Turned out, we needn't look too hard: At that time, a couple of the band members were active mentors in Young Life - a Christian-based program geared toward reaching out to high school students. At one mentor/band member's suggestion, we found the right guys to help round out our sound. Though merely high school aged, the added members knew their way around their respective instruments. Practices ensued, and all sounded fab. But things are not always as they appear...
Narrow Road performing on The Basement TV program, 1996
During this period of the band, one of the largest churches in our town was hosting a youth rally event and Narrow Road was requested to perform in conjunction with the rally. Sounded good so far...
The plan was for our band to perform an abbreviated set; the guest speaker would come up and share the Word then we'd hit the stage again and finish out the night. Sounded good so far...
And so far, we sounded pretty good as we began performing at said event that evening. The time came for the guest speaker to share the Word. The stage was set up so that we could exit a nearby back door and hang around outside until the guest speaker finished. And we did.
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| Narrow Road: circa 1996/1997 |
So, here's where things got a little tricky: Keep in mind, by this point we had some band members who were high school students - very young men who were also young in their Christian walk. A couple of these young men had a habit of smoking cigarettes. The rest of the band was aware and, yes, it had been mentioned before that smoking was bad for one's health. Beyond that, we didn't think much of it. It wasn't our style to be forceful or condemning. We trusted that, in time, the younger guys would put the bad habit down. Simple as that.
Thus the complications began: As the youth minister was speaking, and we were hanging around outside, a couple band members decided a quick smoke was in order. Granted, it wasn't the best time or place, but the rest of us stayed reserved; the younger band members knew our sentiments. The minister wound the devotional down and we proceeded to strike up the band. The night ended well. Or so it seemed...
A few months down the road, another youth minister, at the other largest church in town, approached me about Narrow Road heading up the music at a youth event. I was informed it would be a big function as this church, "Church X," was teaming up with that church, "Church O," for an extraordinary function.
"Sounds great!" I responded before mentioning to him that we had played at "Church O" only a short while ago ("Church O" being the one with the "smoking section" out back).
"Church X's" youth leader was glad to hear we'd be on board then stated, "I'll just run it by 'Church O's' guys at our next citywide minister's meeting."
Sounded good to me; no problem. A week rolled by then another, and another, and so on...
By now, the band was beginning to get a little curious, and so I asked the "Church X" youth leader one day, "Hey! Did you still want us to perform at the big event?"
He sheepishly shook his head. I could tell something was up and that he'd rather not tell me.
"It's okay," I assured him. "Just let me know what's going on."
He stated that he told "Church O's" youth minister that he knew this really cool local band that would perform. And the response: "Well, I hope it's not Narrow Road!"
"Why not?" "Church X" asked.
"Because they were out back smoking pot and drinking at our last event," "Church O" replied.
I shook my head in disbelief and explained the truth of what really transpired to "Church X." "I didn't even know it was an issue," I explained. "Nobody from that church had even asked me about it."
Thankfully, "Church X's" youth minister believed me, having known me for a while, though the damage was already done from the lie - or distorted truth, if one prefers - that snowballed. From two young men smoking a cigarette, to the whole band getting high and drunk smack dab in the middle of performing at a youth rally... Unbelievable! And with "Church O" being the biggest joint in town: That snowball hurt us to say the least.
I wish "Church O" would've gotten the facts straight... I wish they would've asked me about the incident... I wish they could see that ministry was taking place internally within the band, not merely externally from the band to others. These were young guys - young Christians - and the rest of us believed that if one attempts to force somebody to do or not do something, it only complicates matters. We were exercising patience with our younger peers, believing they would see the light in time and put the bad habit down. That's how we rolled... Joint free...
The band played on, just not at "Church O" anymore. "X" marks the spot...
As iron sharpens iron,
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- K -
* Addendum: Sharing this experience was not meant to harp on the negative. The whole point of this footnote, extracted from the band's journey, is a simple reminder that we are sometimes quick to (inaccurately) judge others. Sometimes, there is more than meets the eye: In this case, ministry was taking place behind the scenes from within the band. Sometimes, change takes place quickly, and at other times it's a gradual process. In all that we do, especially as Christians, love must be our motive (1 Corinthians 13: 1 - 3), for the measure that we use will be the measure used toward us (Matthew 7: 2 - 5).
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| "Slice of Life" era Narrow Road: 1996/1997 |
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