From both sides!

I have said before I am a two-minded man. Now I know the bible side of me knows about two-minded men. Do a search on two-minded! But for argument let’s think of many things from two brains. First, you are a couple of years sober and clean. Your sober brain deals with the content of what you have heard from meetings and sponsors. Let’s say you met this girl or guy and things are happening. No sex yet, but it is moving that way. The AA brain starts ticking off the checklist. Over a year sober? Check! Other guys in my situation? Check!! My sponsor? Check!!!! Is she sober and clean? Well, almost? The sponsor says is she at your level of recovery? Is she the sickest girl in the room? Shoot!!!

Now let’s take a similar situation in a church of evangelicals. You have been ‘saved’ for a couple of years. You are active in the church as an usher and the food pantry and maybe you are being disciplined. You met a girl at the food pantry. You have gone out a couple of times. This situation is also getting more complicated physically. You two are having varying degrees of success setting boundaries. Technically you are still chaste. You check with your disciple guy. Your disciple guy checks with some older saints. The word comes back ‘ set an early date’ or take a break. No one may say is she a good fit for you.

I suggest in many situations AA will come up with more situational wisdom. The church will come up with fragments of the bible. Both approaches can come up with good outcomes.

What are the outcomes? In AA and NA you can get unplanned pregnancies. In the church, you can get more pregnancies taken to term. And then the grandparents are called in to raise the child.

The outcomes are often the same. The lesson is simple. People are people! Across that dangerous gap, people are still just people. We need to work together for a common goal. All of us have to take care of the innocent. Maybe throwing loaves instead of stones would be a good start.