The Third Coming of George Barna

From Christianity Today,

The aftermath of September 11 settled it for him. He had thought perhaps it would take persecution or war to shock America into spiritual reflection. As a traumatized nation streamed into churches, the church had a moment of opportunity. "The sad outcome is that when we needed great leadership, we didn't have any guts," he says. "That moment of opportunity was squandered."

It's not really courage that Barna identifies as crucial, though. He's spent untold hours interacting with pastors and church leaders, and he's convinced that the majority of them aren't leaders. Most are admirable people whose gifts lie in Bible teaching or pastoring. Those are valuable gifts, Barna affirms, but they are not leadership. By leadership he means the ability to motivate and lead institutional change.

CT also published Barna's nine challenges for the church.