dies while organizational apathy grows
- Life purpose dies while personal regrets grow
And the list could go on. So how do you move outside the cul-de-sac of comfort and embrace God’s bold vision for your life, ministry, or organization?
1. Completely Surrender – As long as you insist on being in control, you will die in your dead-end street. Jesus said, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am…” (Matthew 16:24 – The Message).
2. Start Moving Now – Stop thinking about what’s outside the cul-de-sac and go take a look for yourself. Look. Experience. Serve. Love. Give. Volunteer. Take a hard look at the needs around you and then get off your butt and go do something. The longer you think about it the quicker you’ll talk yourself back into your cul-de-sac of comfort.
3. Become Intentional About Personal Growth – The more you grow yourself the more discontent you will become with the status quo and the less appealing the cul-de-sac will be. The reason many churches, ministries, organizations, and movements stop growing is because their leaders and people stop growing. They try to survive off yesterday’s growth. Grow daily.
4. Narrow Your Focus – The more you experiment the more you’ll come to understand where and how you can make your greatest contribution. Begin focusing your efforts and your impact will start to grow.
I could share other ideas, but these are a great place to start to get the Lazy Boy recliner thrown out of your cul-de-sac.
