The following content is an excerpt from the eBook Fill Your Seats. Download your free digital version in your favorite format here.
My dad modeled humility. He taught me, “Don’t ever ask anyone 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 authority.” Use it. Whenever there’s a kickoff or a launch of a new mentoring 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 synagogue. 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.
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 discipleship 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 respond to the Great Commission!
This comes from the free eBook Fill Your Seats, which you can download here.
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 mentoring 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 Mentoring 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.
Written 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.