Persons of Peace in DMM — What Are They? | Zuko Explains

A Person of Peace is someone who welcomes you and the message of Jesus, responds positively, and opens their existing relationships so other people can discover Jesus too.

In DMM language: a Person of Peace is not merely a friendly person — they are a relational doorway.

They may open the way into a household, extended family, group of friends, workplace, neighbourhood, or another existing network of relationships.

There is no single personality type. A Person of Peace might be outgoing or quiet, respected or overlooked, wealthy or poor, religious or completely unfamiliar with the Bible.

Instead of looking for an impressive person, look for these kinds of responses:

• Receptive — open to you, spiritual conversation, Scripture, prayer, or the Gospel.
• Hospitable — they make room for you in their home, life, or circle of relationships.
• Responsive — they do something with what they discover about Jesus rather than merely discussing it.
• Relationally connected — they already belong to a household, family, friendship, work, or community network.
• A gatherer — they are willing to bring their people into the discovery process.
• Still connected — they are not pulled away from their people. Instead, they can become a bridge for the Gospel into that network.

Important: Do not confuse a Person of Peace with a mature Christian, gifted speaker, natural leader, or impressive personality.

They may not even be a believer yet.  In fact one of the best 'Persons of Peace' I ever had the privilege to work with died happy as a Brahmin Hindu.  Strange but true.  He was the patriarch of his whole large extended family now living in Australia.  He wanted to die a Hindu to honour his father but he knew that his family needed to learn about 'this country's God' if they were going to now live here!  He brought hundreds to Christ.

Look for: openness, response, relationships, and a willingness to gather others.

Because DMM is aiming beyond simple addition toward multiplication.

• Jesus sent His disciples toward receptive households, not merely isolated individuals.
• The Gospel moves naturally through existing relationships of trust.
• One receptive person may open the way to an entire household or relational network.
• New disciples can begin multiplying early as they obey Jesus, share what they discover, and help their own people follow Him.
• Groups can form inside natural networks instead of extracting one convert from their relationships and then beginning again from zero.

This is one reason DMM tries not to unnecessarily remove a new believer from their natural relationships.

Those relationships may be exactly where God intends the Gospel to travel next.

We can easily ask:

“Who will listen to me?”

But DMM asks a bigger question:

“Who might help their people listen to Jesus?”

The goal is not to make people dependent upon the disciple-maker.

The goal is to help people encounter Jesus through Scripture, obey what He teaches, and begin helping others do the same.

RECEIVES → RESPONDS → RELATES → GATHERS

• RECEIVES — They receive you and are open to hearing about Jesus.
• RESPONDS — They respond to what they discover about Jesus.
• RELATES — They remain connected to their existing people and relationships.
• GATHERS — They invite others to discover Jesus with them.

Receive → Respond → Relate → Gather.

That simple pattern can help you recognise a possible Person of Peace.

Luke 10:1–12

This is the main passage behind the modern DMM expression “Person of Peace.”

Jesus sends His disciples into towns ahead of Him. They are to enter a house, offer peace, remain with receptive people, eat what is provided, heal the sick, and announce that the Kingdom of God has come near.

Pay particular attention to Luke 10:5–7.

Notice that the disciples are not told to constantly move around looking for increasingly better contacts. When they find a receptive household, they are to stay there.

Matthew 10:11–14

Jesus gives similar instructions when sending out the Twelve.

They are to look for someone receptive, stay there, and allow that household to become their relational base within the community.

The Bible does not always call these people “Persons of Peace,” but we repeatedly see the same relational multiplication pattern.

John 4:28–30, 39–42 — The Samaritan Woman

One woman encounters Jesus and immediately returns to her community. Her testimony draws many others out to meet Jesus for themselves.

One encounter opens an existing community.

Mark 5:18–20 — The Man Jesus Delivered

After Jesus frees the man from demonic oppression, the man wants to travel with Him.

Jesus instead sends him back to his own people to tell them what the Lord has done for him.

His existing relationships become his first mission field.

Acts 10:1–48 — Cornelius

Cornelius is receptive to God and sends for Peter. Before Peter arrives, Cornelius gathers his relatives and close friends.

Peter does not merely encounter one seeker.

He walks into an already-gathered relational network.

Acts 16:13–15 — Lydia

Lydia responds to Paul's message, is baptised with her household, and then opens her home.

Her home becomes an important relational base for the growing community of disciples in Philippi.

Acts 16:25–34 — The Philippian Jailer

The jailer responds to the Gospel, brings Paul and Silas into his home, and his household hears the message.

Again, the Gospel moves through an existing household rather than stopping with one individual.

A Person of Peace is not automatically:

• a mature Christian;
• a church leader;
• the loudest person in the room;
• the most educated person;
• the person who knows the most Bible;
• the person most impressed with you;
• or even someone who has already decided to follow Jesus.

Sometimes the person God uses to open a community may initially know almost nothing about Jesus.

What matters is that God is already at work in them and that they are becoming receptive, responsive and relationally influential.

Traditional evangelism can sometimes unintentionally remove a new believer from their existing relationships.

They meet Christians, begin attending Christian activities, make Christian friends, and gradually spend less time with the very people who once knew them best.

DMM tries to recognise the missionary importance of those existing relationships.

When someone begins discovering Jesus, ask:

• Who is already part of their life?
• Who do they naturally talk with?
• Who would listen to them?
• Who could they invite to read Scripture with them?
• Could their home or relationship network become the beginning of a Discovery Bible Study?

Instead of immediately saying:

“Come into my Christian world.”

we also want to ask:

“How can Jesus enter your world?”

Read Luke 10:1–12 slowly before discussing these questions.

1. What do you notice in this passage?
2. What does this passage teach us about Jesus?
3. What instructions does Jesus give His disciples?
4. What signs of receptiveness are the disciples looking for?
5. Why do you think Jesus tells them to stay in one receptive household?
6. What happens when a household receives them?
7. What should the disciples do when people are not receptive?
8. Who in your life presently seems spiritually receptive?
9. Who might they naturally gather around them?
10. What would obedience to this passage look like for you this week?

Primary passages:

• Luke 10:1–12 — especially verses 5–7
• Matthew 10:11–14

Examples of the same multiplication pattern:

• John 4:28–30, 39–42 — the Samaritan woman and her town
• Mark 5:18–20 — the delivered man sent back to his own people
• Acts 10:1–48 — Cornelius gathers relatives and close friends
• Acts 16:13–15 — Lydia and her household
• Acts 16:25–34 — the Philippian jailer and his household

A Person of Peace is a person through whom God may open a whole network.

DMM therefore looks beyond:

ADDITION
one person reached

↓

MULTIPLICATION
disciples helping their own people become disciples of Jesus

So don't only ask:

“Who will listen to me?”

Ask:

“Who might help their people listen to Jesus?”

And remember:

RECEIVES → RESPONDS → RELATES → GATHERS