To have, as Dr. Jerry Falwell
coined it, a Big Hairy Audacious Goal or BHAG, is to take God at His Word with
full and utter confidence, believing that no matter what may come, He “is able
to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the
power that works in us” (Ep 3:20). There is however a cost to owning the
aforementioned verse for oneself. Sadly, far too many Christians are unwilling
to or do not know how to do this, pay the price that is. If, however, a believer
is willing to pay the price then a BHAG they shall have.
Intertwined
in the readings this week we find David Hirschman describing key aspects of Dr.
Falwell’s life that led him to achieve so much in ministry, namely Thomas Road
Baptist Church and Liberty University. Through the eyes of the earliest LU®
graduates, Hirschman details what it took for Dr. Falwell to accomplish
his BHAG, and considering when his journey began and what it was, it being a
BHAG may have been an understatement. Nonetheless, Hirschman’s account in his
Thesis, and Dr. Falwell’s account in his book, outlines what it takes to create
a BHAG, and move ahead with it once it is attained.
In brief,
what this author found to be important key factors were reliance on Holy
Spirit, faith, prayer, team, discipline, and a servant’s heart. These few,
among so many excellent factors, propelled into motion Dr. Falwell’s BHAG, and
it stands to reason that it should do the same for our own. Dr. Falwell’s
“Principles for Receiving Big Things” is encompassed by four aspects: people,
excellence in work, spiritual integrity, and childlike faith.[1]
Hirschman’s findings indubitably agree with the aforementioned.
Considering these things, I believe if I
apply them, I should leave seminary ready to continue in the BHAG God has
already placed in my heart. Dr. Falwell mentioned, and I think this is super
important, that sometimes “we dream for big things but are not willing to pay
the price of diligent study, hard work, or patient prayers.”[2]
This is too true. I seek to be excellent in all three by God’s grace. I am
currently attending Seminary full time. I am no longer involved in church
activities (temporarily of course). I am truly focused on my family, my
studies, and the future. I pray that at the end of my Seminary journey, I will
be in full swing and active in pursuing the BHAG God has given me.
My first step to
building my BHAG is in bringing together a multitude of denominations and
engaging in an Evangelistic effort called Corners4Christ.
This effort entails having groups of servants stationed on the “corners” of
major shopping areas in big city (or anywhere there is a street corner) ready
to engage, listen, pray, and lead people to Christ and then follow them up with
those very same local churches. This ministry, I pray, will be the launching
pad for my BHAG which in short, is a ministry that involves reaching out to the
poor, widow, and orphan (and everyone in between) and providing them with much
needed services and spiritual guidance.
In addition, this
ministry seeks to take the “champions for Christ” and actually pay them
salaries for doing the work God has called them to. My heart is heavy for
ministers that cannot effectively do what they have been called to do because
they simply cannot or do not know how to raise their own support. This ministry
seeks to funnel billions of dollars into the hands of the minister and the ministered.
This is the vision God has placed on my heart, this is my BHAG.
[1] Jerry Falwell, Building
Dynamic Faith (Nashville,
TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2005)158-159.
[2] Ibid., 160.
Bibliography
Falwell, Jerry. Building Dynamic Faith. Nashville, TN:
Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2005.
Hirschman, David W. “An Examination of the Significant
Factors Motivating Early Liberty
University Ministerial Graduates to Envision and Pursue
Ambitious Ministry Opportunities.” Doctor of Ministry Thesis. Liberty
University, 2010. Accessed March 26, 2014. http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1340&context=doctoral
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