FILL

YOUR
SEATS
A CHURCH LEADER’S GUIDE TO
STIMULATING INTEREST IN DISCIPLE MAKING

REGI CAMPBELL
Fill Your Seats
Copyright © 2018 by Regi Campbell

Distributed by Discipleship.org, which is a collaborative community of men and women committed

to the discipleship lifestyle—being disciples of Jesus and making disciples of Jesus. They bring
together and promote leading voices, resources, and actionable content on discipleship. For more
information, visit www.discipleship.org.

Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL
VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 201 1 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All
rights reserved worldwide.

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ISBN: 978-0-9991068-5-3

Cover and interior design: Harrington Interactive Media

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 CONTENTS

Preface: The Elephant in the Room

CHAPTER 1: Generate Curiosity
CHAPTER 2: Create Disruption
CHAPTER 3: Draw Good People
CHAPTER 4: Make It New
CHAPTER 5: Raise the Bar
CHAPTER 6: Create Exclusivity
CHAPTER 7: Model Your Method
CHAPTER 8: Make It Relevant
CHAPTER 9: Confront the Crowd
CHAPTER 10: Update Your Resume
Epilogue: The Upside
About the Author
Free Discipleship Resources
 PREFACE

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

M ention the word “discipleship,” and we come out of the wood-

work. We hear things like, “Check out our tool,” “We have an
incredible course,” “Read my book,” or “Follow our process.” All
good stuff.

But there's a much bigger problem, and few people are talking about
it: a lack of interest in disciple making!

While attending the National Discipleship Forum last year, I was

moved by the passion of hundreds of smart people, who are com-
mitted to Jesus-style disciple making, but this statement stopped me
in my tracks:

When people get interested in disciple making, they need

tools!

When people get interested… yes, people need tools for disciple making,
but we’ve got lots of those. What we’re sadly short on are tools for
stimulating interest in disciple making.

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 The Elephant in the Room

If you’re reading this, I assume you’re already on board with disciple

making. You understand the importance of and probably regularly
take part in training people in “this way of life”—which is my new
favorite way to talk about discipleship (it comes from The Message
paraphrase of the Great Commission).

I’m also assuming you want to fill your seats, whether we’re talking
about your program, your class, or your church. You’d love to fill
them with all-in followers of Jesus—not just for the numbers, but
because of the authentic life change we know occurs when people
go all in for Jesus and for the power of multiplication.

Because of that, this eBook isn’t about tools, although we touch

on that. In the following pages, I’ll share what I’ve learned about
stimulating interest in discipleship and disciple making. I’ve been
intentional about making disciples for thirty-four years, actively en-
gaging in the process and paying attention to the trends. Hopefully,
something I say will be helpful for you.

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 CHAPTER 1

GENERATE CURIOSITY

H uman beings and cockroaches are the only two animals that
gamble. Ivan Pavlov’s experiments proved that responses be-
come predictable with consistent reinforcement. Very predictable.
Except . . . sometimes, we human beings will make an unpredictable
decision: “Hmm, I wonder if this might be the one time the reward
will be behind door number three,” or “the bullet won’t be in the
firing chamber,” or “the cards will turn up 21.” Oddly enough, ex-
periments have shown that not only do humans have this “curiosity
chip,” so do cockroaches! (That has nothing to do with discipleship,
but it might help you win a team trivia trophy.)

The Apostle Paul connected this curiosity with faith. In Romans

1:20, he says:

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power
and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been
made, so that people are without excuse.

Faith begins with curiosity. Even before science and Scripture, men
were curious. Some were willing to ignore the overwhelming evi-

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 Generate Curiosity

dence of God in creation and believe everything “just happened.”

Others saw the science, yet knew in their minds and hearts that this
creation had to have a Creator. Both sets of people—those who ig-
nore the evidence and those who don’t—demonstrate curiosity.

Interest in discipleship starts the same way. It’s not about coming
up with a trick to entice people; it’s about exposing them to who you
are by embodying Jesus and allowing Him to live through you. This
helps others feel His love and become curious about what fuels you
to live “this way of life.”

Remember, folks who are already interested in discipleship and

disciple making are going to be fine. We’ve got all kinds of options
for them. Our focus needs to shift from “selling the best tools” to
“creating the most curiosity.”

And the first place to look, as always, is Jesus.

Jesus, the Spectacle

We can’t even imagine the world into which Jesus was born: the Jew-
ish theocracy (i.e., church = government) under the bigger, badder
government of Rome; thousands of rabbis; and synagogues and
“holy men” everywhere. How would the unknown Messiah become
known?

He became known by doing miracles in public.

Jesus created curiosity through things like turning water into wine,
healing people from their infirmities and diseases, walking on water,

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 Fill Your Seats

raising people from the dead, and feeding thousands by multiplying

small amounts of food.

These spectacular miracles won Him the attention of people. They

also fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies and validated His iden-
tity. Maybe, most importantly, they created a platform for His life
and message to be heard. His miracles put Him “on the map” of
His day. He generated curiosity, not just among the Jews, but also
among the Gentles and the Romans. They had to pay attention to a
guy who raised people from the dead!

Once He had people’s attention, He went about teaching a way of

life. Jesus’ message went deeper and lasted longer than His miracles.
It was about “living water,” “fruit that will last,” along with grace,
peace, and eternal life.

