How It Works – Sustainable Discipleship

The Why, What and How of the SD Method

How the Method Works

Sustainable Discipleship is a different, positively disruptive mashup of some long known principles done in new ways and some new ideas based on old truths of God’s design. Here’s exactly how it works.

Why the Method Works

When we began to fix our disciple making problems, we were just following God one step at a time. We tried every idea we could find. We did research and development. We tested group dynamics, implemented what we learned about humans from good science. To be honest, it was a long road.

Looking back at how it all came together, it’s easy to see why the method works—it’s based on eternal truths and constants of God’s design.

You can see an example of the real end product in Mary’s story below.

Relies on Two Biblical Promises

God’s Word is Inherently Powerful

Not when it’s explained correctly. Not when it’s packaged in the right curriculum. Inherently — on its own, as written, read from Genesis to Revelation. God’s Word is alive and active, and it guides, course-corrects, and prepares anyone who applies it.

The Holy Spirit Teaches and Transforms

Not the leader. Not the workbook. Not the program. The Holy Spirit is the actual disciple-maker. He knows what each person needs today, and he curates it for them in real time as they read. Your job is not to teach. Your job is to create the conditions for him to work.

Makes Application Primary

Jesus said, “Go unto…and teach them to obey (apply) all that I have commanded you.” He did not say teach them. Disciples have access to all that Jesus taught; they can read it. But reading isn’t enough, they need to surrender to it, obey it, apply it.

Our role is to help them find applicable truths and help them learn to apply those truths. Education is useless without transformation. Followers always trump scholars.

Focuses on Being Before Doing

Almost every disciple making method focuses on doing something. Reading, attending, serving, or replicating. Doing is the target and the measure of success. The problem is people can do the right thing even when they are wrong.

Healthy spiritual growth focuses on being before doing because healthy people will always do healthy things. It’s not that BE is more important that DO. It’s BE should come before DO because you can’t DO your way to transformation.

Leverages the Predictable Pathway

The data shows that in the Bible and still today, every disciple takes fourteen steps on the journey to maturity. We call this the Predictable Pathway.

The beauty is when you know what step they are on, you know exactly what to give them to get them to the next step. No more guessing. No more wondering what to do next.

Based on the Science of God's Design

Good science observes God’s creation and design. And the truth is that every person is designed to learn and mature the same way regardless of language, culture, environment and context.

The method quietly implements learning science, decision science, psychology, and the economics of value (working with God’s design of humans) to make learning easy, application effective, and to accelerate transformation. When you work with disciples the way they were designed to learn, everything’s easier.

We’d love to share what God
shared with us.

It Was Tuesday Night...

Mary’s group was reviewing the verses that each of them had highlighted while reading the previous week. The disciple maker that was leading her group asked who had the next highlight. Mary, dressed to the nines, white Gucci heels, the whole look was next up. She had highlighted the verses where God parted the Red Sea.

Disciple Maker

Why did you highlight that verse?

Mary

I mean, I’ve heard this story forever, but I noticed the ground was dry.

Disciple Maker

Cool. What’s the truth in the verse?

Mary

Well, uh…, I guess… the ground was dry?

Disciple Maker

So, how does that truth apply to you?

Mary

I just realized that I can follow God anywhere and never get mud on my Guccis!

Disciple Maker

That’s a great application. Okay, who has the next verse?

That’s it. No sermon on the Exodus. No deep study. No theological expansion. No cross-talk from the group. The Holy Spirit knew what Mary needed, pointed it out while she read, and let her hear it in her own words.

That kind of exchange happens dozens of times in a single meeting. Different people, different highlights—but the same dynamic every time. God’s word does what God says it will do. The Spirit curates truth and teaches what only he can teach. And the disciple maker stays out of the way.

Even better, truths like Mary’s are contagious to the group. Everyone leaves expecting to find something unique to them and incredible as they read in the next week.

