The phrase “you’ve got a lot of potential” is a double-edged sword.
On the one hand, it is certainly an encouragement to know that you have talents and abilities that are just waiting to be unleashed.
On the other hand, a lot of people allow their “potential” to become an excuse for complacency.
The key, I believe, is to use potential as motivation to work harder as opposed to using it as an excuse to get by on natural talent alone.
I believe the church I serve has almost unlimited potential. Because of our location, size, facilities, and congregational DNA, we have kingdom-sized impact just waiting to be unleashed. Whatever success we have had to this point only highlights how much more we are able to do.
That’s why we are pretty relentless is trying do things better here. More focused. With more simplicity. And greater impact.
Because I don’t want us ever to be the kind of church or people who had potential . . . and then didn’t live up to it.