I’m old enough to remember the packed arenas during Billy Gra-
ham’s crusades, perhaps the best-known “religious spectacle” of the
twentieth century. Thousands of people gathered to hear his pas-
sionate sermons. In a way, the spectacle was the event itself, with
packed out arenas, amazing musicians, and powerful singing. But
the most amazing part was watching hundreds, if not thousands, of
people walk down the aisles and pray to receive Christ.

In the wake of these huge crusade spectacles, Christian leaders re-

alized that a way of life couldn’t be learned in a few minutes bowed
at an altar. Someone who was living this way of life had to teach and
model this way of life (e.g., how to follow Jesus). Thus, a number of
parachurch and disciple-making organizations sprung to life.

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 Generate Curiosity

I (obviously) can’t speak for God, but if He wants to use a spectacle,

like the Billy Graham crusades, to create curiosity in discipleship,
He’ll do that whenever and however He chooses. But my gut tells
me God wants us to generate curiosity the way Jesus did . . . outside
of the public eye.

How did He do it?

Read on.

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 CHAPTER 2

CREATE DISRUPTION

If we want to generate curiosity about this way of life, we need to

think outside the box. And we can learn from the marketers who
make other ways of life look so attractive.

Marketers create disruption. For example, Brooks Brothers shows you

an image of an extremely handsome, well-dressed man. The picture
is designed to shake you up a little, to disturb your homeostasis—to
create a gap between the way you look and the way you could look
if you were wearing their outfit. Buying their clothes closes this gap
and restores your homeostasis (at least for a while).

They’ve created disruption by giving you a vision of you. . .

what you could be like!

Stimulating interest in becoming a disciple maker starts with shaking

people’s homeostasis. Just like the Brooks Brothers advertisement,
we have to generate curiosity by disrupting people from their current state!
We do this by demonstrating what could be for them.

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 Create Disruption

So how do we create disruption in people who are not yet interested

in discipleship and disciple making? First, we have to live lives so
distinctive that we’re attractive to others. To use today’s vernacular,
“We’ve gotta smoke what we’re selling.” Consider the attractiveness
of a great marriage, one that’s “a light on a hill” and gets people’s
attention. Think about a pleasant countenance, a spirit of acceptance,
a humility that’s the opposite of self-righteousness, and an abundance
of God’s love in our life—these attributes draw people to us. They
create curiosity about what makes us the way we are. Few people
grasp that it’s not a what that fuels us; it’s a who. It’s Jesus. . . living
in us! He was “gentle and humble in heart.” Imagine how attractive
Christianity would be in today’s culture if all its adherents lived and
loved with gentleness and humility.

Second, we have to showcase the stories of regular people, who

became disciple makers, not just converts. My church has regular
baptisms, and each one is accompanied by the video testimony of
the person being baptized. We celebrate conversions and we should!
But if we want to attract people to discipleship and disciple making,
shouldn’t we share the stories of people who’ve gone beyond bap-
tism and begun to follow Jesus?

You get what you glorify. When you celebrate something in front of the
church, you’re inspiring folks to get in on what’s being celebrated.
So skillfully showcasing the lives of ordinary disciples and ordinary
disciple makers just might create disruption in the lives of the people
who are sitting on the sidelines. It might lead them to an interest in
one of our processes or trainings. It might lead them to respond to
God’s calling to “go, make disciples!”

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 CHAPTER 3

DRAW GOOD PEOPLE

T ake a look at how Jesus engaged men to become His disciples

and ultimately the first disciple makers. As I read the New Tes-
tament, I see two keys to how Jesus drew people to himself:

1. Jesus had a good reputation in general. We know He “grew

in wisdom and stature and in favor or God and man” (Luke
2:52). We know He grew up in a community and worked with
Joseph as a carpenter. He wasn’t attached to a rabbi as was
common practice in that day; instead, He was a workingman
and probably friends with some of those He called to be His
disciples.
2. He was respected in the church and in the community.
As early as twelve years old, He was already a student of the
Scriptures, amazing older people with His wisdom and insight.
Ultimately, Jesus was ascribed “rabbi-ship” by those who knew
Him, listened to His words, and watched His life. He was
anything but a self-righteous know-it-all. The only time He
described himself, He said, “I am gentle and humble in heart”
(Matthew 11:29).

Jesus was unique because of these two things.

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 Draw Good People

He wasn’t a part of the traditional religious establishment. At the

age of twelve, a boy would (hopefully) be chosen to attach to a rabbi
and become that rabbi’s disciple. If he wasn’t chosen, he followed
His father into his trade. Since Jesus was a carpenter, we can only
assume He wasn’t chosen, or He decided to be a free-agent rabbi to
follow His unique calling. We don’t know. But we do know He had
openness to the “regular people”—those whom the religious estab-
lishment spurned.

Jesus’ behavior was attractive. He was brilliant in His knowledge of

the Word, but He was also ascribed favor by the people inside and
outside His community. These two things help explain why people
were interested in following Him. It wasn’t just the spectacle; it was
also the way of life He was teaching and modeling.

Ultimately, people are drawn to people, not programs. The disciples

were drawn to Jesus himself more than His teaching.

The best way to draw good people is with good people.

If you are trying to fill the seats of your church with all-in Jesus fol-
lowers who have an interest in making disciples, start by highlighting
and elevating those who are already there. Get them involved and let
people know about it.

