The Lost Link
...between the Church and 12 step programs
There has been a burden on my heart to somehow make sense of why there seems to be this lost link between the church and twelve-step programs. Now, before you jump to conclusions I would like to state that my goal is not to see the church embrace today's twelve-step beliefs.
It just seems as though most churches have failed to reach out to what they don't understand. There are a few churches that do some recovery work but it's more the exception than the rule.
If you have ever struggled with drug and alcohol addiction and have tried any 12 step program then you know the battle. Many have tried church as an alternative but the church is sometimes misinformed on how to handle a struggling alcoholic or addict. They tell them "You just have to join the church and stop all that nonsense, give it to God!".
When you are struggling with addiction and go to church to get help, sometimes you don't know who to talk to because when you mention drugs or alcohol in some churches they look down their nose at you. You get the feeling that you are not to talk about that here. At that point you are left with the secret struggle within, and no one to help or relate to. Just show up every Sunday and put your best smile on and pretend that all is well with you and the world while you have ceased to exist inside.
If the church wonders why their "success rate" is so low with drug and alcohol dependant people all they have to do is remember the last time someone came in the doors with a problem like that. How did they handle it? Did they tell them just to have a seat and listen to the sermon or did they sit down with them and try to understand their problem and offer them help? Not just by throwing scripture at them but making an honest effort to get them in touch with someone who has been through these same type problems.
Sometimes people in the church act like you are not supposed to talk about your past. It's taboo, "leave the past in the past" they say. Then they turn around and say "Look at Paul, he use to kill Christians and look at what God did with him." What's the difference in saying that and "I use to drink booze like their was no tomorrow and smoke weed like they were going to stop growing it. Look at what I use to do and if God can change me he can change you." Oh, but nooo, you don't want to talk about that in church. OK, let's talk about how once you give your life to Christ then everything gets rosy. Now that wouldn't be the truth, would it? Once you are forced to start dealing with life on life's terms it's not easy and people need to know that.
Sometimes you will hear from the church that 12 step programs are nothing but a cult. These type statements are nothing more than ignorance. Because the programs don't offer what the church offers doesn't make them a cult.
Today's twelve-step programs make no claim to offer redemption of man. What they do offer is a time tested, proven way to get the alcoholic or drug addict clean and sober. After their mind and body is cleaned up then that is where the church should step in.
If you'll notice in the previous paragraph I said "today's twelve-step programs." Today's recovery is far different from the way it was done early on.
Addiction is a very complicated animal. Men have studied for years the connection between addiction and other diseases. I refer to addiction as a disease because it is a very harmful and destructive condition and eventually if not treated will lead to death.
It is my opinion that twelve-step programs are so successful because the addict or alcoholic feels that they are understood instead of shunned. What needs to happen is the church should attempt to understand addiction instead of shunning it.
The lost link to me is simple, it's education. Clergy needs to educate themselves and their church on how to reach the addict. At first, the addict just wants to know how to quit. That comes only by admitting their powerlessness over alcohol and drugs, similar to when a lost person admits their helpless state when coming to Christ. When we realize that in and of ourselves we are nothing and have no means to redeem or save ourselves from eternal separation from God.
Today, their are many who set out to destroy 12 step programs. I contend that 12 step programs have there place in this world, to carry it's message to the alcoholic or addict who still suffers. Again, you must understand today's twelve-step programs make no claim of the redemption of man. It must be in it's proper place. They sober you up and give you hope. If the church is worried about AA's "doctrine", then instead of criticizing it, reach out and offer them the truth of the scripture.
I can offer this information from my own personal experience with drugs and alcohol. I spent years abusing both. I went to a twenty-eight day treatment program and spent the next few years struggling to stay clean and sober with limited success with twelve-step programs. But, even with the limited success it cleaned me up enough to open my mind to the gospel of Jesus Christ. When I first entered AA, the last thing I wanted to hear was anything about some god that I needed to believe in. AA offered me hope for my hopeless situation from drink. At that point in my life I wasn't ready to learn about the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. That would have been too much to bear. It probably would have sent me spiraling downward even more.
On God's timetable, he introduced me to His Son, Jesus Christ, and I accepted Him as my Lord and Savour. I now study my bible and try to walk with God daily and want to learn all I can about our Lord Jesus. I also know that my sins have been forgiven and I will spend eternity in heaven. Not because it is just a good feeling I have but because God has stated in His word and planted that truth in my heart and has removed the desire from me to live the type of life that I was so used to. Now, if AA or NA had not been there for me when I needed them I wouldn't be here today writing these words.
What I have learned through my own experience is I need to seek out an organization's intent before I can make a fair value assessment.
---warbzone