Andy -- The Pharisee-Hypocrite

There was one guy in the CR meetings, Andy, who really made me mad. This guy presumed to tell me how to live my life, but he would admit to the group that he was communicating with other women on Facebook, that he had lost his job, that he was still smoking pot, and feared that he would not be able to get a job.

This  man admitted in the meetings that he was cheating on his wife, and that he was doing drugs, yet he would crow in the general meetings that " he had a big ego". Indeed he did. This man was not skilled in righteousness, as no one else was, or none of us would have ended up in that meeting in the first place!

This guy would go on and on about how he was abused as a kid, yet he felt more than justified to tell me how to live my life. He talked about the hard times he had as a kid, the difficulties that he had with his wife, and yet he presumed upon himself to be a marriage counselor at his church! Talk about rank hypocrisy!

Is that not part of the curse of the law? We find ourselves justifying ourselves yet looking for the faults in everyone else! It just never ends for those who are under the law:

"Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?" (Romans 2: 21)

Jesus rebuked this inherent, inevitable hypocrisy in the Sermon on the Mount:

"Judge not, that ye be not judged." (Matthew 7: 1)

We are called to judge righteous judgment (John 7: 24) and restore a brother to his standing in liberty and grace when he is caught in a trespass (Galatians 6: 1).

Back to Andy, I was so caught up in the dissimulation of this CR program, it was ridiculous. I wanted some direction, some help in my life. This guy had actually counseled me to write off my mother "just because she did not go to church." Of course, the real issue was that she had imbibed me with this AA nonsense from a young age, and the "program" was working me to death.

I was so lost at that point, convinced that I needed direction of some kind from someone else, yet this guy, this lout, turned out to have no clout whatsoever.

This guy was so full of himself, and how else could he be? The law brings upon people the sense that they mus measure up, and they must measure up in their own efforts, and so in brazen insecurity they parade around and tell other people how to live their lives!

The more that this guy shared his stories in the meetings, the more often I would walk away from them. It was a bunch of nonsense. I could not stand to listen to that man go on and on about all the things that he had been up to for the past week, and the man had no intention of living differently. When he started sharing, I just had to walk out of the meeting so that I did not have to listen to that nonsense. If anyone needed a does of 1 Corinthians 6 -- Know ye not, know ye not, know ye not, it was Andy.

This is the shame that CR meetings turn into, where "sick" people keep each other sick by telling each other that they are "OK" because they came to the meeting that week.

Instead hanging out with the sick, let us seek the Kingdom and His Righteousness, which He has more than readily provided for us through the Holy Spirit (Matthew 6: 33).

This guy had a lot going for him, but not based on the empty notion that he could get his act together on his own. The idea that he could counsel other people on marriage when he actively cheated on his wife in his mind -- this escapes all understanding.

Yet this is the nasty reality of men and women who insist on living by the law instead of resting in the grace of God.

AA -- A Way that Leads to Death

"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." (Proverbs 14: 12)

and

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14: 6)

I could not believe how entrenched I was in the “AA” Twelve Steps way of life.

I had left the program, but the program had not left me. For a long time, I still had no idea how to "live". If all your life, you have been told that you have to live by a set of rules that no one can ever live by, is it any wonder that people in the Body of Christ crash and burn and fail?

Even when I stopped going to meetings, then sense of “catching myself” so that I did no wrong was still very strong in me.

When my life still fell apart, when I had no knowledge of the life of grace and righteousness that God has imparted to me through His Son, I had no idea what I was supposed to do, how I was supposed to live this life. I was constantly assaulted with doubt –“Am I doing the right thing or the wrong things? The fact that I could not, at the time at least, rest in righteousness, meant that I was always living in bondage to feelings.

When I walked off my job in February 2009, I did not know what to do. I was so frustrated with the way everything had been going, but the only thing I knew what to do at the time was --- go back to the Twelve Steps,.If I had taken my inventory more times, if I had been checking in with someone else more often, then I would not have been having the problems that I was having. . .

So, I checked in to a local “Celebrate Recovery” program, at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Torrance, CA.

I thought that I had found the answer to all my problems --- except that how many times in the past had I gone from meeting to meeting, yet I was still frustrated and angry, still I had no idea of what I was supposed to be doing in my life. How many times had I stormed out of meetings, so upset was I with al the stuff that I had been through, yet the same people I was listening to were just as lost as I was?

That is exactly what I was dealing with when I went to Celebrate Recovery. The vagaries of the world seemed like too much to me. If I just “worked” this program then I could have life and that more abundantly. That was not the case then, and it still was not the case now!