When I help churches start mentoring groups (just another term

for discipleship, which we’ll get to in the next chapter), I suggest
they create mentor bios and email them to potential mentees. Why
not let them see who they will be walking with in addition to the what
they’ll be learning and doing? Don’t just announce the program,

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 Fill Your Seats

highlight the people who’ll be leading them through it. And best of
all, publish their stories. . . how the program they’re being invited
into changed their lives!

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 CHAPTER 4

MAKE IT NEW

I n Matthew 10:6, Jesus said “Behold, I send you out as sheep in

the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless
as doves.” Paul, in 1 Corinthians 9:22 said, “To the weak I became
weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that
by all possible means I might save some.”

Interpretation?

Be creative in fulfilling the Great Commission.

At Radical Mentoring, we’ve chosen a different word to attract peo-

ple to disciple making. The noun “disciple” isn’t used a lot outside
the church. People without church context are sometimes intimi-
dated by the word. For newer church people, it immediately brings
up thoughts of I’m not good enough, I’m in over my head, or I’m not ready
for that. For experienced people in the church, it can mean “a course
with lots of meetings,” “a teacher behind a podium,” “a Bible study,”
or worse: “I already did that.”

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 Fill Your Seats

We use the word “mentoring” in lieu of “disciple making,” at least at

first, even though it’s not in the Bible. It seems that everyone wants
a mentor. . . someone to guide them in areas of life where they need
help. We’ve expanded the “area they need help in” to include all of
life, including eternal life.

Here’s a few reasons we’ve used “mentoring” in our “branding”:

1. I believe in unchanging truth but ever-changing methods.

Most of what we do in church today and hold as sacred isn’t
necessarily in the Bible. That’s why God-seeking people could
write and sing hymns with their own language, read liturgies
in their own words, dress up for church, and originate church
practices at various times throughout history. Just as those
practices have morphed and adapted to the times, we too can
increase the breadth and depth of our disciple-making reach
with a more contemporary word to describe what Jesus did
with the Twelve and what we can do with others today.
2. Jesus didn’t teach a course; He taught a way of life.
But because of all the effort put into discipleship books and
courses (as helpful as they can be) the word “discipleship” has
taken on the connotation of a class or a course one takes. Jesus
focused on teaching, but he also included modeling a way of life!
3. People were drawn to Jesus because His message was new.
What He said was different from what they were used to
hearing. People who had been sleeping through church now
stayed awake, sat up, and took notice. A lot of them followed
Him and what He taught. Ultimately, many of them died just for
saying they knew Him.

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 Make it New

We are committed to making disciples, and we fully support Dis-

cipleship.org and other organization that use the words, “disciple,”
“disciple making,” and the like. At the same time, we believe that in
our culture, the word “mentoring” is understandable and actionable
and it might bring more hope of success for the yet-to-be-engaged
man. If almost everyone wants a mentor, why not offer them one?
If we’re going to draw the next generation into discipleship and
disciple making, we must be “wise as serpents” and “harmless as
doves”—both at the same time.

If using the word “disciple” works in your context, use it. We use
the word “mentor” in our context to invite people in; then we help
them to understand Jesus-style disciple making.

Here are a few examples of churches who have successfully launched

discipleship efforts using labels that may be more contemporary and
consistent with their unique church culture:

• North Point Community Church calls their discipleship groups

“Leader Development Groups”
• Peachtree Presbyterian Church calls it “IronMentoring”
• NewSpring Church calls it “Radical Mentoring”
• Johnson Ferry Baptist Church uses the phrase “Alpha Mu”

Whether or not there’s a history associated with disciple making at

your church, a new “brand” connotes new life and vision—hope for
something new, different, life-changing, and church-energizing. Jesus
makes all things new; we may not start off using the word “disciple”
because it might not communicate as well or be as relevant to the

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 Fill Your Seats

people we’re trying to get to fill our seats. But Jesus-style disciple
making is our end goal. He is the one we want to help people to
build their lives around!

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 CHAPTER 5

RAISE THE BAR

F or years, I’ve defined a disciple as a “learner and follower” of

Jesus. In theory, if someone really follows Jesus, they will end up
helping others to become learners and followers. But the reality is
they rarely do. Somehow, we get selfish saying things like, “I have my
salvation, my church, my small group, my Bible, my eternal security.”
Moving beyond “me and mine” is hard.

Reading Discipleship.org’s definition of a disciple showed me how

weak my definition was. He says a disciple is “a person who is fol-
lowing Christ, being changed by Christ, and is committed to the
mission of Christ.” That’s raising the bar! Let me “put some meat
on those bones” from my perspective:

• Following Jesus – A disciple of Jesus is living his way of life.

It’s a lifestyle marked by love, acceptance, forgiveness, grace,
and joy. Following Jesus says my heart breaks for the things that
break His heart. There’s a love for His Word, for worship, and
for learning—a love for the church and for meeting together
with other Jesus followers. Most of all, there’s a love for others.

