I was the last person you would expect to say “yes” to a BSF invitation.   

In my early 20s, I had little Bible knowledge and had never done a Bible study. I did not believe in Jesus, and I was working long hours in a high-pressure public accounting firm.  

Who would have invited me? It would make more sense to invite someone who knew more about Scripture or who had more time on their hands. Right? Well, maybe not. 

Jesus invited the least likely. Who would have chosen a fisherman or tax collector for a disciple? Jesus chose the least likely to follow Him and the world was forever changed.  

Someone chose to invite me to BSF even though I was busy, inexperienced, and skeptical. And to my surprise and theirs, I showed up. Without that invitation, I would never have come to saving faith in Jesus. I am eternally changed because someone extended a simple invitation.   

What is holding you back from inviting your “least likely” friend or family member to BSF?

Most people in the world today are busy—busy with work, children, caring for aging parents, pursuing an education, and much more. But Jesus is needed every bit as much in a busy life as He is in a quiet life.  

When the disciples were called to follow Jesus, many of them had bustling careers. Simon Peter was a busy fisherman who cared for his wife and family. Did this stop his brother Andrew from telling Peter about Christ? Absolutely not. Scripture tells us, “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus”  (John 1:41-42a).  

We often think people may be too busy for a Bible study. Thankfully, Jesus is never too busy to reach us. God works in every season of life and faithfully calls His people in unexpected circumstances. 

When you consider inviting someone new to BSF, maybe you worry that the questions will be too difficult. Perhaps the in-depth approach will be too challenging for a new believer or unbeliever without Bible study experience.  

When I first joined BSF, my understanding of God and the Bible was pieced together from the world, not the Word. Until I studied Scripture for myself, the idea of Jesus as Savior and Messiah seemed illogical.

However, the daily, personal questions from BSF gave me the courage to open my Bible. The guided study helped me to learn what the Bible said for myself. In community with others, I had the freedom to express my confusion and ask questions. The lecture and notes were like water for my parched soul. God used the study of BSF to bring me to salvation. 

As someone who has studied with BSF as a non-believer and then as a dedicated follower of Christ, I can confidently say that God uses in-depth study to mature people wherever they are in their faith. The Holy Spirit does the work; we are simply called to extend the invitation.  

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God may be calling you to invite someone who has questions that you simply cannot answer. You are not alone.  

In John 1:45, Jesus’s disciple Philip extended an invitation to his skeptical friend Nathaniel, saying, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”  

When Nathaniel exclaimed, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Philip simply said, “Come and see” (John 1:46). This faithful disciple relied on Jesus’s truth to answer Nathaniel’s questions. He simply extended the invitation, trusting God to do the rest.

When I entered the doors of BSF for the first time, I was skeptical. I had questions about Jesus that none of my friends could answer to relieve my doubts. Only when I opened God’s Word did I discover the answers I truly longed to find.  

One of the most effective ways to reach skeptical people is to let them read the truth for themselves. 

Regardless of life-stage or church experience, all people seek answers the world cannot provide. We long for meaning and purpose. We want to be truly known and truly loved. We need forgiveness and a path forward. The world offers endless suggestions; only Jesus has the solution.  

When we do not invite others, eternal life and abundant life on earth are at stake. Too many of our friends and family walk through hard seasons without the truth and hope only Christ can give. How will we respond? 

What if you invited your “least likely” friend or family member to BSF this year? Who might come? Who might believe? How might a life—and the world—be changed for eternity because you invited that person to “come and see”? 

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Joining a Bible study group can be intimidating. You may be wondering: Will we have anything in common? Is this a safe place to share openly? How are we going to get along? These are great and natural questions. To begin, remember that our sovereign, all-knowing, and always-present God brought you and your entire group together. 

Jesus is good at that—bringing people together. In fact, He’s perfect at it. 

Consider how He brought together His disciples. Did you ever wonder what was going through their minds? They probably didn’t realize at first that they had the perfect group leader. Jesus’s first followers may have had similar questions to ours: Who are these people? What baggage do they bring? Will I even like them? Will they like me? How are we going to get along?

