Reaching Out To Someone in AA

"Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8: 31-32)

The errors of Alcoholics Anonymous cannot be removed from an adherent merely by telling them that there are so many untruths and misapplied scriptures.

No one is going to let go of one way of life if they do not have something better to step into.

For those who believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, that He died for our sins, and that when He cried out "It is Finished!", He was not kidding, He was not holding back, then He in truth lives in them.

Yet for many believers, their minds have not yet been renewed to the truth of who they are in Christ!

The new Creation that we have become in Christ must be expounded upon, as well!

Jesus did just die for our sins, but His blood keeps cleansing us, too!

 I shared 1 John 4: 17 with a friend of mine who was still going to Celebrate Recovery:

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4: 17)

He told me that he had never read this passage before! When I read this passage to someone else in Celebrate Recovery, he told me that it was a mere metaphor.

Yet there are other scriptures which speak to our ultimate sonship in the Son:

"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not." (1 John 3: 1)

and

"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

"Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1: 12-13)

and

"For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." (Romans 8: 15)

The biggest obstacle for many believers is that they simply do not know who they are in Christ. We are no longer "sinners, but saved by grace", but rather we are saints, a new creation (2 Corinthians 5: 17) made into the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5: 21).

The Truth sets us free, not arguing about what is not true. In order to reach out to someone who is in bondage to the 12 Steps, convinced that they will "fall off the wagon" or go back out if they leave the program, show them Christ and Him Crucified, let the person know who they are in Christ, and slowly but surely God the Father will prune away the lies which have informed the improper self-image which many believers in 12 Step programs still have of themselves.

I am grateful to the work of Pastor Bob George, an evangelist and teacher based in Oregon who hammered for me the importance of proceeding from the right, or rather righteous, premise. In Christ, all the work is done, we have been made perfect in His sight, and we do not work up to a standard of more righteousness in our own efforts or by following a set of steps. The more that we know who we are, righteous, totally accepted before God, the more we will walk in the Spirit in our lives, putting away from us the sin and the Old Covenant of rules and types which are still keeping people in bondage.