Church or AA?
He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God . . . 2 Chronicles 35:22
When I first attended Alcoholics Anonymous, I was irritated by their insistence that I had a persistent problem. I believed that once I came to Christ, I was set free. Other Christians confirmed for me that AA was a lie. As a Christian, I don’t have an ongoing struggle. I am delivered. Despite accepting this belief, I relapsed. Twice.
I have seen this frequently. Well-meaning Christians, believing they have the word of God on their side, often dismiss a secular teaching simply because it is secular. That many addicts have ongoing struggles despite having come to Christ is a reality though, and to pretend otherwise, is absolute nonsense. Because of the teaching of AA – which has a biblical foundation – I had to go back to the Bible myself, to find why I still struggled.
Today’s passage tells of truth coming from an unlikely source. In the story, King Josiah confronted King Neco of Egypt on the battlefield. In an odd twist, God spoke through the pagan King, telling Josiah to relent. Neco’s quarrel was not with Josiah. It would seem, that because Neco was not an Israelite, Josiah dismissed his claim on God’s truth. Josiah paid for this error with his life.
Truth is truth, whether or not it comes from church or other Christians. We often miss this. In our pride, that we think no one else can ever be right and that we can never be wrong. If we want to truly know God’s truth though, we will humble ourselves and accept that sometimes, truth comes from unlikely sources.
There are of course, many lies brought to us by the world. How then, are we to know? We must measure everything by the word of God. Does scripture back this up? We must inquire of other Christians who have struggled as we have. Finally, we must go to God, asking Him for wisdom.
It was only through much prayer and reading, that I came to understand that though I am eternally forgiven and spiritually transformed, I carry some persistent flaws in my flesh nature. I learned that like Paul’s thorn in the flesh, my addictive tendencies will always exert some influence on me. God uses some struggles to keep me dependent on Him. Because of Christ, I do not need to live enslaved, but to pretend that my flesh has been made perfect, is unbiblical nonsense.
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One Response
I read your article and understand your strugle, but you can be set free. It has been many years since I was in AA but in the begining of the the book it tells how they were set free. I was a severe alcholic, notice was. I was put in several treatment centers, drank on top of antabuse with very little effects, went to AA even served as a GSR. AA did not work for me. What set me free was calling out to God. I cried out to God and the next moring I was set free from alcohol and have not had a desire to get drunk or gotten drunk since that time. After 12 years of no alcohol I went to a different church who had both grape juice & wine, the church I normally attended only used grape juice. I did not know this and drank the wine without any effect of alcoholism. After this I lived ovesees for a year and drank a glass of wine once a week for a year without getting drunk or having the desire to get drunk. The year I was married I had communion with my wife, with wine, every day for a year. I have not drank any alcohol for more than 11 years now, not because it is a problem but because the church that I go to doesn’t want to cause anyone to stumble. I am totaly free of any compulsion to drink. It is my choice and no longer is a compulsion. I do not go to AA nor have I done so in almost 3o years . Things that give pause about AA is that the main founder often used ouiji boards, had seances, & talked with the dead. In an account I read that was authorized by AA itself he wanted to leave his wife with his secretary and move oversees. The book also states that wherever he went they had to lock up the women. In the bible sexual purity is important. Even if someone did not keep total fidelity it was not a life style. The prostitute Rehab did not continue living this way when she was accepted into Israel. We have Jesus telling a woman caught in the act, not to sin anymore. Balaam got the people of God to sin by sexual immorality and the book of revelation makes this clear in Revelation 2:14. This does not line up with the bible in fact it appears this is how the bible says people are misled or lead astray.