Common Ground?

What is the common thing between Faith and Recovery? If you walk into a typical AA step meeting and look around what do you see? You see normal folk in varying states of repair and disrepair. If you show up Sunday for morning service depending on the denomination you see well-dressed folks. They are worshipping in various levels of animation. If you see what God sees you see weaknesses and strengths. You see successes and damaging failures. If you go back to an AA meeting you see a lot more honesty and transparency. But you see the same thing. You see people.

My next podcast is about this common factor. How does human stuff play out in Faith and Recovery?

I will try to tease out the differences and similarities in each group’s relationship to being human.

In the church, people are described as sheep. sinners or saints. In recovery, people define themselves as addict or alcoholic. Or they may define themselves as struggling in recovery with a behavior or addiction. In the church, the words saved or sinner are used. If you blow away the chaff they both agree on an active spiritual life as the key ingredient to that destination of sobriety or being saved.

In both camps, a key similarity is an endless argument over what every detail means. In AA the saying is a new meeting can be started with resentment and a coffee pot. In the church, a denomination happens the same way.

People are the common denominator. People are messy, Let’s be honest. AA troops? Is every person in a meeting safe to be around everyone? Some are sicker than others! Pastors, I ask is everyone in your church safe to be around vulnerable persons? In varying degrees, people fail! Some are predators. Some are victims. Churches have broken people. Recovery has broken people. They both have people. There is no immaculate conception.

Faith and recovery have different words to explain this, but it is the same thing. Humans are vulnerable to destructive patterns and influences. Hurt people hurt people! People follow the worse people for the worse reasons. Faith and Recovery are all about escaping this pattern. Both sides believe God or God as you understand him has the resources to overcome this self-generated death curse. This is the common ground. We can’t! He can! Help us let Him!