Rivets

As leaders we must realize that life is about the rivets, the little details.

In July of 2007, we were on a trip in Ecuador with Wess Stafford, the President of Compassion International. He shared with us some thoughts on leadership and talked of what really sank the Titanic on April 15, 1912. Most people think an iceberg sank the ship, but that is only half the story. Many similar ships had collided with icebergs and emerged intact. And it would have been virtually impossible for an iceberg to penetrate the double thick steel hull of the Titanic. No, the Titanic sank because of three million faulty rivets that held the steel of the ship's hull. Apparently, during the manufacturing of these rivets, the plant cut a few corners and used sub-standard iron to save a few bucks. The force of the collision with the iceberg created immense pressure on the rivets which caused them to catastrophically fail. Thus, the steel plating of the ship's hull catapulted off the frame allowing the freezing waters of the Atlantic to rush inside the doomed ship.

As leaders, we must realize life is about the rivets, the little details. We must acknowledge whether we are cutting corners and identify where we are vulnerable. When the pressure comes, will we be able to stand the force, or will our hull be compromised?

As I read this in the Deadly Viper book it seemed to scream out to me. How many people in our lives have we known in leadership positions who often ignored the little details?

Are we ignoring the little details?

This might look like the following...

• Choosing not to read the Bible because you're just too busy.
  


• Choosing not to pray because it's just too late.
  


• Throwing a lesson together half-hearted because you procrastinated the entire week.
  


• Teaching/Preaching without any passion because you didn't put enough prayer, time and energy in your lesson/sermon, making it "just a task to be completed."
  


• Entertaining yourself through media that is unedifying to the purpose of Christ.
  
  
• Participating in and spreading all the "juicy gossip."

• Ignoring a true and honest concern someone has about your leadership.

Whatever the little details are in your life that you are prone to being weak to, I pray that you will take notice and not allow your ship to sink. It's about the rivets, the little details.