All of Christ, None of Us (No Inventories, Please!)

"And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body" (Romans 8: 23)

and

"But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:" (2 Corinthians 1: 9)

and

"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;" (2 Corinthians 3: 5)

It's crystal clear, our life has nothing to do with us, and everything to do with our new life, Jesus Christ:

"3For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3: 3-4)

Much of today's therapy teaches people to look at themselves, at their feelings, and their thoughts.

Even though Bill W. claimed that Alcoholics Anonymous is about freeing us from the bondage of self, in reality the program makes self more important.

Often in meetings, "old-timers" will brag about their "time" in the program and then presume to lecture other people on how to live their lives. Some of these "experienced" types are merely pushing their pride onto others, expecting that they have all the answers.

Then there are men and women who stand up in front of everyone else and declared:

"My name is . . . and I am an alcoholic. . ."

I thought that this program was about forgetting self?

Then there are the Fourth Step and Tenth Step inventories, all of which force a person to look at himself. It never occurs to people that this program teaches its members to keep looking at themselves.

Yet even if people arrive at "getting rid of the bondage of self", what are they supposed to replace it with? The AA meetings themselves are the worst example of accountability and leadership. Strictly speaking, no one can take the entire group of people in a home meeting with them wherever they go. To say the least, the members in these meetings have very little to share with anyone else. More often than not, men and women end up getting the same poor advice from other people.

What can one expect from another person when they claim that "my best thinking got me here."

Point of fact, one's best thinking gets one out of AA as soon as possible.

It's not enough to be rid of self. We need a new life, not just a new leader. Jesus is that good, because he provides for all our needs and much more.

It's all about Christ, not about us - and you can forget about those inventories.