Yet I was surprised by how down and out these people were. There was so much sickness, so much lack. There were men and women who were having so much trouble in their lives. There were men who shared about how they were having trouble with their marriages, how they were struggling with drugs and alcohol abuse. Some of the men struggled with sexual issues. They would talk about being able to avoid the bad behaviors for about three, six, nine months, then they would “Act Out” – they would get involved in bad activities or whatever they were supposed to be recovering from.

I remember listening to the men who were struggling with sexual  addiction, how they would outline all the questions that they would ask themselves at the beginning of the day – have you done anything that you should be ashamed of? Are you thinking about doing anything that you should be ashamed of?

I was very saddened by what I was seeing and hearing. These men were supposed to be helping me to break free of whatever was causing me trouble, yet lo and behold they were just as lost as I was. These men had not even grown up, they were in so much bondage to their past.

I hated going to those meetings, and I could not understand why I felt so good about myself when I chose not to go. I actually liked that I did not go to meetings. This conflict was hard for me to reconcile, for a long time, yet I was so convinced that I needed "guidance" that I had to "keep coming back."

Then I learned more about the Holy Spirit:

"But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things." (1 John 2: 20)

and

"But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him." (1 John 2: 27)

This is a radical concept for many people, the idea that I can trust my "intuition" on matters.

The key element here is "abide", for we are called to abide, to rest in Christ Jesus (John 15: 1-5) that through us He may bear much fruit!

When we are established in righteousness (Isaiah 54: 14), that we receive it as a gift rather than achieve it as a work (Romans 5: 17), we find that "right and wrong" or "good and evil" no longer become an issue, for in Christ we partake of the tree of life and live out His life of love:

"Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." (Romans 13: 10)

His righteousness and His grace brings out the Life that He wants to live through us!

But as long as believes insist on bringing the law back into their lives with Twelve Steps that just go nowhere, then believers in the Body of Christ will never enjoy the life more abundant that they have received in Christ Jesus!

Common Sense Remains Uncommon for Those in the Nonsense

In the program of Alcoholics Anonymous, the conflicts and contradictions minister confusion.

Yet for the  men and women who are looking for a release, anything to break free of alcohol and the painful shame which it brings in its wake, they will take to heart anything that seems to work.

After attending thirty meeting in thirty days, or ninety meetings in ninety days, anyone will get hooked into the program. I mean, how could so many people be wrong about something, about anything, right?

Yet the opinions of few or many do not define truth, and no matter how many people may bind themselves to something, that does not make it true.

The nature of inquiry, the nature of science, the nature of learning, of receiving revelation lies not in how many agree or disagree, but whether the evidence demands a verdict of true.

More importantly, faith is borne in the life of the believer who hears the word of Christ (Romans 10: 17).

The law is given to stop our mouths without reserve, forcing us to accept that we need a savior, a demand on our conscience, which no amount of thinking, inquiry, or reflection can free us from.

When we resign ourselves to the truth, that we cannot measure up in our own efforts, that the opinions of man, whether few or many, do not add up to much, then we receive the grace of God by faith, and He transform us from creatures of darkness to children of light.

This common sense remains forever uncommon. The startling number of people who do not stay sober, or who do not have life and that more abundantly, all war against the plain and unshakable Truth -- the program does not work.

Sadly, those who walk and attend and never do much more than sit in the meetings cannot break free on their own. They are so convinced of who they are and what they must do to maintain sobriety, but most importantly they are brought into bondage through a program and a hierarchy which imposes on them that if they leave, if they stop going to meetings, they will start drinking again.

The whole thing is a shameful sham-scam, one that indoctrinates people into believing that they must "keep coming back"

The notion that "if they just try a little harder" or "confess something more" that they did not share beguiles people into thinking that they must settle for a life of meetings that never meet with the Truth.

The way out of the program and into life is through the truth. Going deeper than right and wrong, the matter of life and death makes all the difference. Man in his sin is dead in his trespasses, and to the degree that we accept that with God, to lust in your heart, to be angry without a cause, both touch to the heart of man, a condition which cannot be fixed by his effort, but by His grace.

Jesus Christ has paid for it all. To those believers who still labor in AA meetings, when you read the Bible, see Jesus in his fullness. See that He has done more than die for your sins -- see that He has given you His life, and through His grace and righteousness you are called to reign in life.

If you still think that you must confess every sin in order to be on "good terms" with God, then confess every sin -- every time that you are afraid, every time that you lose  your temper. When the despair of every keeping up accounts with God settles in your mind, then let the grace of God flow, flow, flow in your life!

AA is a cult, not a culture of respect or honor. The program takes more than it gives.

But I speak this not to shame you if you have received sobriety. But either Christ has died for all your sins, or he did not. There can be no mixing of the message, and God will not share his glory.

"Who You Are", Not "What You Do!"

