God and Our Big Hairy Audacious Goals

    Phil Vischer was the CEO of Big Idea Productions and the creator of Veggie Tales, a computer animated show that teaches Biblical and moral lessons. The main characters are fruits and vegetables. The show was a hit with parents and kids. My two boys grew up watching, laughing, and singing along with Larry the Cucumber, Bob The Tomato, and 3-2-1 Penguins. We still have Veggie Tales videos in our collection.

    In his blog, Phil said that Big Idea Productions grew by 3300% in revenue, from $1.3 million to $44 million between 1996 and 1999. Dreaming big and bold, Phil had this Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) of becoming the next Walt Disney - a Christian Disney. However, great ambitions often go wrong especially when fueled by self-centered and prideful motivations. By early 2000, the company was in financial trouble and eventually filed for bankruptcy in 2003.

    Phil admits that his decisions as CEO led to the company's difficulties. Phil says in his blog,

I have seen the enemy, and he is me. My strengths built Big Idea, and my weaknesses brought it down. Throughout Big Idea's history, my business instincts were generally quite good. But I had no experience managing people or leading teams to accomplish goals....As VeggieTales took off, I became terrified that my business inexperience and lack of people skills would result in Big Idea's failure. So, in a panic, I brought in others to help, often spending far too little time getting to know them before or after the hire. I then backed down from my own convictions, assuming that an executive with an impressive resume surely knew better than a Bible college dropout. And I launched projects like Jonah before we were really ready to handle them, assuming we'd figure things out on the fly as I had done in the basement and with the very first VeggieTales episode. The result was some amazingly rabid fans, and absolute organizational chaos. The result was the rise – and fall – of Big Idea.

Dreams are powerful but we often confuse our dreams with God's will. As a result, we fail to see that God will lead us in a completely different, but far better, direction. Our dreams therefore can become our god or idol and it's a very cruel taskmaster. It deludes us into thinking that the end justifies the means. We'll do everything we can : sacrifice, compromise our values, neglect our families, and even commit sin, in order to meet our goals. We expect that success will ultimately make everything ok. Yet all that hard work and effort only ends in pain, hurt, and tragedy.

    I'm not saying that you should not have dreams, ambitions, and even BHAGs. I am saying that your dreams are never divorced from God's revelation and holiness. Don't make the mistake of making grand plans for God and asking God to join you and bless your quest. The cry of the Christian is always, "Let Your will be done"! Wherever God leads you, that is where you go.

    Today, Phil has a new company called Jellyfish Labs and shares what he learned from running Big Idea,

First, our relationships with God are much more important than our work for God. God doesn’t want us to be “busy,” he wants us to be available. He doesn’t want us to focus on “impact,” he wants us to focus on obedience. If we’re walking with Him, we’ll know when He has something specific for us to do. We don’t need to make stuff up. If we’re so wrapped up in the work we’re doing for God that we can’t even make eye contact with the person bagging our groceries, something in our lives is way out of whack.

Second, to be a Christian is to give Christ “lordship” of our lives. That’s what it means. He’s Lord, we’re not. And if we’ve given Christ lordship of our lives, where we are in 20 years is, frankly, none of our business. Where we are in 5 years is none of our business. What is our business, is what God has told us to do today, and whether or not we’re doing it. That’s it.

    Even when meant for good, ambitions and dreams that exalt self must die. That's why God whacks us into submission and makes us fall flat on our backs so that we will discover that God Himself, His love, mercy, and grace is far better than what life and opportunities in this world have to offer.