How to Lead Someone to Christ

There comes a moment, in every serious evangelistic conversation, when it is necessary to move beyond planting seeds and lead the person toward a decision to follow Christ. At that moment, the evangelist takes on a specific role: we are ambassadors, and we do not speak in our own name but represent the one who sent us (2 Cor 5:20). This means we are not responsible for the outcome of the conversation, since that outcome belongs to God. We are, however, entirely responsible for the faithfulness with which we proclaim the gospel. The messenger's life also either strengthens or contradicts the message he carries. For this reason, consistency between speech and life is not an optional detail but part of the credibility of the very gospel being proclaimed.

It is at this point that personal testimony fulfills a function argument alone cannot reach: it makes visible what doctrine explains. A well-structured testimony can be presented in three minutes, divided into three simple acts: who I was before, what happened in my encounter with Christ, and who I am now because of him. The center of that account should be Christ, not the speaker's own story. Moreover, honesty communicates far more than any triumphalism. Sharing a struggle that still remains, instead of conveying the image of a perfectly resolved life, draws the listener closer and makes the testimony more truthful.

After the testimony, it is necessary to explain the plan of salvation clearly, following the order in which Scripture itself presents it. The good news is only fully understood once the person first recognizes the bad news of their own condition. Sin represents a real rupture with God and produces three dimensions of death: spiritual, physical, and eternal. In the face of that condition, God took the initiative. The cross accomplished what the law, by itself, could never accomplish. Salvation is therefore a gift, and faith is the instrument by which that gift is received, never a merit by which it is purchased. Paul tells the Ephesians, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Eph 2:8-9). The response called for is to believe and confess, with genuine repentance and surrender to the lordship of Jesus. It is not merely an intellectual acceptance of a set of historical facts, but a personal response to the gospel.

To guide this conversation with clarity, there is a biblical outline traditionally called the Romans Road, which moves through five questions in the order they naturally arise in a sincere mind: why do I need salvation, what does sin cost me, what has God done about it, how do I receive this gift, and what happens after I believe. The letter to the Romans itself sums up this path in one powerful statement: "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom 5:8).

There are also other simple and equally faithful outlines, such as the Four Movements of the Grand Narrative, which trace Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration, or the Bridge to Reconciliation, a simple diagram that can even be drawn on a napkin to show the chasm produced by sin and bridged by the cross of Christ. Each method may suit a particular kind of conversation or listener better than another. The rule running through all of them, however, remains the same: flexibility in method, with no compromise whatsoever on the content conveyed.

It is worth, then, writing out your own testimony in three acts and timing yourself as you say it. If it runs over three minutes, cut it without hesitation and keep only the essentials. Check as well whether Christ appears more often than you do in the text, and deliberately include a struggle that still remains in your life. Then write out the four steps of the plan of salvation in four sentences of your own, without consulting any reference. Finally, ask someone you trust to listen to your explanation out loud and point out any part that came across as confusing or incomplete. After all, a message well understood by the one explaining it tends to be communicated far more clearly to the one hearing it for the first time.