I simply wanted to do something that mattered.

This is the heartcry of George Barna. After interviewing nearly half a million people, providing seminar-based training to leaders from over fifty thousand churches, and producing more than sixty books and syndicated reports he was:

Frustrated... I told the Lord I could not continue...

How did he get to this point?

My passion was to work with ministries to facilitate genuine life transformation... We conducted a survey where we were looking for churches that consistently and intelligently evaluate life transformation among the people to whom they minister.

But here's what they found

very few churches – emphasis on very – measure anything beyond attendance, donations, square footage, number of programs and size of staff. None of that necessarily reflects life transformation.

Barna goes on to lament

My objective had always been to get good information into the hands of leaders so they would convert those insights into great strategic decisions about how to minister more obediently and effectively. Not having the leaders in place to utilize such information was an obstacle I had not foreseen... Giving information to people whose sole interest seemed to be searching for facts that confirmed what they had already chosen to do, or seeking statistical evidence to support their teaching...

His conclusion

better to go broke in the pursuit of true life transformation than to remain financially safe but without any gain for the kingdom

I applaude his courage and the sacrifice of his staff. I'll gladly journey into the future with you. If you care about Kingdom or people, I'd recommend that you thoughtfully read his New Directions article.

p.s. george, i feel ya...