For some reason, as I thought about this blog, I was sitting in church. And I thought randomly about a movie I have seen a number of times, Gettysburg. The conversation was about seeing someone they knew across the field of battle. They said ‘across that deadly ground.’ I realized that we think about the ground between secular recovery folks and religious recovery folks as dangerous ground. As a result, we barricade ourselves off from each other. I am a half-breed. I am AA by birth. And I am Jesus follower by the new birth. My burden is as much as possible to bridge the gap. To translate for my two worlds what the other is saying. Because forgive me both sides have our handicaps. That is my goal. Across the deadly ground. I promise to tell you honestly what I see from the perspective of 47 seven years of sobriety in the church and in AA at the beginning. Please share your opinions and comments. Leave me your email until I drag my old hulk into this current time and get an email box running on the website. Or leave me an email on Facebook or friend me on Facebook and in my limited state I will try to get the line of communication going across that deadly ground.
Two points to think about. Recovery people have a built-in aversion to judgment and they also appreciate gut-level honesty. We Jesus troops easily get our ball lost in the weeds by trying to appear wonderful when we are not at all wonderful inside. Both sides have a hard time keeping from throwing stones at the other’s glasshouse. I have worked with folks in recovery for many years and am one. Trust me we are broken in many places and we know it. Some Christians however are the last to realize they are broken and don’t know how to even begin the honesty in order to be healed. A secret we both know we are emperors without any clothes. But we both are not able to admit to each other across the deadly ground that we are broken. The paradox is we judge mostly rightly about each other, but end up blind and helpless about ourselves. I have learned over the years God loves to give life-giving information by messengers we least want to listen to. The Church desperately needs the drunks and addicts. And the drunks and addicts desperately need the message from the Master behind the Church. We need to bridge the deadly ground.
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