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. When it comes to how to make disciples, 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.
How to Make Disciples 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, which simply means 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 the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the 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, which is why every Christian is invited into the work. (If you’re still wondering why it matters so much, check out 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 what they’d like to talk about, and let the relationship grow before you steer toward spiritual topics.
There’s a good reason for that patience. The apostle Paul explains that spiritual truth doesn’t automatically make sense to someone who hasn’t yet experienced the work of God’s Spirit.
1 Corinthians 2:14 But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.
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’ death and resurrection, how God changes us over time, and what it means to follow him for real. The twelve-part series The Pursuit was built to guide exactly those conversations.
How do you know when the time is right? Pray, pay attention, and trust God to open the door. When Jesus first sent his disciples out, he warned them they would one day stand before hostile authorities, but he also promised they would never face those moments alone.
Matthew 10:19-20 When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time. For it is not you who will be speaking—it will be 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 manufacture the moment or 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, and they need strong roots too.
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 You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.
Count the generations in that one verse: Paul, Timothy, trustworthy people, and then 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, often through a local church, and staying in their corner as they get started. For a few guiding principles along the way, see What Are the Essentials for Disciple-making?
The Takeaway
Learning how to make 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.
