We all remember past events differently. I remember when I announced our Big Hairy Audacious Goal. It was 2018. Barely 18 months into the position of CEO, at the 125th Anniversary celebration of the organization, our new 10-Year Vision was announced: Invite 130 million people to meet Jesus, by offering them a Gospel of John.

Why 130 million? Two reasons. First, as best as we could determine, The League had in its 125 years invited that number of people to meet Jesus. We looked at our current year results. We dreamed, we prayed, we got out our calculators. If we grew 10% year-over-year we would reach 130 million people.

10% year-over-year growth, every year. We knew (and know) growth is never linear. Yet the more we stared and prayed, the more we concluded, “Why not try?” And further, “A big goal is supposed to be challenging, 5% growth isn’t.” We put it before God asking, was it hubris, or was it truly something God wanted us to aim for?

People’s reactions were different:

·       Some people did not react. As an organization we did not talk about 10-Year goals. This sort of behavior was not in our DNA. We did not say out loud a BHAG.

·       Others smiled. In hindsight, I wonder if they were thinking, “This guy has only been here 18 months, love his enthusiasm, but doesn’t he need to get a few years under his belt”. Now to be clear, I wondered that as well.

I am not sure if this is what people were thinking. What I am sure of is the post-announcement affect.

As a team we listened to our colleagues at C12 and Convene. We applied the EOS ® methodology, drilling down from 10 years to 3 years, to 1 year, etc. We read (and tried to apply) SWITCH, and a bunch of other books. Then this past year, at the beginning of our 5th year, in the first 90 days, we sustained a pace that was the pace we needed for Year 10.

We did not design this pace. Not only did we not design it, we could not sustain the pace, but we lived it for 90 days. We saw it could be done. We felt the pain points. That reality surfaced what needed to be done for sustainability. Most of all, we could see God’s hand. The Gospel force which was driving us was not even on the drawing board in Year 1. God receives ALL the glory for this.

And then something else happened. Our Board, rather jokingly, suggested I had been sandbagging our BHAG! Beyond some good-natured poking, the BHAG was no longer valid. Why? Because if we simply ran at the second 5 years modestly growing, we would blow by the 130 million.

Now everyone was not simply listening. We were jointly dreaming and praying. We knew that the performance of the past 5 years had huge God moments. Moments where God, not us, had shown up. We knew we could not predict how He would engage. We knew we needed a new BHAG.

What is our new 10-Year BHAG? It draws on our recent history. From 2018 to 2020, we doubled in reach. Then, from 2021 to 2023, we doubled again (that was our 30-in-3 goal).

We asked, “What if we could “double every three years?”, what would our BHAG be?” Answer:

ONE BILLION PEOPLE INVITED TO MEET JESUS.

Does that sound nuts to you? It does to me. Join me before God, asking again, “Lord, is this pride? Is it hubris? Or is it what you want us to strive for?”

However, let me tell you what I do know. I know from 2024 to 2026 we legitimately have the opportunity to double again, to invite 60 million people to meet Jesus. So, we are rolling up our sleeves and getting to work! Please join us in prayer