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 Fill Your Seats

Following Jesus is an active thing. It requires engagement and

involvement, not just participation and attendance.
• Being changed by Jesus – A disciple is humble, the opposite
of prideful and self-righteous. A disciple is open to the Holy
Spirit, who lives within them and offers access to the mind of
Christ. A disciple of Jesus has an open mind and heart, inviting
God to “peel their onion” to expose their dark and blind spots
and to heal their broken places. Disciples aren’t about self-
improvement; they’re about finding parts of their hearts not
yet surrendered and turning them over to their Heavenly Father
for His use and glory.
• Committed to Jesus’ mission – So here’s the “biggie,” the
one forcing us out of me and into we. Here’s when we move
from being a disciple to making disciples. This one can’t be done
in the privacy of your prayer closet; it can only be activated
with action. I call it “the outward turn”—it’s a shift in focus
from being “about me” to engaging in your unique calling to
help others. Some say anything we do to help someone else is,
in a small way, disciple making. That’s pretty generous, but it’s
true to a degree. My sense is that Jesus cast a much narrower
vision, one of intentionally building relationships with the
purpose of helping others find and follow Him.

So, let’s get practical. How do we raise the bar in stimulating interest
in discipleship and disciple making? Here’s what I’ve seen work:

• Lay out an intentional process (not a class) with a specific

beginning date and ending date but with flexibility to engage
personally, one with another.

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 Raise the Bar

• Create a high-trust environment through sharing testimonies

and life stories with transparency and vulnerability.
• Make attendance, punctuality, and homework assignments
mandatory.
• Select a leader (or leaders) from whom people would be
honored to learn.
• Invite specific people to apply, then review and pray over the
applications; select only those to whom the Lord leads you;
make it an honor to be selected and mentored.
• Follow Jesus’ model: assign, send out, have them come back,
and debrief.
• Do all this in a group setting, just like Jesus did, but recognize
that much of the life-change will happen in one-on-one
encounters outside the group.
• Have everyone sign an agreement spelling out the commitment
they're making to the group, to the leader, and to each other.
• Make sure the agreement includes a provision engaging each
apprentice/disciple/mentee to pay it forward to others within a
specific timeframe after they complete the mentoring season.

Will this mean smaller numbers? Probably. . . at least at first.

Will it mean more committed, intentional disciple makers in the

end? Absolutely.

How do I know this will work? Because it’s what Jesus did; it’s what
I’ve done for the last eighteen years; and it’s what over one-hundred
sixty churches are now doing—with fantastic results. All glory to
Jesus!

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Now you don’t have to do this exactly as I’ve described. But our
friends at NewSpring Church in Anderson, South Carolina, follow
this model closely. They had the following results to share from their
survey of the twenty-nine people who just finished their mentoring
season. Don’t take my word for how effective this type of mentor-
ing is: read for yourself!

• Because of the mentoring group experience, my walk with God

has... Improved Significantly or Improved: 100 percent.
• Because of the mentoring group experience, my marriage has...
Improved Significantly or Improved: 96.4 percent.
• Because of the mentoring group experience, my immediate
family relationships have... Improved Significantly or
Improved: 89.3 percent.
• Because of the mentoring group experience, my giving to
the church and other Christian ministries has... Increased
Significantly or Increased Somewhat: 57.1 percent.
• During the mentoring season, the guys in my group opened up
to each other... Yes: 100 percent say they did.
• During the mentoring season, I experienced authentic
community with the guys in my group... Yes: 100 percent.

Every single graduate signed a covenant that he would go and per-

sonally make disciples. Their church is now working hard to engage
them as disciple makers in various places within the church’s pro-
grams. They’re no longer parking cars; they’re engaged in life-on-life
kingdom work.

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 CHAPTER 6

CREATE EXCLUSIVITY

N ASA recently picked twelve new astronauts—out of 18,000

applications.

Why?

Because being chosen by our country to go into outer space is an

honor! Even though it’s risky business, it requires you to work your
butt off and be away from your family for months at a time. On top
of that, few people will ever know your accomplishment (unless you
die in the process!). Lots of people aspire to be astronauts, but it’s
an exclusive industry.

Want to be a Navy Seal? The U.S. Navy attracts 40,000 applicants

each year. Only 6 percent meet their basic qualifications. Of those
who apply, only 1,000 make it to Navy Seal training, and only 250
graduate from Seal training. Because there are only 2,000 active Navy
Seals in the world at any given point, being a Navy Seal means some-
thing. They matter to each other and to our country.

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 Fill Your Seats

In contrast, Christians make their disciple-making processes avail-

able to everyone. We set the bar low with things like, “just come,”
“there’s room for you,” “it’s free,” and “hope you can make it!”
There’s no requirement to do homework, at least not one that’s
enforced or means anything, and there’s no consequence for not
showing up. We cast a vision, lay out a schedule and a curriculum,
and hope for the best.

But here’s a principle to remember:

What requires nothing is worth nothing.

Jesus didn’t do it that way. He didn’t put anything in the synagogue

bulletin or make an impassioned plea from the pulpit. Jesus hand-
picked those He was going to pour into intentionally. He didn’t
pick everybody; He chose a few—twelve.

It’s important to launch (or re-launch) disciple making with a hand-

picked few. These people’s lives should scream leadership potential.
Even if it’s only a handful of people, you’ll go further and faster
with these committed, all-in disciple makers than with hundreds of
people who answer a “cattle call” to attend a discipling class.

Am I saying to turn away people who are interested?

No, but I am saying they can wait. If you’re not 100 percent sure
they’re ready to be a discipler of disciples, maybe they shouldn’t be
mentored toward that role until later. The answer doesn’t have to
be “yes” or “no.” Sometimes “wait” is the best answer for the time
being. And having people on a waiting list creates exclusivity and

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 Create Exclusivity

buzz around what you’re doing. It takes courage and discipline. Jesus
modeled this when He sent the rich young ruler away. He didn’t tell
the guy “yes”—and He didn’t tell him “no.” He sent him away with
a few things to take care of before he’d be ready. Sometimes, with
some people, that’s a good option for us, too.

