Kyle Idleman, teaching pastor at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, rose to national prominence with his book and small group curriculum Not a Fan (Zondervan). It focused on commitment, urging mere fans of Jesus to become dedicated followers. For his follow-up, Aha: The God Moment That Changes Everything (Cook), Idleman turned to the topic of transformation. We talked to Idleman about what leaders can—and can't do—to help people change.

What do you mean by an "aha" moment?

As a pastor you accumulate a lot of stories and testimonies from people over the years. After a while I started to see some patterns in people's stories. Then when I was studying the story of the prodigal son, I saw a familiar pattern in his story. I examined the language used in that text. It says "he came to his senses" then "he said to himself" and finally that "he got up." I identified three elements in the story. There's an awakening ...