I was at a new Church conference and went to a breakout session with one of the main speakers. He was from a fast-growing church and wanted to share his wisdom with other Church leaders. I had my notebook and frantically wrote down all his thoughts to help me in my leadership.

Since that day, I have lost the notebook or intentionally thrown it away after many of the concepts became outdated. One of his principles has stuck with me through the years. He described it as “preparing for where you are going, and not where you are presently.”

He used an analogy to help us understand. Earlier, he was asked to officiate a wedding. That day, he trimmed his beard, got all cleaned up, and put on his best suit. He was “dressed to the nines,” as he described it.

Then, on the way to the wedding, he realized he needed gas. He stopped at the station and got out to fill his car. In that moment, he was way overdressed for a gas station. But that is okay, his destination was not there, it was only a temporary stop. He was dressed for the wedding. And when he got there, he would fit in perfectly.

Finally, he explained, when your Church is growing and reaching new people, you will need to develop the policies and procedures of a larger faith community. At the moment, they will look and sometimes feel like we are overdressed. That is okay because we don’t plan to stay here for long.

His final line is what stuck in my mind, “Dress for the wedding and not the gas station.”