Making disciples means helping someone follow Jesus, and then helping them help someone else do the same. You don’t need a seminary degree or a stage to do it. If you can have a conversation, you can make a disciple. A simple, relationship-first approach follows three steps: engage people where they are, establish the basics of faith, and empower them to pass it on.
It Starts with Jesus’ Command
Before he returned to heaven, Jesus gave his followers one clear assignment. He didn’t ask them to build impressive buildings or win every argument. He told them to make disciples, helping people become lifelong followers of Jesus who learn from him and live out what he taught.
Matthew 28:19-20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Notice that Jesus’ command has two parts: bringing people to faith, pictured in baptism, and teaching them to obey. A convert makes a decision, but a disciple keeps following. And this was never a job reserved for pastors. Jesus handed it to ordinary people and promised to be with them every step of the way. If you’re still wondering why it matters so much, revisit Why Make Disciples?
Step 1: Engage People Where They Are
Jesus rarely opened with a sermon. He asked questions, shared meals, and talked with people about water, fishing, money, and family. Disciple-making begins the same way, with genuine interest in the person in front of you. Find out what’s on their mind, and let the relationship grow before you steer toward spiritual topics. Paul explains why that patience matters.
1 Corinthians 2:14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.
If biblical ideas sound strange to someone at first, pushing harder rarely helps. Starting with what they already care about, whether that’s marriage, anxiety, parenting, or honest questions about God, builds trust and shows that following Jesus speaks to real life. One practical way to begin is to browse topics like Faith & Bible or Life & Culture together and let them pick a starting point.
Step 2: Establish the Basics of Faith
At some point, the conversation turns. Maybe they ask what you believe, or they start wondering where God fits into their story. That’s the moment to walk through the core of Christianity: God’s heart for people, the reality of sin, salvation through Jesus, how God changes us over time, and what it means to follow him. This series, The Pursuit, was built to guide exactly those conversations, starting with Lesson 1.
How do you know when the time is right? Pray, pay attention, and trust God to open the door.
Matthew 10:19-20 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Jesus spoke those words about standing trial, but the principle carries into everyday conversations about faith. You don’t have to script every answer, because the Holy Spirit’s role in disciple-making is far bigger than yours. And this step isn’t only for people who are far from God. Plenty of longtime churchgoers have never had someone walk them through the basics.
Step 3: Empower Them to Make Disciples
The goal of discipleship isn’t someone who depends on you forever. It’s someone who can do for another person what you did for them. Once they’ve worked through the basics, help them see that they’re qualified to mentor someone too. Most people feel unready, so they’ll need your encouragement as much as your instruction.
2 Timothy 2:2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.
Count the generations in that one verse: Paul, Timothy, reliable people, and others. That’s spiritual multiplication. Your part is to help someone become a disciple-maker by connecting them with a person who needs a mentor and staying in their corner as they get started. For guiding principles along the way, see What Are the Essentials for Disciple-making?
The Takeaway
Making disciples starts with a simple yes to Jesus’ command and a little intentionality with the people already in your life. Engage them where they are, establish the basics of faith, and empower them to pass it on. If you can have a conversation, you can make a disciple.
