The Elephant in the Room
The following content is an excerpt from the eBook Fill Your Seats. Download your free digital version in your favorite format here.
Mention the word “discipleship,” and we come out of the woodwork. 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 committed to Jesus-style disciple making, but this statement stopped me in my tracks:
When people get interested in disciple making, they need tools!
To get other disciple-making content like this—but in person—check out the National Disciple Making Forum and reserve your seat here.
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.
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 engaging in the process and paying attention to the trends. Hopefully, something I say will be helpful for you.
This comes from the free eBook Fill Your Seats, which you can download here.
by Regi Campbell
Regi 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 discipleship and disciple making.
Regi is the Founder and Chairman of Radical Mentoring, a nonprofit focused on equipping and encouraging churches to build disciples 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.
Photo by James Hammond on Unsplash