As we look ahead to the upcoming study of John’s Gospel: The Truth, the disciples’ first days with Jesus provide guidance and encouragement as we gather together and draw closer to our Savior and one another. 

In John 1:35-42 we read about Andrew, originally a disciple of John the Baptist. With simple words, Jesus invited Andrew to “come, and you will see.” Andrew literally followed Jesus and responded by telling his brother, Simon Peter, “We have found the Messiah.” Through simple invitations, God grew a community of faith.  

You may have been invited to BSF by a friend, been encouraged by a spouse, or heard about BSF through your church, the internet, or even this blog post. In any circumstance, this was how God invited you personally to “come, and you will see.” Jesus Christ, who was in the beginning with God (John 1:1), personally invites you to follow Him, believe in Him, and have eternal life through Him (John 3:16; 5:24). Faith-filled and transformative community always starts with Jesus’s invitation. 

According to John 1:43-48, the day after Jesus invited Andrew and Peter into discipleship, He extended the same invitation to Philip with two words, “Follow me.” Like Andrew with Peter, Philip could not wait to tell a cynical friend, Nathanael, about Jesus. As Nathanael approached Jesus, before he could say a word, the Messiah revealed He already knew Nathanael perfectly. 

Scripture says God knows us before we’re even born (Psalm 22:9-10; Jeremiah 1:5; 1 Corinthians 13:12). Our character, interests, pursuits, and loves are no surprise to Him.  

Each BSF member comes with different experiences, interests, desires, and knowledge of God’s Word. If you look closely, any group is a fascinating group! Week by week, as we share together, we can learn something new about the world, about one another, about ourselves, and about God. Approach your group with an attitude of curiosity—to know and be known. 

The first disciples included a clique of fishermen; a cynical Nathanael; a doubting Thomas; a spontaneous Peter; a contemplative John; a zealous Simon; and an unpopular tax collector, Matthew. This was a group that, from the outside, did not fit. But together they would witness Jesus’s miracles, listen to His teaching, and experience His death and resurrection. Their lives and relationships with one another would be completely transformed by the gospel.  

What about your own discussion group? Whether in a room or on Zoom, tens of thousands of groups around the world are filled with men or women, young and old, varied in backgrounds, gifts, talents, socio-economic status, ethnicity, and personality. All broken, yet in Christ redeemed and united by the Holy Spirit through faith in Him. Christ brings unity to a diverse community! 

Whether you are new to BSF or are a seasoned veteran, consider this new year, this 30-week journey through the Gospel of John, as a new opportunity. Like Jesus’s choice of His disciples, your discussion group is no accident. God has planted you in this group in this season for a purpose. In this deliberate moment in His story, God is calling you to draw close to Him and to one another as you engage with His Word together.

What is the “right way” to read the Bible?  

We all want to interpret Scripture correctly, but it can be difficult to know where to start. It seems everyone has their own opinion of what matters most. While some emphasize the historical context, others rely on church traditions or focus on modern-day applications. 

As a professor of the New Testament, I have the privilege of teaching new students and future pastors how to navigate Scripture. But you don’t have to be a pastor, theologian, or even a Teaching Leader to read the Bible like a scholar.  

I have found it is helpful to think about three distinct ways of reading the Bible. These can be described as informational, theological, and transformational. By using all of them together, we can not only understand confusing passages but also begin to see and know God personally through His Word. Let’s briefly look at each of these approaches. 

What helps us correctly interpret Scripture as we study and learn?  

When we read the Bible informationally, we recognize God is speaking to us but that it is very possible to misunderstand Him. The Bible comes to us from different times and cultures and languages, over thousands of years. The Bible doesn’t change, but our interpretation of it can get overlaid with our own assumptions and misunderstandings. Informational reading helps us bridge those gaps and reveal those blind spots. 

Informational reading focuses on understanding the various contexts in which the Bible was written—literary, cultural, and historical.  

Take Psalm 1, for example.  