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 CHAPTER 7

MODEL YOUR METHOD

W e, as a culture, learned this in parenting a long time ago: You

can talk to your kids until you’re blue in the face, but they
may not do what you say. It’s a lot more likely they’ll do what you
say, if they see you do it first. It’s human nature.

When the leader of an organization does something, it encourages

the followers to do it, too. The turnout of volunteers from compa-
nies who build houses for Habitat for Humanity goes through the
roof when the executives of that company show up. Their partici-
pation validates the deal and gives followers permission.

The same is true in church world.

When a Senior Pastor starts raising his hands high over his head
during worship, others will often start raising their hands. When a
pastor goes on a mission trip, the number of people who sign up
for that mission trip goes up. When a pastor comes to the Mon-
day-morning prayer group, more people come.

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 Model Your Method

Whether or not you’re a pastor, people follow the model they see in
you as a leader. They do what you do.

So when a pastor starts mentoring a group of men, he does two

things at the same time:

1. He personally equips a small group of men to “go and do the

same”—to make more disciple makers. Over time, his group
becomes the nucleus of a tribe of men who are all in for Jesus
and for his church.
2. He models disciple making for everyone else in the church.

His actions speak louder than his words—even of a hundred ser-

mons. He puts feet on his prayers. He shows them disciple making
is important.

If you’re a pastor, you have influence because you’re “God’s man” in

your church—the man who most closely resembles God. Granted
that may not be right, but to some degree, pastors are “it.” I know
you didn’t ask for “it”—in fact, you don’t want “it”—but you can
use “it” for God’s glory by blazing a trail and encouraging them to
follow you.

What better trail to blaze than one of becoming an intentional, rela-

tional disciple maker?

A Look Back
When Jesus started His public ministry, the church wasn’t peripher-
al to Jewish culture; it was central. Religious schools were the public

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schools. Their commandments were the laws governing the people.

Levitical law set the roles and responsibilities for the people.

But Jesus saw that years and years of religious practice had led to
“playing zone” (to use sports terminology); it had led to rote repeti-
tion of the most sacred worship and to a lot of hard hearts.

With His insight and power, Jesus could have focused on reforming
the church. He could have staged a revival. He could have launched
a re-education program for the Pharisees and the Sadducees. He
could have even created His own competing Temple down the road,
taking some of the best and the brightest Jews with Him to go “do
it right” for the glory of God.

But instead of creating conflict, instead of trying to change all those

minds, instead of forcing closed-minded people out of their “zones,”
He chose a different strategy, a unique strategy, and it worked… big
time.

Jesus went out and quietly selected a small number of men and in-
vested in them as a group. He played “man to man.” He cast a big
vision and expected total commitment. He created a community of
which He was a part. He took them deep into the Scriptures and to
the issues of life as they experienced them together.

Don't Miss This . . .

1. Jesus didn’t take anyone away from the Temple. He and His
guys still participated. It was not either-or, but both-and.

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 Model Your Method

2. Jesus didn’t change anything at church, neither directly nor

immediately. Over time, however, He changed everything.
3. Jesus didn’t ask anything of the religious leaders, and He didn’t
add to anyone’s workload in the Temple. He just did His thing
with these guys, lay guys, and as a result, the kingdom of God
burst onto the scene.

Rabbis in Jesus’ day selected their disciples and taught them intense-
ly every day. They were Temple-centric and focused on the Torah. It
was more and more Torah and less people, relationships, and life. It
was dos and don’ts, ceremony and sacrifice.

Rabbi Jesus wasn’t a revolutionary in the typical sense. He selected

His disciples and taught them intensely, too. But He brought the
truth of God to life in these twelve guys by showing them God and
teaching them truth as they did life… together.

Instead of trying to change culture, He created new culture. He creat-

ed a culture of humility, servant leadership, compassion, generosity,
acceptance, learning, community, devotion, evangelism, prayer—
and above all, love!

These men became the pillars of the kind of church of which you
want to be a part—the kind of “church” you can start within your
church. This can transform your church from the inside out, filling
your seats with people who are “following Christ, being changed by
Christ, and committed to the mission of Christ.”

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 Fill Your Seats

As it says in Hebrews, leaders go first: “Remember your leaders,

who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their
way of life and imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7).

Can it be any clearer? I believe it starts with you and me.

“Non-Commercial” Break
As I’ve said throughout, there are all kinds of options when it comes
to methods. I’m somewhat partial to Radical Mentoring’s process
because it’s a once-per-month meeting with everything laid out on
how to lead. And did I mention that it’s free?

32
 CHAPTER 8

MAKE IT RELEVANT

P astors have always taught God’s Word with the goal of making
disciples. That preaching, along with millions of lay people liv-
ing and sharing their faith, has created something like two billion
professing Christians. Of course, God, through His Holy Spirit, was
the One who really did it (just so you know I’m not confusing roles
here).

Anyhow, we’ve landed here in 2018 with a huge problem.

We have a nation (maybe a world) where pastors are less and less im-
pactful in their sermons, and we’re making fewer and fewer disciple
makers. Some people come to church regularly, some sporadically.
Real change in people’s lives seems to come slowly, if at all. Radical
transformation seems rare. And the further you get from church
staff, the less enthusiastic people seem to be about the work of the
gospel.

