But herein lies the rub: Christianity has been on a long-term trend of decline in every Western cultural context that we can identify.

But the standard churchy spirituality doesn't require any real action, courage, or sacrifice from its attendees.

Real leaders ask hard questions and knock people out of their comfort zones and then manage the resulting distress.

When there is no possibility of retreat, we will find the innovation that only the liminal situation can bring. In short, we find the faith of leap.

The quest for heroic adventure then is a quest for the gospel, although it might not be seen that way by everyone.

Interestingly, it's as though the gospel story of Jesus is the archetypal heroic journey, the embodiment of the very adventure that all people in every epoch have desired.

I found out the hard way that if we don't disciple people, the culture sure will.