At the end of my first semester of seminary, the time came for me to write my first paper on Common Grace. The required length was 10-15 pages. I remember wanting very much to write a paper of substance. Probably the professor had just given us words that inspired us to really reach down and fully participate in the process, to choose carefully a topic that really interested us -- not just to do another assignment.
One of the deep questions that I came to seminary with was about twelve step groups. I wanted to know how it was that A.A., a non Christian community, could be so effective at helping alcoholics stay sober. The fellowship in those communities tends to be sweet and folks know their need for one another. Many are conviced that to drift away from the group is to drink -- and to drink is to die.
Sobriety was just the first thing A.A. helped me with. In that community, I went from drunk to sober, isolated to engaged; from despondent and bored to knowing again an imagination and creativity. But transformations like that took place all the time without reference to the Bible.
My professor wisely cautioned me that a question like that would be better suited for a thesis or a dissertation, not a 10-15 page paper. Still, it's a question that always grabs my interest.
I’m reading How People Grow by Henry Cloud and John Townsend. This passage, found on page 193, soars and reminds me of what I learned in those A.A. rooms and also why I left them to follow the risen Christ more closely.
Growth can occur when the Bible is not given credit, though the process tends to be more successful when it is. For example, people may be involved in a support group not intentionally based on Biblical principles, but inadvertently practicing some of them. As members trust each other, they share vulnerabilities and weaknesses. As they do, they find that they feel safer and that their internal worlds are less empty and isolated. The group may not know it, but they have been applying the Biblical practice of confession (James 5:16), which opens the soul up to being loved by others. This is how wonderful, powerful, and spiritual the Bible’s growth principles are. At the same time, how much better for groups to understand that what they are doing is from the Bible! They are then better able to surrender to the designs of the One who designed the growth process.
2 comments:
Hi Pastor Smith!!
How are you doing?
That quote was so well-said. I've often thought about that idea of non-christians practicing biblical principles without realizing it, but wondered if that was really something doctrinally sound. If they're God's ways, they work...what an example of His amazing grace to let those that reject Him (at least for a while) have the privilege of participating in successful experiences like deliverance from harmful habits. It reminds me that we're all made in God's image. Thanks for sharing about this book.
Post a Comment