Reveal: the brutal truth about spiritual growth
Sometimes in ministry there are things that must be gaged that are not easily determined or measured. Matters of the heart that can only be truly revealed by each individual, and one of these is personal spiritual growth. Every church must be concerned about the spiritual growth of their people, but how can they tell if they are growing. In the past the most common way is to simply look at their attendance or involvement. It was, and still is, widely assumed that if people are more involved at church or attend more often thy are growing. Even when I was in youth ministry that’s how I labeled my spiritually mature kids; through attendance.
Well, stemming from an annual analysis of Willow Creek Community Church Greg Hawkins and Cally Parkinson have done some breakthrough research and analysis to break the old thoughts of how people grow spiritually, and what role the church plays in that growth and put it in a book called Reveal. When I heard about this book I immediately ordered it and basically sat at my mail box waiting for it to arrive. When I finally received it and started reading it I couldn’t quit. Now I’m not one of those book worms who reads a book in one sitting (never done it before) but that’s exactly what I did with this book.
If you are a minister, elder, deacon, or just someone who cares about how the local church helps people to spiritually grow do yourself a favor and read this book. It will transform how you look at your programming options, and how you lead the spiritual growth of your congregation.