I think a big part of it stems from the way we have approached

disciple making. Consider this.

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 Fill Your Seats

Which Comes First?

The starting point is always God’s Word, as well it must be. But when
and how God’s Word is explained and applied to people’s lives has
gotten switched around and is falling fallow.

We seem to start everything with a Scripture, then spend time ex-

plaining what that Scripture means, the principles God intends to
reveal, and finally, how those principles can be applied to everyday
life situations. It flows like this:

The best disciple-making processes reverse it: They start with the
life situations people face, they surface issues and feelings we expe-
rience in life, then they bring truth from God’s Word to the specific
situation, explaining the answer and how to live it out. People don’t
buy solutions to problems they don’t have. When you start with the
problem—the felt need—and help people connect the answer in a
personal way, they’re more open to a solution. There’s more open-
ness to the good news when people see its specific relevance to their
lives and situations.

Same thing applies to how disciple makers get made.

Traditionally, we’ve taken the Scriptures, developed curriculum, cre-

ated classes, sat people in rows, and taught them how to be disciples
of Jesus. But lack of information isn’t our problem. We’ve millions

34
 Make It Relevant

of knowledgeable Christians who live like everyone else in our cul-

ture, divorce at the same rate, and never share their faith, never make
more disciples.

Jesus Did the Opposite

He walked through life with His disciples; He didn’t preach at them.
He used the things of everyday life to teach them about the Father
and about faith—about food, flowers, taxes, houses, riches, offer-
ings, sickness, death, and government authority. He used real-life
things and situations to unpack the Scriptures and to work the Truth
of God into His disciples. He started with the situation—what they
saw, heard, felt, smelled, and tasted—and engaged with the needs of
people who were right there in front of them. And then He brought
them God in a relevant way. His method wasn’t just informational;
it was transformational.

He started with life and used the real-world pain and pleasure to
engraft Truth.

We make disciple makers by living life in close proximity for a pe-

riod of time, introducing the Truth of God a little at a time—at
just the right time. Do we have an agenda? Absolutely. Is there a list
of things we want them to grasp? Yessiree. Do they know they’re
expected to pass it on to others to do for others what we’re doing

35
 Fill Your Seats

for them? Definitely. Is this messier and less predictable than sitting
folks in rows and teaching from a curriculum? Yep, it is. Is it more
effective? Unquestionably.

It’s what Jesus did. How can we miss it?

36
 CHAPTER 9

CONFRONT THE CROWD

M y dad modeled humility. He taught me, “Don’t ever ask any-

one to do something you wouldn’t do.” I’ve swept the floor in
every business I’ve ever led. Why? People want to follow someone
who’s earned the right to ask them to do something.

After you’ve chosen your method and modeled it for others, put
your full weight behind socializing it to others, invite them to do
what you’ve done. Like Nehemiah, you have earned “moral author-
ity.” Use it. Whenever there’s a kickoff or a launch of a new mento-
ring year, be there. Just show up. Your presence puts your influence
behind the program.

But sometimes, you have to put words behind things that matter.
Jesus’ most harsh words were directed at the insiders of the syna-
gogue. He called them out big time in Matthew 23, naming them
hypocrites, snakes, blind guides, “whitewashed tombs which look
beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of
the dead and everything unclean.” Tough words.

37
 Fill Your Seats

In Revelation, to the church at Laodicea, He said, “I know your

deeds; you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were one or the
other. So because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am
about to spit you out of My mouth!” (Revelation 3:16).

That church made Him sick to His stomach.

Does yours? Honestly?

If so, let’s change that. Let’s shake your people up and call them out
of lethargy and into action. If you’re a leader, teach them what dis-
cipleship is. Then, challenge them to get in the game. One church
I’m familiar with, a church of about two hundred people, set out to
have every single adult engaged as a mentor or apprentice—a disciple
maker or a disciple—within one year. They killed it, coming pretty
close to 100 percent.

So would you rather fill your seats with four hundred confessing
Christians who “sit and soak,” criticize everything all the time, and
give God “tips” from their time and treasure? Or have them filled
with two hundred all-in Jesus followers, passionate about following
Jesus, being changed by Jesus, and engaging in the work of Jesus?

If you’re the preacher or communicator at your church, you couldn’t

get fired for a better reason than for challenging your people to re-
spond to the Great Commission!

It’s been awesome to see my church, North Point Community

Church, become more intentional about disciple making. Men at all
five of North Point’s campuses are engaged in nine-month mentor-

38
 Confront the Crowd

ing groups that are almost identical to Radical Mentoring groups. As

a part of applying to be discipled, each man makes a commitment to
pay it forward by leading in one of five areas of ministry where he
will be a relational disciple maker.

Of all the ministries serving the 30,000 people who show up on

Sundays, the two areas of ministry most on fire at North Point are
the middle school ministry and Leader Development Groups (the
name of their process for preparing and launching disciple makers).
In three years, over 500 men have gone through the process. The
stories of life change are amazing—and it’s all through Jesus-style,
relational discipleship.

The women of North Point are also involved. There is a “beta” test
version of a similar process designed specifically for women. It’s off
to a great start and holds great promise as there are more women in
groups than men. Stay tuned.

Oh, one more thing. Demand for a female version of Radical Men-
toring grew so strong that a woman from here in Atlanta developed
Titus2 Mentoring Women. Check out titus2mentoringwomen.com
to take advantage of a woman’s track, also offered without charge.

