LEADERSHIP: The REVEAL research points out that many in our churches are "growing in Christ" or "close to Christ," but not so many are "Christ-centered." What's it take to move people into a Christ-centered life?

They have to see it, feel it, touch it to get a vision of what it would be like to live a totally Christ-centered life. Can you expect people in the church to be Christ-centered if the pastor isn't?

Second, as pastor I have to teach that such a condition actually exists, that there are people in today's world, as broken as it is, who are full-on for God, who want Christ to be the center of their lives and the guide to all their decisions.

As pastors, we easily get caught up in perceptions of success—gatherings well-filled feel better than half-filled rooms. Budgets met feel better than budgets not met. So it's easy to confuse external signs of a church's health with the extent of internal heart transformation going on.

Church leaders have to start asking a different set of ...