Are your pews filled with Jonahs? Devout and well-intentioned members who might run (or walk quickly) if you asked them to do more than occupy a seat on Sundays?

Would the world, your neighborhood be a poorer place without your church?

Jonah's Whale is the third in a six-part series about regaining spiritual passion — the fuel that keeps a congregation and its leaders active and excited about the faith it has to share with the world.

As faithful people, we're called to serve and make disciples of all God's people. Kemp addresses the need for congregational leaders to examine how the church is living out the mission beyond the church walls. He offers six leadership lessons for transforming the stagnant church into a community that can make a difference.

Leaders can learn a lot from Jonah, who went in the wrong direction, who confused his purpose with God’s purpose, and who became angry when the mission seemed to succeed. The moral of Jonah's story:

• Good leaders ask directions when lost.
• Good leaders know what is mission and what is not.
• Good leaders make use of the church’s mission statement.
• Good leaders think outside the box.
• Good leaders track missional statistics.
• Good leaders spend money.

"It is my conviction that every congregation has a mission to its own context," writes Kemp. "No matter how friendly it is to its own people or how wonderful its worship is or how gifted its church school teachers, if a church is not a gift to those outside its doors, it is a failure. …What is lacking is a compelling desire to transform their world. …The Bible always links the love of God with the love of neighbor."