$100M Man

In October 2007, at a men’s retreat I organized and led on “Marketplace Christianity,” I had an intense prayer time on the Sunday morning, sitting in a rocking chair in front of the fireplace. I wept and interacted with the Lord, and felt he told me he had 3 commissions for me, 3 words for me to follow.

1)      Love my wife as Christ loved the Church, and set himself to present her “spotless and without blemish”

2)      Build a $100-million business (I’m assuming he meant gross, and it seemed to mean $100 million per year, as that would be how I would measure a business)

3)      Mentor men

You have to understand that, at that time, I had been in business some 14 years full-time, but was already 55, having gotten somewhat of a late start on entrepreneurship. (In my early adulthood, I specifically chose to have jobs that I could leave at the job when I went home, and would not even do “side work” in electrical, my chosen field.) In addition, even to date, we have never grossed even close to half a million, and the nature of electrical contracting is that it is non-repetitive (if you’re getting called back on the same job, it’s not usually for a good reason, and it usually costs rather than profits) and difficult to “automate” (each job tends to be unique, and the combination of people interacting on a job is endlessly unique and often difficult to navigate).So, I am now 60, and still wondering about that word. Parts 1 and 3 seem to be processes not readily quantifiable, and more of a process than an end-goal, but part 2 is definite and specific, measurable, a sort of True/False question.

I woke up early this morning (3 am) and lay in bed trying to go back to sleep, and this word came to mind. And in the process of mulling it over, I felt I heard Holy Spirit say, “I can give you a 100-million-dollar business anytime. But I can’t do it until I have made you into a 100-million-dollar man.” That really set me to thinking.

What is a 100-million-dollar man? Western Judeo-Christian culture emphasizes the infinite value of one soul. Quite a number of people who have encountered the person of Jesus in some emphatic way have felt that he said to them, “If you had been the only one, I would have died for you.”  In light of that, even $100,000,000 would be paltry sum.

Of course, there has to be more that is meant here. I’m not sure I have the answer right now. It’s definitely something I’ll be praying about. I’m sure it’s about character, probably about capability, definitely about attitude. Whatever it means, I want to be headed in that direction.

The Appalachian Trail is 2,178 miles long, somewhere in the range of 5 million steps. Who knows, this journey may be a “trail” of 100 million steps or even 100 million miles. Still, it can only be walked one step at a time.

Tags: 100 million, life journey, manhood, trail, value