What the Method Is

The Sustainable Discipleship Method is actually a collection of methods that results in a ninety-percent success rate. It isn’t another program. It isn’t something that has to displace another ministry. It is a method to make many well-made disciples in any setting.

The beauty of the method is that it can work in small groups, Sunday School groups, youth groups—anywhere. It even works for independent disciple makers who just want to give their friends the abundant life they have.

A Clear Definition of Disciple Making

In a world where discipleship and disciple making can mean just about anything, the method is framed around a simple, biblically consistent definition that guides the overall process.

Disciple making introduces people to a God who loves and understands them, who knows who they are and who they can be, and helps them apply His truths so they can become prepared, confident, and skilled to live the abundant life God promised.

A Clear Achievable End Goal

How do you know when you’ve succeeded making a prepared, confident, and skilled disciple? You measure their success. The method’s measure of success is simple.

Your success is measured by how many disciples do the right things for the right reasons, navigate the unknowns of life and make disciples themselves long after your influence fades.

A Four Year Journey

The method works across a four year journey—each year building on the last, each year moving disciples forward on the Predictable Pathway.

Year One – Become Prepared
Disciples read the Bible cover-to-cover focusing on applicable truths. The goal is to know why the truths are important. Knowing why is the strongest motivator for application.
Year Two – Become Confident
Cover to cover again—this time moving towards learning to learn on their own. The goal is to do it on their own. Disciples move from reactive to being proactive knowing what to do before they need to do it.
Gap Year – Disciples Make Disciples
Year Three – Become Skilled
Disciples read cover-to-cover yet again focusing on interweaving truths to answer questions not directly answered in the Bible. The goal is for disciples to learn to navigate these unknowns of life like who to marry and what job to choose.

A Simple Set of How Tos

The method is practical and doesn’t just focus on what you do on Tuesday. It includes practical how-tos that will supercharge your disciple making.

How to Prepare Yourself for Success
How to Recruit More Disciples than Ever Before
How Personalize Discipleship in a Group Setting
How to Guide a Prayer Time that Transforms
How to Guide Disciples to Find Applicable Truths by Asking There Simple Questions
How to Leverage Companion Reading to Accelerate Transformation
How to Call Disciples to Action

Whether you’re just getting started, looking to refine,
or are struggling to find something that works.
This method will work for you—guaranteed!

The Predictable Pathway

The method leverages the fourteen steps (moments) that everyone takes on the way to maturity explaining how you know where they are and what to give them to get them to next great step. All the while, focusing the BE and letting the DO come naturally.

The Predictable Pathway makes everything easier. No more guessing.
You’ll know exactly what to give them exactly when they need it!

How the Method Works

Whether your an independent disciple maker, leading other makers, or launching something new—you can make disciples with confidence and a simple, repeatable system that works.

You don’t need to be a theologian. Your leaders don’t need to be scholars. Thirteen years of data says the same thing: if you work the method, it works—all the time, everywhere.

And that means that people actually experience the abundant life that God promised!

A Simple Structured Meeting

You’ll know exactly what to do when you meet. And what you do will result in immediate value to the disciple. It’s so simple but wildly effective.

Five Minutes of Focused Prayer
A time of guided prayer, one by one, using the SNAP method helping disciples talk to God like never before.
Fifty-five Minutes of Bible Review
Cover the disciples Bible reading for the week (from the cover-to-cover plan) guiding them to explore each of their highlights from the week.
Thirty Minutes of Companion Reading
Talk through the week’s companion book that reinforces what the disciples are learning in the Bible using a simple method.

Three Simple Questions

The Bible Review time is simple—you don’t need to teach, you don’t need to have all the answers. The Holy Spirit and the Word do all the work as you rely on God’s design of human learning asking a few simple questions for each highlight.

