You’ve probably heard people talk about "one to one John" in church foyers or campus coffee shops and wondered if it’s some kind of secret code. It isn't. It’s actually one of the most enduring, low-tech ways people have been navigating the Gospel of John for decades. While the world gets obsessed with AI-driven devotionals and virtual reality sermons, this specific, person-to-person approach to the fourth Gospel is seeing a massive resurgence.
It's simple. Two people. One book. One goal.
Honestly, the "one to one John" method is basically the antithesis of everything our digital age stands for. It’s slow. It’s inconvenient. It requires you to actually look someone in the eye and admit you don't understand a verse. But that's exactly why it works. When you sit down with the Gospel of John, you aren't just reading a biography; you’re looking at what many scholars, including the likes of D.A. Carson and N.T. Wright, consider the most complex yet accessible piece of literature in the New Testament.
What is One to One John Exactly?
At its core, one to one John is a relational reading plan. You aren't "teaching" a class. You’re just reading through the 21 chapters of John’s Gospel with one other person. Maybe a friend. Maybe a skeptic. Maybe someone you just met at a bus stop who had questions about life.
The most famous framework for this is often attributed to David Helm and the "One to One" movement out of the Simeon Trust. They argue that the Word of God is "readative." That’s a clunky word, I know. But it just means the text does the heavy lifting so you don't have to be a Greek scholar to have a meaningful conversation.
You read a section. You ask three basic questions: What does this say about Jesus? What does this mean for us? How should we respond?
That's it. No fancy workbooks. No 45-minute video lectures.
Why John? Why Not Mark or Romans?
There’s a reason people pick John for these one-on-one sessions. St. Augustine famously described the Gospel of John as "shallow enough for a lamb to wade in, and deep enough for an elephant to swim."
If you start with Romans, you’re hitting heavy theology and complex logical arguments by chapter three. It’s a lot. If you start with a "one to one John" approach, you start with a wedding (Chapter 2), a late-night chat with a religious leader (Chapter 3), and a scandalous conversation at a well (Chapter 4). It’s narrative. It’s gritty. It feels human.
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But beneath that narrative is a scaffolding of "I Am" statements that force a decision. When Jesus says "I am the bread of life" or "I am the light of the world," he isn't just being poetic. He’s making a claim that demands a "yes" or "no" from the reader. In a one-on-one setting, you can't hide from those claims like you can in the back row of a mega-church.
The COMA Method: Making It Work
Most people doing one to one John use some variation of the COMA method. It stands for Context, Observation, Meaning, and Application. It sounds like a corporate training module, but it’s actually quite intuitive once you get the hang of it.
Context involves looking at what happened right before the passage. Observation is just noticing things—like how many times the word "believe" shows up (it shows up a lot in John, about 98 times actually). Meaning is the "so what?" of the author’s intent. Application is where the rubber meets the road in your own life.
I've seen this go sideways when people skip the first three and jump straight to "How does this make me feel?"
Don't do that.
The Gospel of John wasn't written to validate your current feelings; it was written, as John says in chapter 20, verse 31, "so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ." If your one to one John sessions turn into a therapy circle where nobody actually looks at the text, you’ve lost the plot. Stick to the words on the page.
Real Challenges You’ll Actually Face
Let’s be real for a second. This isn't always a Hallmark movie. Sometimes the person you're reading with forgets their Bible. Sometimes they haven't showered. Sometimes they spend forty minutes arguing about why Jesus turned water into wine instead of just making more water.
One big hurdle is the "Expert Gap."
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If you’re the one who initiated the one to one John, you might feel like you need to have all the answers. You don't. In fact, if you pretend to know everything, you’ll probably kill the conversation. The most powerful thing you can say in a one-to-one session is, "I actually don't know the answer to that, let’s look it up or ask someone this week."
Another issue is the "Pace Trap."
Some people try to crush the whole Gospel in three weeks. You’ll burn out. Others take a year. You’ll get bored. Aim for about 10 to 12 sessions. You can combine chapters (like 14-17, the Upper Room Discourse) to keep the momentum going.
The Social Science of One to One
It’s interesting to note that even secular psychology recognizes the power of what's happening in a one to one John setup. Small group dynamics are great, but "dyadic" (two-person) interactions create a level of accountability and psychological safety that you just can't get in a group of eight.
In a group, the "Bystander Effect" kicks in. You assume someone else will answer the hard question. In a one-on-one, there is no one else. It's just you. This forces active processing, which is the gold standard for learning and internalizing new ideas.
Logistics: Where and How
Don't overthink this.
- Location: Pick a place with just enough background noise that you aren't being eavesdropped on, but quiet enough to hear each other. Coffee shops are the cliché for a reason. They work.
- Time: 45 minutes to an hour. Anything longer and you’re just hanging out (which is fine, but call it what it is).
- Tools: Two Bibles (ideally the same translation to avoid "Wait, my version says 'propitiation,' what does yours say?") and maybe a notebook.
I personally recommend the ESV or the CSB for this. The NIV is fine, but some of the word choices in John’s more "theological" sections can get a bit smoothed over in the NIV. You want a little bit of that grit.
Handling the "Hard" Parts of John
John is beautiful, but he’s also kind of weird.
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You’ll hit the "Bread of Life" discourse in Chapter 6 and Jesus is going to start talking about eating his flesh and drinking his blood. It’s weird. It was weird back then, too—most of his followers left him after that speech.
When you hit these spots in a one to one John study, don't apologize for the text. Don't try to "explain it away" to make it more palatable for a modern audience. Let the tension sit there. Ask your partner, "Why do you think he said it in such a shocking way?" Usually, the answer is that Jesus was trying to filter out the people who were just there for the free lunch.
The Long-Term Impact
I’ve talked to people who did a one to one John study twenty years ago and they can still tell you exactly what they talked about during the Chapter 11 session on Lazarus. There is something about the "shared discovery" of a text that sticks in the long-term memory far better than a sermon ever will.
It builds a bridge.
If you’re looking to mentor someone, or if you’re looking for a mentor, this is the lowest barrier to entry. You don't need a curriculum. You just need a copy of the Gospel.
Actionable Next Steps to Start Today
If you’re ready to actually do this instead of just reading about it, here is how you start without making it weird.
- Identify your person. Who is one person in your life who is curious about spiritual things but wouldn't necessarily want to sit in a church pew? Or a younger Christian who needs some grounding?
- The "Ask." Keep it low pressure. Say something like: "Hey, I've been wanting to read through the Gospel of John lately. Would you be up for meeting once a week for about 45 minutes to just read a chapter or two and talk about it? No homework, no pressure."
- Set a "Trial Period." Suggest meeting for just four weeks. If you both like it, keep going. This gives both of you an "out" if the chemistry isn't there.
- Get the gear. If you don't have two Bibles, buy a couple of cheap "Gospel of John" journals (the ones with the text on one side and blank lines on the other). It makes it feel like a project you're doing together.
- First Meeting. Spend the first 10 minutes just catching up. Then read John 1:1-18 out loud. Ask: "What stands out to you about how this starts?"
One to one John isn't about finishing a book. It’s about starting a conversation that, according to the author of the book itself, has eternal consequences. It’s a bit of an investment in an era where we want everything instantly, but the payoff is usually found in the very things you can't download: friendship, clarity, and a deeper understanding of who Jesus actually claimed to be.