Why do I need a small group of believers?

A few years ago I skimmed a book written in 2002 by a megachurch pastor, Ted Haggard. Dog Training, Fly Fishing, and Sharing Christ in the 21st Century: Empowering Your Church to Build Community Through Shared Interests was about building small group ministries around people's existing interests rather than topics or age-groups scripted by church staff. I thought it had some really good ideas along that line, but never took the time to really read it. (Still haven't - reading is a luxury!)

I was struck by his words when I skimmed it: "...I believed in [small groups] - I really did. I just didn't have the time to go to one...they never held my interest, or I never connected with the people in the group. It was easy to be too busy to go to a small group when going to a small group was the last thing I wanted to do." Then, as I remember the text, he sped on to how they had organized lots of these things, and some of the staff asked him, "Which one are you in?"

His answer was still, "None, I'm too busy." Of course, he knew that was the wrong answer, and they sort of fixed it with a staff-only small group, which is actually not a functional peer group. But that little vignette beautifully illustrated how easily some things dwell in the mind of a pastors:  I'm too busy, I've got to do it all, and I don't need anyone else except maybe my wife; I've got my eyes fixed on God.

In November 2006, just a few months after my skimming the book, Ted was outed by the male prostitute with whom he'd been sharing sex and drugs. His family, church and nation were shocked (and in some sad cases, gleeful) at his deceptions and hypocrisy. The first thing that came to my mind was, "Well, it wasn't hard for him to get away with it. He wasn't in a decent small group of peers - he said so in his own book. The only groups he was around was people who worked for him, one way or another. This didn't have to happen."

That's still my attitude. Of course he has flaws; who doesn't? Of course everyone needs strong, Godly peer relationships to encourage their features and help remediate those flaws. And in America today, of course, almost no one has them.

As a cautionary tale for us all, Pastor Ted (as he was known) has given us all a light for our way: If you're walking alone in the Christian life, it's pretty easy to end up far away from Christ and everyone else. But if you're walking with a few others, it's a whole lot easier to trend closer to them and to Jesus, day by day. Lord, let it be so for us.