I love name tags. I taught an adult Bible study group at my church in middle Tennessee for six years, and every Sunday my wife and I laid name tags on each chair. Guests wore them. Group members wore them. I wore them. Here are four reasons you should use name tags in your Bible study group:

1. Name tags are inexpensive. There is no barrier to entry! Any group can afford to “get tagged.” Buy a package at your local Wal-Mart or office supply store. They are just a couple of dollars.
2. Name tags build a culture of expectancy. The chief reason your group members should fill out name tags when they meet is out of an expectancy that a guest (or guests) may take part in the Bible study, and they won’t know people’s names. Name tags remind the group members that the group exists to reach others. Too many groups have forgotten this and mistakenly believe that the group exists to serve them and meet their needs. Name tags silently remind group members “We may have guests today – and should have guests.”
3. Name tags can be used during the teaching time. It’s easy to take a few colored markers and place a dot in one corner of each name tag. During the study, the group leader can ask people to group up by colored dot in order to answer questions or work on a quick assignment. Or you could divide the group into two groups – one with the people who wrote their names in cursive, the other with people who printed their name. Or you could divide the group based on the color of the marker they use to fill out their name.
4. Name tags are great equalizers. Guests feel awkward enough as it is when they visit your Bible study group. Wearing a name tag means they can call people by name, and vice-versa.
5. Name tags create conversational community. Have you noticed that if people don’t know one another’s names, they say things like, “Hello brother!” and “What’s up, guy?” Or worse yet, they don’t say anything at all because they don’t know what to call the other person. But if people are wearing name tags, they feel less awkward about starting a conversation since they can call the other person by name.

Do yourself and your group a favor – buy a package or two of name tags and start wearing them every time you come together for Bible study. You’ll be really glad you did. And so will they.

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