Any program which defines you by your illness will inevitably fail, for God did not make man to be defined or deepened in right and wrong, but rather to have life and that more abundantly (John 10: 10)

Human beings do not know who they are, and they cannot know with any value or valence without receiving the Truth that sets them free.

This Freedom, this Truth, is in Christ Jesus

"If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." (John 8: 36)

This verse Jesus speaks shortly after telling us that the Truth sets us free. Let's just look at the entire passage:

"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.

"They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?" (John 8: 31-33)

His Word, which is Truth (John 17: 17), sets us free, the more that we know and believe in His Word.

AA does not give us God's Word, and Celebrate Recovery confuses the Old and New Covenants, blatantly repudiating the Finished Work of Jesus Christ by assuming that we must also keep confessing our sins in order to be set free.

The more that we confess our sins, the more that we make a mockery of the work which Jesus has finished. Where do we get the idea that we have to add one thing to what Jesus has done?

The issue for too  many people is that they spend all their time attacking and trying to perfect their behavior, when the focus needs to be on God's grace, which defines who we are and empower us what to do:

"But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." (1 Corinthians 15: 10)

His grace defines us, His grace supplies us -- AA tells us nothing about this grace.

What we are in Christ then promotes in us His life, and He works through us:

"Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Philippians 2: 12-13)

Taking Your Inventory, You Cannot Prosper

It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe. We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's will into all of our activities. "How can I best serve Thee - Thy will (not mine) be done." These are thoughts which must go with us constantly. We can exercise our will power along this line all we wish. It is the proper use of the will.

Much has already been said about receiving strength, inspiration, and direction from Him who has all knowledge and power. If we have carefully followed directions, we have begun to sense the flow of His Spirit into us. To some extent we have become God-conscious. We have begun to develop this vital sixth sense. But we must go further and that means more action. (AA, pg. 85)

 

The Alcoholics Anonymous program is suffused with secular psychology, and all of that tinkering with a man's mind will not set him free to live. We need more than a change of mind, people, but a new  heart, a new being:

 

"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

 

"And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

 

"For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8: 10-12)

 

This new heart we receive by the Power of the Holy Spirit, a gift which is released to us when we receive the Good News of Christ and Him Crucified. (Acts 10: 45)

 

Man refuses to be simple, refuses to rest in the goodness of God, which leads to repentance (Romans 2: 4), and every wind and wave of doctrine springs up to dissuade man from rest and persuade him to do something more. The Twelve Steps is one more example of the man-centered attempt to come to God, instead of by humble faith receiving Him and let His release His power in your life.

 

It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe.

 

From the fourth step to the Tenth Step and beyond, the member in the AA program must keep taking his inventory, checking for any issues, doing a cost-benefit analysis of everyday.

 

As a Believer also "trying" to work this program, I found myself going from one Tenth Step to another. People still hurt my feelings, I still found myself unhappy and miserable. "The people of this world still seemed" to dominate me.

 

In fact, I found that I was taking my inventory all the time. I never felt at rest, but was convinced time and again that I could keep ahead of myself.

 

This sin-consciousness is a great evil, once Christ Jesus died to free us from:

 

"How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Hebrews 9: 14)

 

and

 

"For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins." (Hebrews 10: 2)

 

Then

 

"But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;

"From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.

"For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." (Hebrews 10: 12-14)

We are not supposed to keep taking our inventory, as if confessing our sins and making amends for what we have done could even begin to compare with the work of our High Priest, by whose death all sins for all time paid for:

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1: 7)

and

"And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2: 2)

Satan's one tool was the law (Colossians 2: 13-15), which has been fulfilled, and thus Satan has been disarmed. Yet his fiery darts remain and can afflict the flesh of man with guilt, fear, apprehension, all of which are extinguished with the shield of faith (Ephesians 6: 16)

John's general epistles outline with the life of a believer is really all about:

"I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father." (2 John 4)

and

"Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son." (2 John 9)

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14: 6) and we are called to abide in Him (John 15: 4).

That way, He can accomplish in us the greatest wish:

"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." (3 John 2)

Now, we cannot prosper in our souls -- mind, will, emotions -- if we do not walk in the truth! We do not walk in the truth if we still insist on living under law, taking our inventory, trying to be obedient to God through our own efforts instead of resting and release His Spirit into our lives.

"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (John 1: 17)

For years, I could not understand why my life was not prospering. I knew the Bible, I shared my life and experience with others, I learned more about Jesus' love for me. When I realized how astray and splayed were my thoughts, how easily provoked and distracted I was, I realized that I was not "prospering" in my thinking.

The chronic self-reflection of AA takes away the joyful force of prosperous thinking and instead forces us to concentrate on ourselves, looking at what we are thinking, speaking, doing.