39
 CHAPTER 10

UPDATE YOUR RESUME

E very church wants to be a disciple-making church. But when

you define a disciple as someone who is following Jesus, being
changed by Jesus, and engaged in the mission of Jesus, you’ll realize
how short we’re falling. When a church wakes up to its inertia (or
worse to its negative momentum), their boards (elders, deacons, ves-
tries, etc.) want the situation changed—and fast!

But the reality is that authentic disciple making is slow. It doesn’t

produce big numbers; in fact, it can actually bring smaller numbers.
In a panic, we try to turn discipleship into an event or a course. We
can put it on the calendar and make it happen. We think we can
measure our success by counting the number of people who show
up and we deceive ourselves into thinking we’re successful when
they’ve simply completed the course. Even Google couldn’t tell me
who first said this (but I know it wasn’t me):

You haven’t made a disciple until your disciple has made a

disciple!

40
 Update Your Resume

Sometimes, I think we forget to be about multiplication, not about

addition. I can argue that Jesus’ disciple making moved from big to
little, at least in the near term. We have snapshots of Him with 5,000
people, with 200, with seventy, with twelve, and ultimately with
eleven. But through multiplication, over two billion people identify
themselves with Him.

As is often the case, looking back can help us move forward. A lit-
tle history to help us think through this: Jesus came along at a time
when Faith was an “us” versus “them” situation. “Us,” the insiders,
the Pharisees, and Sadducees, the pure and holy ones vs. “them,” the
regular people, the unrighteous, the impure outsiders. Jesus leveled
the playing field and engaged everyone in His kingdom work.

After Jesus ascended, everyone in first-century church was in the

game. The line between clergy and laypeople was blurry (if it was
one at all). The apostles? Yeah, they were different: they had been
with Jesus, they were there at Pentecost, they had a special job—to
tell the world what they saw with their own eyes. And they were
killed for doing it:

• James was executed by King Herod

• Philip was crucified
• Matthew was executed
• James (Jesus’ brother) was stoned to death
• Andrew was crucified on an X-shaped cross
• Peter was crucified upside down
• Paul was beheaded

41
 Fill Your Seats

These guys weren’t killed for teaching what Jesus taught. They were
killed for testifying about Him—for telling people that Jesus, a hu-
man being, lived, died, and came back from the dead. That truth set
Jesus apart from any and all religious figures past, present, or future.
Jesus’ divinity is essential if His teachings are going to matter to the
world for the rest of time.

Early on, we see the church as a flat organization with minimal hier-
archy. Every person was a “doer of the Word.” That was the pow-
er of the early church. So many people were committed, involved,
evangelists, servants—disciple makers.

But somewhere along the line, things changed, and I don’t know
whose fault it was.

Because certain people were “called” into ministry jobs, all the rest
of us laid down and went to sleep, saying to ourselves, Let the pastor
do it, let the church do it. They have special gifts; they’ve been trained; they’ve
been to seminary. I’m a plumber, or a school teacher, or a business guy. What
do I know?

The other side—the clergy—subconsciously welcomed it. It made

their calling feel much more important. After all, they were chosen,
set apart for vocational ministry. They got paid to make disciples! So
they jumped in with both feet to “do the work of the gospel.”

Years go by, and church leaders take on more and more, letting lay
people off the hook for anything more than volunteer service (and
that, mostly on Sunday mornings). Lay people compartmentalize
their faith, thinking Sunday is the only day being a Jesus follower

42
 Update Your Resume

matters. Church leaders strive, giving it all they’ve got. But partici-
pation without involvement breeds cynicism. And little by little,
lay people began to think, Well, let them do it. I give money to the church.
They get paid and after all, what else do they have to do between Sundays?

And thus, they disconnect. We leaders have made it easy for people
to withdraw from disciple making.

We must change this.

Although the world is very different now, we must get lay people off
the bench and into the game. We must create curiosity by disrupting
their homeostasis and calling them to a higher bar! We must start with
the few, handpicked people who embody Jesus. These few should be
the first intentional disciple makers you call. We must raise the bar
for those who are willing to step up and into discipleship. We must
get messy and model disciple making personally. We must be patient
and satisfied with small numbers: first to make sure we get it right
and second to create exclusivity into our process. We must choose
“season-of-life” appropriate methods that connect with our people
because they’re relevant to their life and language. When that’s all
done, we must confront the crowd; we must inspire and challenge
them; and we must be willing to create disruption as we call out
people for their lethargy, asking the Holy Spirit to convict people of
surrendering to fear instead of surrendering to the Father.

Making disciples cost Jesus His life. Are you willing to let it cost you
your job?

43
 EPILOGUE

THE UPSIDE

S ince you’ve taken the time to read this eBook, you’ve self-identi-
fied as someone who aspires to be a valued, respected, innovative,
and effective church leader. More than likely, you work in or with
a church that struggles to engage its men (because most churches
do). When you get the men, in my experience, you get the women,
as well. Some days, you probably feel hopeless, wondering if you
have what it takes because so many of the things you’ve tried have
fallen short of what you had expected. I’m betting you love your
church and you hate what’s happening to it; it’s just wrong to you.
You desperately want to see your church on fire (not burned out),
to see the seats full, and to hear stories of life change all around. In-
stead, you’re surrounded by fearful people—fear of change, fear of
people leaving for the shiny new church down the road, fear of the
church running out of givers and money, fear of personal failure.

