KENDRA KAMMER|GUEST

In Colorado where I live, we aren’t known for our fashion sense. Recently I received a wedding invitation, and the dress code was “Mountain Formal.” (I know you’re curious: the ladies wore sundresses and cowboy boots, and the men wore jeans and bolo ties.) I’ve even learned how to pre-load my wardrobe into ChatGPT so it can tell me what to wear to any given event and take that mental load off myself!

Thankfully, when it comes to Bible study, God has already told us what to wear:

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other. …And above all these put on love” (Col. 3:12-14).

Wear What Fits

Colossians 3 tells us what to “wear”: compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, and love. These qualities remind us that Scripture is learned best within loving Christian community. As we study God’s Word together, these qualities should shape the way we treat one another.

One way we can “put on” love in a Bible study community is by prioritizing relationships. We shouldn’t be afraid to let our Bible studies be relational. We can spend a few minutes, or even longer, learning about each other’s lives. We can remember and revisit prior concerns and prayer requests. Let’s not fall into the trap of thinking that community building is a distraction.

Whether we’re leading the discussion or simply participating in it, we wear compassion when we watch out for the younger Christians in our group. We should try to experience the study through their perspective and consider how we can proactively offer insights and understanding if the topic is complicated. Instead of talking about what the Bible says, let’s open our Bibles and look at the passage together. Most of all, let’s honor their presence in the group and be thankful rather than frustrated by their questions.

In other words, the right Bible study clothes help us enter the room ready to love the people God has placed around us.

Don’t Wear What Doesn’t Fit

Wisdom tells us that all the opposite traits from those listed in Colossians 3 are the ones that don’t fit, such as unkindness, pride, impatience, unforgiveness, and apathy toward others. At first glance, most of us do well in avoiding these obviously problematic traits. But do we really?

Perhaps our pride is beginning to show when we voice our knowledge with little concern for how it makes others feel inadequate. Perhaps others think we don’t care when we rush prayer requests. Maybe unkindness reveals itself when we approach convicting parts of Scripture with a “us vs. them” mentality and speak badly about others.

I think we’ve all worn clothes that don’t fit sometimes in our Bible studies. I thank God for His grace to learn and grow and His mercy for every new day.

Dressing Right Takes Practice

Just as no one develops a sense of style overnight, learning to “dress” for Bible Study takes practice. For example, I expect we all find it impossible to balance teaching the Bible and building community in Bible study. Instead of expecting every Bible study gathering to look exactly the same, we can learn to respond wisely to what our group needs. One day the women may need more Scripture truth, and the next they may need a compassionate listener. Some days we do well to follow a rabbit trail as a study member opens up; other days we can gently suggest that we “talk more about this over coffee.”

Learning to dress wisely takes practice. Some weeks we’ll overdress in knowledge and underdress in compassion. Other weeks we’ll realize we left patience or humility hanging in the closet. But as we keep putting on the character of Christ, our Bible studies become a place where people don’t simply learn about God, they also discover His character in community.

Photo by Juan Smith on Unsplash