Christ's BHAG

Only once, in Chicago, have I personally heard Jim Collins - the author of four best-selling business books – but I distinctly recall his main thesis and the Q&A session that followed. His observations impressed me as real-world scholarly, yet simply explained.

One of Collins’ quirky, but memorable, laws: To build anything great and enduring you need a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) that is tangible, energizing, highly focused and that people can understand immediately.

Much of Collins’ business counsel reflects biblical insights. Take BHAG for instance.

Jesus came to earth with one goal – tangible and focused - but usually misunderstood at first how it would be achieved. Misunderstanding was far from new. Noah didn’t connect ark-building with sin-cleansing. Abraham didn’t connect son-sacrificing with fathering a great nation. And, Jews didn’t connect a baby in a hay rack with a king on a throne.

However, before his birth an angel of God announced, “He will save his people from their sins,” and near the end of his ministry, Jesus confirmed that he had come to “save the lost.” That was his one and only focused goal – not restocking wedding wine, feeding hungry masses, healing sick or defying gravity at the Sea of Galilee.

Big, Hairy, Audacious? Obviously, this isn’t a biblical description, but in human terms it expresses the immensity of God’s love and Christ’s sacrificial gift. Once understood, a dozen were energized. Then 120. Then 3,000, and eventually millions have chosen to confess, “It’s not about me, but all about him – who loved me so much he willingly gave his life so we can be totally pardoned from sin and live with him eternally.”

Great and Enduring? What institution in the world is greater and more enduring than Jesus’ church? Charlatans have messed with it and Militias have tried to trash it, but centuries of internal and external attack have failed to erase it.

That, my friends, is a divine BHAG - that we celebrate every time we share in the bread and cup honoring Jesus.