Informational reading directs us to ask questions about how this psalm is structured as a piece of literature. Psalm 1 is a poem, in particular a wisdom poem that uses a common theme in the ancient world called the “two ways.”  

One way represents those who increasingly come under the influence of the ungodly, walking and then standing and then stopping and sitting (1:1). The result of this way of life is that a person does not know God and becomes like dust in the wind (1:4-5). The other way is a life in which we meditate on God’s instructions. The result of this life path is a verdant, fruitful tree fed by streams of water (1:4). 

Understanding the “two ways” helps us read and apply the psalm effectively, while also shaping our reading of the rest of the psalms as we recognize this repeated theme. To get started with informational reading, a study Bible can help. In-depth Bible studies, like Bible Study Fellowship, also increase our informational knowledge. 

2. Theological

How do we know we are on the right track in our interpretations? 

We need guidelines to help us stay on a faithful path. We need to read the Bible theologically.  

To help us understand these things, God has given teachers to the church (Ephesians 4:11), both now and in the past. Our Bible reading is enhanced when we read in conjunction with confessions of faith like the Apostles’ Creed and the works of theologians who help us put the whole Bible together.  

Think about your church: Do you read the Apostles’ Creed together? Did you sign a confession of faith to join as a member? Do you memorize catechism or use a prayer book each week?  

These are all examples of summaries of belief created by theologians and church leaders throughout history that provide a foundation of the basic truths of the Christian faith.  

These theological categories don’t replace the Bible, but they guide us into its proper reading. 

For example, one of the most famous theological reflections on Jesus is found in Philippians 2. The Apostle Paul was probably quoting an early Christian hymn when he wrote about Jesus: 

“Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” (Philippians 2:6-7 ESV) 

This raises some important questions. What does it mean that Jesus did not consider equality with a God “a thing to be grasped”? And what does it mean that he “emptied himself”? People have interpreted these words differently over the centuries, some of them in ways that end up denying the full deity of Jesus while He was on the earth. 

We can turn to theological categories and creeds to help guide our interpretations. We know this passage cannot mean that Jesus is not God because we affirm Jesus as fully God and fully Man in our confessions of faith.  

A theological reading of the Bible recognizes that we are not lone ranger Christians reading the Bible outside of the helps God has provided through teachers and the creeds, confessions, and books they have written.

3. Transformational

Yet none of these interpretations matter if they do not shape our lives.  

When we read the Bible transformationally, we recognize that our work is not done unless God’s Word sinks deeply into our heads, our hearts, and our hands. This third mode of reading focuses on the Spirit-driven application of Holy Scripture to our lives. We can learn a lot about God informationally and theologically, but without focusing on transformation, it is possible to only know about God without actually knowing Him. 

We often quote 2 Timothy 3:16—“all Scripture is God-breathed”—to emphasize the inspiration and authority of the Bible. That’s good, but we need to keep reading beyond the first part. The Apostle Paul makes it clear that the purpose of God’s breathing into the Bible is so we can be taught, corrected, and trained “in righteousness.” This is a work of the Holy Spirit, enabling us to understand the Bible and empowering us to apply it to our lives. 

If we return to Psalm 1, we can read it transformationally by asking these questions: What is God calling me to do in response to these two ways to live? What kind of person is God inviting me to become through the habit of meditating on Scripture? How might this psalm shape my goals and values? What areas of my life does this psalm challenge me to reconsider and redirect toward God? 

Throughout the Bible we are invited on a journey, a road trip. We are regularly welcomed to come and see, to taste and delight in God. The goal of reading the Scriptures is not merely to gain knowledge about God or to learn certain beliefs and behaviors. The real aim in reading Scripture is to see and know God Himself. This won’t fully occur until the new creation. But along the way, we get glimpses of what is to come. These glimpses of God happen especially through reading and studying the Bible. As we await the new creation, Scripture is crucial for discovering the meaningful and flourishing life that will last for eternity. 

This is adapted from Dr. Pennington’s latest book, Come and See: The Journey of Knowing God through Scripture.