How to Lead Someone to Jesus | Love on The World

Leading someone to Jesus is not a performance and it is not a script you have to nail. It is staying with a person long enough to tell the truth about Him, then giving them room to respond to Him — not to you.

We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.

Before you open your mouth

Pray for the person by name if you know it. Ask for love more than for cleverness. If you are nervous, say so. Honesty is not a weakness in this conversation. People can feel when they are a project. They can also feel when someone is actually with them.

Pray for the person by name if you know it. Ask for love more than for cleverness. If you are nervous, say so. Honesty is not a weakness in this conversation. People can feel when they are a project. They can also feel when someone is actually with them.

Listen first. Ask what they already think about Jesus, and what has made that hard. You are not collecting objections to defeat. You are learning where the good news actually meets their life.

Listen first. Ask what they already think about Jesus, and what has made that hard. You are not collecting objections to defeat. You are learning where the good news actually meets their life.

Say the Gospel in four plain movements

You do not need a new outline every time. The same four movements that the Know Jesus page uses are enough for a conversation on a sidewalk or at a kitchen table.

You do not need a new outline every time. The same four movements that the Know Jesus page uses are enough for a conversation on a sidewalk or at a kitchen table.

Made on purpose

God made people to know Him. Their worth did not start with their performance.

Something went wrong

Sin is a relationship broken — each of us choosing our own way. It separates us from God, and we cannot repair it.

Jesus came anyway

Jesus, God come as a man, lived the life we could not, died for our sin, and physically rose. That is the rescue.

It is received, not earned

A person turns from running their own life and trusts Jesus as Saviour and Lord. There is no fee, ritual, or qualification.

Invite a response, then be quiet

Ask a real question: "Does that make sense?" Then, if they are open: "Would you like to tell Jesus that yourself?" Do not fill the silence. Do not push a person who says no or not yet. Respect is part of the message. A pressured yes is not faith.

Ask a real question: "Does that make sense?" Then, if they are open: "Would you like to tell Jesus that yourself?" Do not fill the silence. Do not push a person who says no or not yet. Respect is part of the message. A pressured yes is not faith.

If they want words, do not invent a formula. Let them speak in their own words, or pray slowly and let them repeat after you. The heart of it is the same as the prayer on the Know Jesus page: they have been running their own life, Jesus died and rose for them, and they are trusting Him. No sentence is magic. God hears the person.

If they want words, do not invent a formula. Let them speak in their own words, or pray slowly and let them repeat after you. The heart of it is the same as the prayer on the Know Jesus page: they have been running their own life, Jesus died and rose for them, and they are trusting Him. No sentence is magic. God hears the person.

The next ten minutes

Thank God out loud with them. Keep it short.

Tell them what is already true: they are forgiven and new in Christ, not because they felt something, but because Jesus is faithful.

Help them tell one other Christian today — you count, and so does a pastor or a friend who follows Jesus.

Point them to the Gospel of John, one chapter at a time, and to the seven-day First Steps guide.

Write their name down before you leave, and agree on when you will actually talk again.

Leave them with one clear next step anyway: the Know Jesus page, a verse, or a plan to meet again. Then follow up without chasing. Faithfulness is not the same thing as pressure.

What this is not

You are not the Saviour in the conversation. You cannot close the deal, and you are not responsible for their answer. Your part is to tell the truth clearly, love the person in front of you, and stay available afterward. Jesus does the saving.

You are not the Saviour in the conversation. You cannot close the deal, and you are not responsible for their answer. Your part is to tell the truth clearly, love the person in front of you, and stay available afterward. Jesus does the saving.