Yet Paul declares fully:

"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

"For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

"But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." (Galatians 5: 16-18)

If we are still taking our inventory, trying to put away sins which have already been paid for, then we are still in the flesh, we are still trying in our own efforts to accomplish what God so readily works within us to do for Him (Philippians 2: 12-13).

Instead of taking our inventory, let us rejoice in His grace and truth, and thus we prosper and enjoy good health!

A Program of Action, But We Need Life

It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe. We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's will into all of our activities. "How can I best serve Thee - Thy will (not mine) be done." These are thoughts which must go with us constantly. We can exercise our will power along this line all we wish. It is the proper use of the will.

 

Much has already been said about receiving strength, inspiration, and direction from Him who has all knowledge and power. If we have carefully followed directions, we have begun to sense the flow of His Spirit into us. To some extent we have become God-conscious. We have begun to develop this vital sixth sense. But we must go further and that means more action. (AA, pg. 85)

 

"We are not a glum lot" -- this is the mantra of many AA meetings, yet over and over I witnessed men and women leave the bottle for not much else.

 

The program is all about taking your inventory, living a life of spiritual action, one in which a man never rests.

 

"Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's will in  all of our activities."

 

This command meant nothing to me, and for a long time I was left wondering: "What am I supposed to be doing, then?"

 

AA creates this culture of dependence, in which men and women now have to look outside of themselves for direction in their lives. They have been taught now that they have to keep their eyes wide open for any problems in their lives.

 

Their biggest "foe" is alcohol, when in truth we have our fallen flesh, we live in a fallen world, and we contend with a fallen enemy.

 

"How can I best serve thee?  -- Thy will (not mine) be done." This kind of thinking creates the very self-centeredness that we are trying to break free of, or so I thought. Because we are asking Him to tell us what to do, instead of resting in His Spirit, inevitably we find more of ourselves getting in the way in our lives, and thus was have less direction and more confusion.

 

Instead of looking at ourselves, we are invited to open the eyes of our understanding, and see all the good Which God the Father has wrought in us:

 

"That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:

 

"The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

 

"And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power." (Ephesians 1: 17-19)

 

If we have carefully followed directions, we have begun to sense the flow of His Spirit into us. 

 

The Holy Spirit is a gift, not something that we have to earn by doing certain things:

 

"And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts 10: 45)

 

The Holy Spirit brings with Him the following:

 

"For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." (Romans 14: 17)

 

The peace of Christ leads us through all things:

 

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful." (Colossians 3: 15)

 

AA gives man nothing but demands, and all of these mysterial directives do very little to provide a man with a way to live.

 

Man needs more than a way to live -- He needs Life, and that Life is a person -- Jesus! (John 14: 6)

"Looking Inward, You Go Blind!"

"When we look inward, we go blind."

This phrase never appears in the Bible, nor in the "Big Book", but the idea that we must run our lives by other  people in order to stay "spiritually fit" runs throughout the Twelve Step program

All of that finger-pointing, whether at ourselves or other people, causes more problem that it solves, and in fact exacerbates the very sins which we are trying to extinguish.

When we are looking at ourselves, we are not blind to our faults, for they are there, in flagrante delicto.

Yet we are no longer called to look at ourselves, always taking our inventory.

First of all, in Christ Jesus -- Hallelujah -- the law hass been forever fulfilled:

"That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Romans 8: 4)

This fulfillment Jesus spoke of during His earthly ministry:

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." (Matthew 5: 17)

Because He is ever-fulfilling the law, justifying us at the right hand of the Father:

"Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth." (Romans 8: 33)

God "justifies" us, even now, through His Son:

"Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." (Romans 8: 34)

In effect, the Law is no longer necessary for us:

"Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

"But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." (Galatians 3: 24-25)

By dying on the Cross, Jesus completed the law once and for, thus freeing us from the bondage of trying to keep it in our own efforts:

"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

"And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." (Colossians 2:13-15)

So that every word may be confirmed out of the mouth of two witnesses (2 Corinthians 13: 1):

"Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;" (Ephesians 2: 15)

Then how are we supposed to live? By grace through faith:

"But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me" (1 Corinthians 15: 10)


The Spirit of God gives us this grace:

"Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" (Hebrews 10: 29)

This grace enables us to walk in the Spirit:

---

"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

"For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

"But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." (Galatians 5: 16-18)

The grace of God is far greater than any law:

"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

"Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

"Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

"Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (Titus 2: 11-14)

We are no longer called to look at ourselves, then, but rather to put our eyes on Him who lives in us (Colossians 1: 27):

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

"Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

'For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." (Colossians 3: 1-3)

Stop looking inward, because the Holy Spirit within you convicts you of righteousness (John 16: 10).