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LifeConnection BHAG
By admin | June 11, 2007
*Warning: the following may tick you off*ÂÂ
You know what would be the Death Knell for me as I think about LifeConnection? Coming to the place where we have little vision for our city and our world. Coming to the place where maintenance is valued over risk. Coming to the place where we become short-sited in our vision, jumping to meet the pressing need instead of strategizing for the long-term goal.
Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t style myself as some hugely adventurous guy. I don’t have any desire to jump out of an airplane, or off a bridge, or anything like that. I don’t own a big truck and go hunting every weekend. I’m not like Bear and drop out of helicopters into the middle of nowhere surviving with only the clothes on my back and the knife in my pocket (that needs to be the subject of a post to come). But I do think the church should be a place that is strategically taking risk for the cause of Jesus in our world. And my greatest desire is to lead LifeConnection, as best I can, to do just that.
Some time ago I came across the notion of developing a BHAG - a Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal.
Silly acronym? Maybe. But and idea that captures my imagination. Part of it is that this reflects how I already think about life and ministry. And so I started thinking about the BHAG for LifeConnection.
In KC 63% of the population claims no religious preference, meaning they will not be in any worshiping community this weekend - Christian or otherwise. That means over 1.2 million will not take part in any spiritual gathering this weekend. I hope you’ll let that sink in a moment.
Now you can quibble over words, are they “unchurched” or “underchurched” or whatever; are those stats accurate, blah blah blah. But what you can’t argue with are the facts. 1.2 million people do not find Jesus meaningful enough to their lives to gather with his people. Church’s fault? Probably. But that’s another story.
For what is a church in KC to strive? I mean what should be our vision?
Maybe it’s just because I’m an extremely competitive guy but in my mind, “go big or go home.” In my estimation too many church leaders are selling out for goals that are too small. Consumed by the pressing we miss out on the urgent. And so we give in to pressures that cause our vision to lower to the immediate instead of the strategic.
I know these pressures. I know the pressure of needing money to meet budget. Not so we can have a nice rental facility and killer sound equipment. But so I can eat…next month! I know the pressures first hand, believe me I do.
But if I ever allow these pressures to direct our vision then I am selling out in the worst kind of way.
So what’s our BHAG? We are going to strive to make a marked and measurable dent in that 1.2 million number.
Big? Definitely. But is anything else worth giving my life to? If I am setting up shop in KC and my goal isn’t changing those statistics then what am I giving my life to? I mean really. This isn’t just some kind of hyped rhetoric for me. I take this extremely serious. If you are a church leader and your goal is not to make a dent in that number then what in God’s name are you doing? I mean really.
And because I think glocally (think globally act locally, think locally act globally), I am convinced that this will allow us to raise up people to go all over the world for the cause of Jesus. So don’t come at me about the poor little kid in some 2/3 world country who will never hear of Jesus while these over-bloated surbanites have ready access to the gospel. I know all that, and we’re going to do something about. By God’s grace we are going to kill ourselves to do something about it.
We need leaders with courage to join God in his mission. Am I one of those guys? Time will tell I suppose. But what I do know is that we are going to call people to live for something so absolutely big that only God can pull it off. And since he is the only one who can pull it off he will get all the credit when we reach the goal.
We are going to do all we can to call people to live for something bigger than themselves. In the power of the Holy Spirit we are going to pursue big things. Will we succeed? Time will only tell. But we’re going to give it our all as if lives depended on it. Because they do.
Topics: Leadership, LifeConnection |
June 11th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
i double dog dare you to define a specific number in relation to measurable.
i triple dog dare you to not underestimate God.
i admit that i am totally taking advantage of your competitive nature just to see what you will say, so i will give you an out and say that you don’t have to post the number to meet the requirements of the dare.
speech-acts are cool.
June 11th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
Jason-
God bless you all in your church plant. Have you ever checked out the International House of Prayer in Grandview MO? They have a great vision for our generation and for KC too. Check it out at http://www.ihop.org. Just sounded like you all had the same heart, to reach KC with the gospel.
June 12th, 2007 at 7:13 am
That’s just not playin’ fair Mark.
Paul, yeah I’m somewhat familiar with IHOP and have some friends connected with them a bit. Thanks for the link. Just so everyone else knows, they don’t have pancakes. Just didn’t want anyone to get disappointed.
June 12th, 2007 at 11:05 am
Well, you’ve shared a heart and openness that few leaders have. That few are willing to ‘claim’. Simply saying “i’m ready and willing, Lord” pretty much changes everything already. It greatly opposes the “Lord, we’re a church and HERE (all spelled out to their liking) is what we’re going to be doing…please bless us in our venture.”
You have a radical need in KC that most cities face. You have a radical and certain solution to the needs of roughly 1.2 million. No surprise or understatement that it takes a radical and willing heart(s) to let God take you on that journey. I empathize with you…but unsure for myself what that looks like yet.