“Many are convinced to believe in God, who are not truly enlightened; they are afraid of the consequences of sin, though they never saw its evil; they have a seeming desire of salvation, which is not founded upon a truly spiritual discovery of their own wretchedness, and the excellency of Jesus.” -John Newton
Only by the grace of God, I took my last drink back in November of 2018. The day that I finally I surrendered, I completely gave my life over to Christ and have done my very best to “do the next right thing” (as they say in the rooms of AA). It has been far from perfect. I’ve failed at doing the next right thing numerous times since then. But I’m still sober, and can only hope that God is much more pleased with who I’m trying to become today than who I was nearly 5 years ago.
So let me clearly state upfront that I am a follower of Christ, and that my faith in Christ radically defines my identity today. I am definitely a recovering alcoholic. And although I do identify as a recovering alcoholic in the rooms of AA, that detail is merely a footnote of my life in the greater scheme of God’s overall view of me. And it doesn’t need to be said but I’ll state it anyway: How God sees me is ultimately the only thing that really matters. I belong to Him. He is the only one who I truly try to please. Well, other than my wife…
I say all of that to say this: My ramblings here are not representative of the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous. I’m simply sharing my perspective as a disciple of Jesus Christ.
In one of my first meetings several years ago, an old-timer asked me if I had a suit and a tie. I thought that was a very odd question. But yes, I told him, I do have a suit. “Good,” he said. “Because if you plan to stick around for the long haul, you’re going to be attending a lot of funerals.”
He wasn’t lying. In just the 5 short years I’ve been sober, I’ve attended several funerals of fellow AA members. And of the five I have attended, only one that I know of had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Interestingly enough, he had just celebrated six months of sobriety a few weeks before he was struck and killed by a driver who, ironically enough, suffered from this same disease of Alcoholism. (I use the past-tense suffered simply because that driver is now in prison for vehicular homicide and will not be drinking alcohol again for many years).
My friend and I would often hang out before and after the meetings. I knew his father, and that’s how we developed our connection. We talked. We shared with each other about our journeys, our families, and ups and downs in recovery. And we talked about how God had saved us from a life of death and misery. He was active in his church, in his community, and clearly had more going for him spiritually than simply living up to the AA code, simply doing the next right thing.
The other funerals I attended – I knew the deceased members reasonably well. And, of course, other AA members seemed to share the same heartfelt sentiments at each and every one.
“Helluva guy. Huge heart. Always did the next right thing. And most importantly – he died sober.”
Not that dying sober isn’t important, especially for those of us who have made a commitment to remain sober. But there is something clearly more at stake here than just passing on to the next life uninebriated; something more at stake than leaving behind a legacy known for having lived a noble life under the AA catchall of doing the next right thing.
It’s called Eternal Salvation.
What if I told you that the cofounder who wrote the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous used the Biggest Book (the Bible) as his guide to write the 12 spiritual steps of the AA program?
What if I told you that one of the reasons why the 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous is as successful as it is in this life might also be the very same reason why many recovering alcoholics will never hear the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant” in the next life to come?
The problem many Christians have with AA isn’t the program of AA. The problem they have is AA is becoming a religion.
“It’s much easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.” – Mark Twain
Coming soon: Pt 2: The Not So Higher Power Problem
Former Blackout Artist 