Maybe your biggest fear is the “fear of same.” You preach to the
same people. Your boss is the antithesis of a risk-taker. He doesn’t
think the church is broken, so there’s no energy to fix it. Don’t you
just hate it when things you’ve planned get put on the shelf in favor
of other things you don’t think will work as well?

44
 The Upside

We at Radical Mentoring feel you. We understand how it feels to

have “alligator arms” when it comes to engaging people in disciple
making, especially men. We know how hard it is to get men to move.
Many of our churches have struggled with drumming up interest,
especially among younger men. Like you, we’re troubled by the way
men are afraid of commitment.

We’ve been out there talking with a bunch of people just like you—
with our sleeves rolled up. As of April 2018, we’ve helped over 160
churches begin an engagement strategy, and we’re in conversations
with 2,600 more. Having seen a 74 percent growth rate in 2016 and
a 110 percent jump in 2017, we know how to create a plan for your
church to launch a new flavor of disciple making. Our staff stands
ready to guide you on how to use our resources, how to start and
finish well. We have leaders in churches large and small, who will tes-
tify to how men’s small-group disciple making has begun to fill their
seats with people passionate about making disciples, transforming
their churches and their own work lives in the process.

Here’s what they’ve said about Radical Mentoring’s approach…

• “A blueprint for discipleship and leadership development.

Over the last several years of mentoring like Jesus, our church
has grown rapidly both spiritually and numerically. As a Lead
Pastor, I can declare: there is no single resource that has
breathed life into our church and my soul more than Radical
Mentoring.”
–Brian Moore, Lead Pastor, Crosspointe Church, Anaheim,
CA

45
 Fill Your Seats

• “A simple, accessible, flexible means to shape men to be the

people God wants them to be… and the mentors get changed,
as well!”
–Chuck Roberts, Pastor for Congregational Life, Peachtree
Presbyterian Church

• “It has kept me in contact with my members and personally

grown me to more than a pastor, but also a friend and mentor
to many of the men of our church.”
–Hale Bishop, Senior Pastor, Park Avenue United Methodist
Church

• “One of the most significant spiritual development ministries

we have done at our church.”
–Chad Stutzman, Campus Pastor, NewPointe Community
Church, Canton, OH

• “The tools I needed to step up to my responsibility to

demonstrate how a father loves his children, how a husband
loves his wife, and how a family worships God.”
–Ray Snyder, Lead Mentor, The Church at LifePark,
Charleston, SC

• “One of the most measurable and successful things I’ve done.

Since implementing, I have had an over 90 percent success rate
among the men I’ve mentored. Success defined by my mentees
developing as leaders and giving more of both time and money
to the church.
–Sean Sears, Lead Pastor, Grace Church

46
 The Upside

That would be a good day’s work! Heck, it might be a whole

life’s work!

47
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

REGI CAMPBELL AND

RADICAL MENTORING

R egi Campbell grew up in a small-town church. He's belonged

to congregations in multiple cities and gotten to know a quite
a few pastors and churches. For the past twenty-three years, he's
been a part of one of America's largest churches, Andy Stanley's
North Point Community Church serving as an Elder twice and
in other leadership roles. His first three books—About My Father's
Business, Mentor Like Jesus, and What Radical Husbands Do—speak to
business people, mature men, and husbands respectively. Campbell
now speaks to Senior Pastors, Staff Pastors, and leaders in the local
church, sharing what he's learned about creating interest in disciple-
ship and disciple making.

Regi is the Founder and Chairman of Radical Mentoring, a non-

profit focused on equipping and encouraging churches to build dis-
ciples and disciple makers through intentional men's small group
mentoring. Regi believes the future of the local church is intimately
connected to the development of strong Jesus-following lay leaders
who will lead their wives, children, businesses, neighborhoods, and
churches with God at the center.
48
 Regi Campbell and Radical Mentoring

R adical Mentoring has developed a scalable process to make

disciple making attractive, easier, and more effective. It’s avail-
able at radicalmentoring.com at no charge. Radical Mentoring is
donor-supported; they don't sell anything and they don’t consult
for fees. All of their resources are available by creating an account
on their website. It will show you how to partner with pastors and
key lay leaders to develop the next-generation leaders your church
needs. And their team will be there to walk with you through the
entire process.

49
 Learn Disciple Making
A National Disciple Making Forum to help you grow as a disciple,
develop disciple making skills, and impact the world around you.

RESERVE YOUR SEAT BY CLICKING HERE

 FREE Discipleship
Resources from Discipleship.org

Free eBooks available for download here.

• Revisiting the Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman and

Bobby Harrington with Josh Patrick
• Evangelism or Discipleship: Can They Effectively Work Together? by
Bill Hull and Bobby Harrington
• Stay the Course: Seven Essential Practices for Disciple Making Churches
by Brandon Guindon
• Discipleship that Fits by Bobby Harrington and Alex Absolom
• Discipleship is the Core Mission of the Church by Bobby Harrington
• The Discipleship Gospel Primer by Bill Hull and Ben Sobels
• Invest in a Few by Craig Etheredge
• Beyond Accountability by Nate Larkin
• Becoming a Disciple Maker by Bobby Harrington and Greg Wiens

Podcast Episodes: The Disciple Maker’s Podcast

National Disciple Making Forums

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