Willow has been getting it wrong. So Willow Creek Community Church senior pastor Bill Hybels has said lately.

What's the story? His executive pastor Greg Hawkins asked for the opportunity to conduct an in depth survey over spiritual growth in the congregation, and the results have surprised everyone at Willow: non-Christians are getting saved, but the Christians aren't growing, at least like they should be.

Willow Creek has now published a book called Reveal: Where Are You? which describes the survey and then charts the way forward in light of its findings. It's authored by Greg Hawkins, Cally Parkinson (formerly Willow Creek Association director of communication and now the REVEAL "brand manager"), and Eric Arnson (a business strategy consultant).

Kudos to Willow for being humbly forthright about their mistakes. A cynical person might ask why the people who have been getting it wrong should now tell us how to do it right. But I'm going to do my best not to be cynical as I blog through it. It's a very short book: 76 pages and then an additional 30 or so of appendix material. But I want take 5 or 6 blogs to consider it carefully.

Let me put all my cards on the table up front: from day one 9Marks has presented a different model of the church than Willow Creek presents. I've not yet read Reveal—I want to read and report, read and report—but I admit I begin the task suspiciously.

Still, if we at 9Marks are Christians, I trust we will stand with Bill Hybels, Greg Hawkins, and the many other leaders and members of Willow Creek Church in that great assembly described by the apostle John that no one could number from every nation, tribe, people, and languages. Together we will praise God and say, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb" (Rev. 7:10).

No praise to Willow Creek on that day. No praise to Saddleback. No praise to Billy Graham. No praise to John Piper. No praise to John Calvin. No praise to Jacob Arminius. No praise to anyone in the emerging church. And certainly no praise to our less-well-known organization.

On that day, all will be humbled and God alone will be exalted. I trust he will show himself to have given some insights to some and other insights to others. My hope and prayer is that this exercise will be used to spot any biblically faithful insights provided by the authors of Reveal as well as to further clarify where 9Marks has taken a contrasting understanding of what Scripture calls the church to do and be. And I pray that it will benefit both "us" and "them." After all, we'll all be singing his praises together.

P.S. I hope others (principles of the blog and commenters) will offer their thoughts along the way.