Step 3; Making a Decision

I have always had a problem with "Decision Theology." Maybe it is the fact that I have spent most of my life around "Fundies" who continually asked me if "I had decided to follow Jesus" or if I "had a personal relationship with Jesus." The problem with this theology is that after you make such a decision, the folks pushing someone to make such a decision would then set the criteria for which such a person should live. If we had made such a decision we would live by their standards, and I found that almost impossible. My argument against Decision Theology has always been that God has already decided to love us; so for us there is no decision to be made by us. I know, many of you are saying "you have to do something!" We do, we have to be receptive of God's love for us and remember what Luther said in his explanation of the Third Article of the Apostle's Creed, "I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ." Any attempt to make this belief into a human work is useless. It is through the work of the Holy Spirit, and not by any decision on my part, that I believe.

"Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him/Her*" is step 3 in the 12 step program of AA. In this understanding of what a decision is I am in full support. A person in the pits of addiction has no understanding of God and God's grace. A person in addiction may acknowledge the existence of God, but that same person plays the role of God. They know what is best for them, they know what is right and they will decide what is right and what is wrong and they will not listen to anyone else's opinion, especially those who are closest to them, the very people they love.

When the person in recovery decides to "turn their will and their lives over to the care of God" is not a statement of salvation, but a statement of recovery! They have broken free from their job at playing God and have come to the conclusion that Gerhard Forde made in his book Where God Meets Man, God is God and we aren't. This is a huge step in the recovery journey, maybe the most difficult. When we have accepted the fact that we are powerless we must fill that void with another power, and that power cannot be us, we are the ones who lost the control in the first place.

The God (also referred to as Higher Power in many AA circles) of our understanding is also critical. At Recovery Worship that God is the God revealed in Jesus Christ. But we also understand that for people new to Recovery Worship that might not be the case. We teach whatever Higher Power is keeping you sober is good, however, and this is important, as you continue on your spiritual journey keep your options open. This is where I see our Lutheran of the Spirit breaks in, the Spirit, working within the church, within the person, moving from an obscure Higher Power to the love that is found in Jesus Christ. They didn't decide to follow Jesus; the Holy Spirit stirred their understanding, hearing words of forgiveness not words of condemnation and the words of the Gospel, led them to believe in Jesus Christ. It works, that is why, I believe, I have done more adult baptisms at Recovery Worship than infant baptisms.

*I have changed this understanding because a large number of women at Recovery Worship struggle with the concept of a loving Father; many of whom were sexually abused by their fathers when they were young. We have been able to free our understanding of how God is revealed to us at Recovery Worship by discarding traditional "God Talk" from our worship service.

See you next week for Step 4

The Journey from Powerless to Higher Power

This summer I am doing a sermon series of the 12 steps of AA. This isn't my first time for doing this; I taught the 12 Steps three years ago when I first came to Recovery Worship. Not being in recovery myself I felt that it would be a great way to learn the steps. I not only preached on each step, I actually did each step, an interesting endeavor.

I always need to remind myself that Dr. Bob, Bill W. and the rest of the group in Akron and New York wrote the Big Book of AA and the 12 steps very early on in the program. Bill W. had only been in recovery 3 years when the project was started, most of the people who helped had only been in recovery a few months.

Step One of AA is "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable." The keyword in this step is powerless. You could, I think, have a life that is unmanageable but still be in control, to be powerless means being out of control, a life in turmoil and a life that is unmanageable. I have a hard time imagining what that must be like! However, to begin this journey of Recovery we have to admit that we are powerless over our addiction. For the alcoholic there is no such thing as the "occasional drink," one drink is too many, 1000 drinks is not enough.

Step Two of AA is "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." I will say right now that believing in a Higher Power means more than simply saying "I believe in Jesus," while that is enough for salvation, that is not enough for sobriety! I have known a lot of drunks who say they believe in Jesus, but it doesn't keep them from drinking. It was wise for Bill W. and Dr. Bob to use the term Higher Power, the drunks of their day, and ours too, had Jesus out their ears from groups like the Salvation Army and the church that tried to reform them out of fear rather than love. Step Two is that first step to a "Spiritual Awakening" that will enable the addicted person to begin the process that will lead them to Step Three. After reading the Big Book I have no doubt that the Higher Power that the writers were talking about is the God of the Old and the New Testament.

The journey from the Powerlessness of Step One to the Higher Power of Step Two is crucial to the addict, without this journey recovery will not be possible.

For those of us who are not addicts, our first step is to accept addiction as a disease and not as a moral weakness. I am still amazed at the number of clergy who tell me that addiction is not a disease that simply with the right amount of "will power" the person can kick the addiction. Philip Hansen in his book "Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired" suggests that when we hear someone make such a statement that we tell them, "The next time you suffer from diarrhea, see how well will power works for you." Amen!