Last
week my mentor and friend Richard Looney gave me a small box of books. I love
books, and he knows that. One book has captured my thoughts this week. It is
Mike Slaughter’s “The Passionate Church”. I recommend you read it (and then I
recommend you read “The Great All-American Dad Misconceptions” by yours
truly….wow, that was a shameless plug wasn’t it J).
If you read much about Methodist
history you will encounter the terms “societies”, “classes”, and “bands”. These
are terms for how groups of Christians were organized in worship, discipleship,
and spiritual growth. These terms also are old. These practices were centuries
ago. And not many people read much Methodist history unless they have to for a
seminary course.
You’re
probably thinking, “where is he going with all this? I just wanted a quick
funny little devotional read”. Hang with me a minute. This might not be too
quick, or too funny, but I think there is still something there.
If
you’re not familiar with those terms I listed in the first sentence, the
condensed definitions could be that a “society” was a group that comes together
once a week to worship, pray, read Scripture, sing songs. This is sort of like
our modern day Sunday morning worship service.
The
“class” was a smaller group that came together once a week to do a more in
depth study of Scripture with prayer. This would be similar to what many
churches have as a Sunday night or Wednesday night Bible Study.
The
“band” was a small group of 3-4 people that met together once a week or so for
a different purpose. The band was either all men or all women. The band focused
on spiritual accountability and discipleship growth of the small group of
members.
I pastor a church, and sometimes the temptation is the
bigger the better. We are really good at counting numbers. But I need more. I
need to grow deeper rather than just bigger. I need to know that there are a
few men to stand with me and ask hard questions like “how is it with your soul”
or “what temptations are you facing right now” or even “what sins have you
committed since we last met?”[i]
Those
are just questions we don’t ask outside of a committed very small group of
people we really trust.
I don’t
know how all this “band” small group stuff would work today, but I’m willing to
give it a try. So I have. I have stepped out and asked a couple of guys to
begin one with me. Yep, right here in Telford, TN.
And they
aren’t other pastors. They are just men seeking to follow Jesus, just like me.
I hope that I don’t ruin their high and lofty ideology of perfect pastors…
because I’m not one.
There
were many men that I could have asked to start with. But it had to be a small
group to begin. There were many men that I wanted to ask, so I just prayed,
“God please show me a few men tonight you want to start this with me”. And He
did.
I
believe that if we ask God to show us things that He does. I believe that if we
ask God to speak to us He does. I also believe that our vision and hearing is
not all that great sometimes.
Pastor
Andy Stanley said, “something happens in circles that doesn’t happen in rows”.
Something deeper can happen in smaller groups that does not happen in the pews
on Sunday morning. It can be a deeper dive from the Sunday morning themes and
topic, or it can be a different direction. But something does happen in the
circles.
We
become “doers” and not just “hearers” of the Word.
I don’t
know for sure where our Telford band is going to go. That’s the organic beauty
of it. I hope that this time next year the four of us are all meeting in small
bands with other men and that there are bands of Telford women meeting to turn
the world upside down with the excitement of living of a life following Jesus.
So pray
for me please. Pray for the band I am meeting with. And pray that if God wants
to “band” you together with some others that you are open and available for
that.
Let’s go
deeper, because this is really what matters.
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