Year One – Get the Dots
You ask three simple questions help disciples see the specific truth and get immediate value from each highlight.
Year Two – Connect the Dots
You add a new question during Bible review that causes disciples to connect the truth of their highlight cover-to-cover.
Year Three – Expand the Dots
The disciples are excellent at identifying the truth and connecting it across the Bible and you add one question that expands the truths.

Seven Seconds of Silence

When we figure things out ourselves, the truths stick better. You’ll leverage a bit of learning science to engage disciples and create space for the Word and Spirit to work.

With every question you create a “thought vacuum” giving their brain time to process, listen to Spirit, and get the truth on their own. It’s super simple, awkwardly effective, and makes the Spirit the teacher not you!

Making Individual Disciples in a Group

You personalize discipleship making many individual disciples individually in a group. You’ll give each disciple exactly what they need when they need it.

You get all the benefits and simplicity of one-to-one in a group setting allowing you to reach more people for Christ. And at every step along the way, you’ll

Know who they are,
Know what they need, and
Know how to talk to them.

Companion Reading

Like Vegas, so often what happens in church stays in church. Even great learning doesn’t get applied at work, home, or play. It’s not intentional. It’s simple a matter of context. It’s the silo effect.

You’ll guide disciples as do a bit of outside reading aligned with the Pathway and designed to apply what they are learning in the Bible in the real world—breaking the silo effect.

It’s easy to set up your group and reading plan when you use the app.
The disciples can even follow along!

It All Comes Together

Our mission is to share with you what God has shared with us. But that’s not just the method—it’s support along the way. As Sustainable Discipleship has spread virally, we’ve seen one surefire path to the quickest and easiest implementation.

Get the Method

Get the Book
Get a Makeover

Get a Workshop

In-Person Training
On-Demand Workshop

Get Coaching

Coaching is Part of the
Done With You Packages

We’re here to help however, whenever
and with whatever!

if you don't want to reinvent the wheel, try a proven method that already works.

From beginning to end, the method gives you practical how-tos for every part of the disciple-making process. With Sustainable Discipleship you will:

Attract more people than ever before using value language focused on their success and your story.
Get more people excited and committed to the process with the promise of guaranteed results and a better life.
Keep disciples in the Word (cover to cover) by delivering immediate value using the Brain Powered Bible method.
Guide disciples using four simple questions and a Predictable Pathway to give them exactly what they need when they need it.
Multiply more multi-generational disciple makers by simply making disciples instead of trying to make makers.

All five options below leads to the same place. You can make more well-made disciples, made more quickly and easily than ever before.

Choose the one that works for you.

Money tight? Check out the
Grant Program.

➀ START HERE

Get Your Makeover

Your investment: $99
Best for: Any disciple maker who wants to know exactly where to focus in their specific context.
You'll get: A personalized assessment across the Seven Success Strategies with customized recommendations.
Why choose this: An interactive great place to start.

② Learn at Your Own Pace

On-Demand Course

➂ Get It Done in 48 Hours

Live Workshop

Your investment: From $495
Best for: Disciple makers who want to start fast, get real-time answers in a one on one setting.
You'll get: Two days with an SD Storyteller plus a half-day launch strategy session.
Why choose this: A fun, immersive workshop with hands-on experts.

④ Get Support as You Start

Done With You

Your investment: From $60 monthly
Best for: Disciple makers wanting to start strong and feel confident along the way.
You'll get: The on-demand or live workshop, launch planning, one year of coaching, and the App.
Why choose this: Deep support, weekly answers, and proven results.

⑤ Get the method

Get The Book

Your investment: $16
Best for: Self-starters and global disciple makers ready to discover and implement a proven method.
You'll get: A practical, step-by-step guide from written by the people who built it.
Why choose this: Everything you need in one place, on your schedule.

We know this works but we know you’ve heard that before. So, here’s the deal, if you work the methods and they don’t work, we’ll give your investment back plus $1,000 to find something new. That’s how sure we are that you will succeed at the one thing God calls us to do!