Help! I Need Somebody!

On April 13, 1965 the Beatles entered Abbey Road Studios in London, and recorded another Lennon/McCartney hit. It took them 12 takes to get it right:

Help, I need somebody,
Help, not just anybody,
Help, you know I need someone, help.

Less than a year later, 25 year-old John Lennon caused a worldwide scandal by saying:

“Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that; I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now…”

But… he wasn’t right. The Beatles were popular, but all they proved was that popularity doesn’t alleviate loneliness. Several years later Lennon said this:

“When ‘Help!’ came out in 1965, I was actually crying out for help. I didn’t realize it at the time; I just wrote the song because I was commissioned to write it for the movie. But later, I knew I was really crying out for help.”

It’s right there in the lyrics, if you look for it:

When I was younger, so much younger than today,
I never needed anybody’s help in any way.
But now these days are gone, I’m not so self-assured,
Now I find I’ve changed my mind and opened up the doors.

John Lennon was right about this: We all need somebody. And he’s not the only one who has cried out for community. Shortly after we were married, my wife, Vicki had a tubal pregnancy and was literally bleeding to death. As she was rushed into surgery I sat alone in the waiting room to pray. Although we were very active in church and had lots of friends, we didn’t have the kind of “one-another” small group I could call at 2 AM to say:

Help me if you can, I’m feeling down
and I do appreciate you being round.
Help me get my feet back on the ground,
won’t you please, please help me.

Years later, we found that kind of community. When Vicki’s mom died our whole small group made a five-hour round trip to be with us. When our small group leader had surgery last year, we all waited together at the hospital.

We share meals together, laugh together, and cry together. We look to the group for guidance and encouragement. We hold each other accountable in a way that can only happen in a small group. Now

… my life has changed in oh so many ways;
My (former) independence seems to vanish in the haze.

What if John Lennon had that kind of community? There is ample evidence that John trusted Christ late in life, but got sucked back into the occult and alternate worldviews held by those closest to him. What if his cry for “Help!” was answered by a small group of Christ-followers who were committed to helping one another grow in Christ?

We’ll never know how a small group might have helped John. But I can predict with certainty how it would help you.

Tagged as: beatles, Help, Lennon