1. Feature Article: The Vague "Higher Power" Language of 12 Step Recovery is
ACTUALLY HELPFUL for Christians. Here's Why.
Today's article comes from the Renewed Man Boot Camp. Renewed Man is a systematic teaching and coaching series designed to help men grow emotionally, relationally, and spiritually ... developing the essential character quality of "self-mastery." Even though this community is created for men, the principles
are universal -- women will benefit from these insights as well.
We build this teaching around 12 Keys, and this week we focus on the seventh key. Here's
how we state it:
7. Authentic Faith - We are cultivating an authentic and integrated faith. We let go of
our illusions and childish, magical thinking -- and we face our doubts and questions head on. We know that this is the only way to develop a spiritual life that works for us.
Here's one of the daily messages from this week's teaching series. I hope this will help you:
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“Face what you think you believe and you will be surprised.” – William
Hale White
I used to think 12 Step Recovery was helpful for people dealing with addictions in spite of the generic way they dealt with spirituality. While I still wish the language was different in some places, I have come to appreciate how they approach spiritual issues. I now see that the generic “Higher Power” language is not simply helpful to make the program appeal to non-Christians … I see this language as a special gift for Christians
in the program.
In fact, there’s wisdom and value here for all of us, whether we identify as “addicts” or not. Hear me out ...
In Step One of the 12 Steps, we admit that we are “powerless” to overcome our addictive substance or behavior ... without outside help. This outside help comes ultimately from God, but it is mediated through people. The word "powerless" does not mean "helpless." There's a lot we can do ... and a lot we MUST do. But we
can't do it without outside help.
In Step Two, we acknowledge our need for God, and that spirituality holds the key to true recovery. So building on Step One, we now face the fact that this "outside help" that we need isn't other people's help and support … we need God’s help ... a Power greater than ourselves.
Step Three states that we: “Made a conscious decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care
of God, as we understood God.” In Step Three, we are ready to take action by getting out of God’s way and trusting that He can guide us to make healthy choices. Step Three asks us to stop trying to take charge. In exchange, we will worry less and trust more.
UNHAPPY, JUDGEMENTAL CHRISTIAN, AFTER ATTENDING HIS FIRST 12 STEP RECOVERY MEETING:
"What's with this "Higher
Power" and "God as we Understand Him" business??!!!"
In the past I was bothered by the phrases “Power greater than ourselves” and “God .. as we understood God.” It seemed to me to smack of idolatry in that it made room for people to define God however they wanted to, rather than responding to the true God as He reveals Himself.
I’ve come to see this differently. I’ve come to see that there is a greater challenge than I had ever
imagined for people to come to an adequate or accurate understanding of God. God is so much greater than we realize, so far beyond human understanding. The language of the 12 Steps reminds us of this.
But there is something else. This, in fact, is a key issue for many people in recovery -- and MOST of the Christian people I've worked with: We human beings carry many distorted ideas from our past trauma and misinformed “teaching” that cloud our understanding of who God
is. As the old folksy saying goes:
My problems don’t come from the things I know …
but from the things I “know” that ain’t so!
Our understanding of God and our ideas about how to relate to God will change as we grow. One significant — but seldom talked-about — aspect of spiritual growth involves letting go of the distorted and childish ideas about God, and how the spiritual life works,
that we picked up along the way … and instead embracing deeper truths, and more accurate understanding about spiritual things.
This process of letting go of certain ideas about God, and embracing different ones is not only okay -- it’s necessary, if we’re going to grow. To grow, we must “put the ways of childhood behind us” as Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 13.
Nobody comes into recovery a spiritual blank slate, whether they come
as "Atheist," "Muslim," "Agnostic," "Hindu," "Buddhist," "Spiritual but not Religious," or "Christian" ... they all come into the program as addicts, they all have ideas about the spiritual life, and those ideas are not working to help them deal with addiction. In the language of 12 Step Recovery, they all need a "spiritual awakening" (stated as fact in Step 12). They all need to let some ideas go and embrace other ideas.
Christians HATE the idea that they,
too, must do this work. They do NOT get an automatic pass that allows them to skip Steps 2 and 3, because they've "got all the spiritual stuff figured out already."
By forcing people to use the language of “Higher Power” and “God, as I understand God” the 12 Steps give us repeated reminders to question our assumption that when we talk about “God” that we really know what we’re talking about … and that our understanding of, and beliefs about, this God
are static and unchangeable. That the "biblical" ideas we grew up hearing -- or what we absorbed at least -- are in fact, really "biblical," that they are actually what Christians down through the centuries have come to understand the Bible actually teaches.
We surrender to God … as much as we’re able to understand this God, at this particular time. That's all we can ever do.
For our ongoing spiritual growth and well-being, it's essential
that we humble ourselves enough to realize this. WE ARE STILL LEARNING, and we still don't understand all that we need to understand about God, and the spiritual life.
This act of surrender takes courage and practice. It is like learning to float in water. When you stop thrashing around and start to relax and lie back, you discover that the water will hold you.
NEXT ACTION
Today’s recovery action is to describe what it means to you to trust God. In your journal, write two or three sentences in your own words about what it means for you to trust in God to help you live as a strong, powerful, renewed man, including overcoming any struggles you have with sexual temptation. Try to avoid using
cliché words or phrases.
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Would you like to go "all in" and join the Renewed Man Boot Camp? It's a 12 Week Immersion in these principles. You'll get these daily teachings, a weekly video on one of the 12 Keys of Being a Renewed Man, and access to a support group and/or a coaching group that I lead.
Find out more about the Renewed Man Program here.
