I would like to share with you my BHAG. BHAG stands for “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” – an idea presented in the book Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. A BHAG is a long-term goal that changes the very nature of a business' existence.
Following this principle, World Impact has a BHAG – although our BHAG stands for “Big Holy Audacious God.” What goals can we work towards, walking in faith that God can and will change the nature of how we operate? Our BHAG is to have a presence in the 100 poorest cities of the United States with a population of over 200,000 (see infographic, right).
When I share this with others there are typically two primary reactions. It is either shock and awe that we would chase a dream so big or eye-rolling as if to say here is just another Christian organization claiming something unrealistic. From my perspective this goal is very realistic if we follow the model Christ laid out.
One of my mentors instilled in me the idea of disciple-making being the currency of God’s Kingdom and the key to lives being changed. At the end of His earthly life, Jesus said, “do what I have done” (John 14:12), “walk as I have walked” (1 John 2:6), and “follow my example” (John 12:5). One of the last commands he left us with was to “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).
If we are going to see the Gospel spread and become a movement that transforms urban communities we need to embrace Jesus’ disciple-making way of life. I’ve seen it happen. One of the legacies of the small, urban church I planted and pastored in Cincinnati from 2000-2007 was we had a vibrant missions ministry, yet it was not a formal program. Instead, I put a discipleship structure in place.
I intentionally recruited people to help me start the church. Those who caught the vision and showed leadership potential I selected to apprentice under me. Once she or he proved their value and commitment as an apprentice I began to formally train them. Once trained, I gave them defined leadership roles that their skill-set could handle. Once they matured they often moved on to lead other ministries.
My disciple-making efforts led to a church planter in Boston, two associate pastors serving in the Cincinnati area, an orphanage worker in Kosovo, a mission worker in Poland, and an urban missionary in East Palo Alto. I saw urban Kingdom expansion by simply taking disciple-making seriously.
What does it look like to follow that principle as an organization? We recruit vibrant missional partners and associates. From that group we select effective ministry developers. We grow these developers to be deployed to become city directors in new areas, multiplying our influence. We then sustain our growth through strategic regional leadership; and we continue to use our schools and camps as tools for urban disciple-making. The highway to 100 cities is contagious relationships. Christ has shown the way and all we need to do is follow Him.