by Pastor Michael Cook –
Some have said that all sin is some form of idolatry.
The ancients who authored the New Testament lived in a world full of literal idols. All of these are gone from the modern Western world, so it may be tempting to think the issue of idolatry went with them. But if we understand idolatry as dependency on any person, place or thing that isn’t God, or as any dependency that exceeds our dependence on God, we will find that idolatry remains a tremendous problem for us.
Certainly, drug (including alcohol) dependency, and the destruction it causes, is obvious to all. But other types are more hidden. It’s estimated that more than half of all Americans use pornography, indicating widespread addiction to sex. Nearly 70% of Americans are overweight or obese, indicating that fat and sugar addiction is endemic.
Since 1980, the number one issue in every presidential election has been money, indicating that many of us worship it. Sports fans spend $56 billion a year on their addiction. Some are addicted to debt. Some worship political figures. Some worship their country.
But none of these people, places or things will finally deliver what they promise, and the costs of worshiping them will be as real and as ruinous as any drug addiction, for society as well as for individuals.
In his book, “Breathing Under Water” (which we begin studying at Philippi Christian Church this week), the Franciscan teacher of spirituality, Richard Rohr, argues that the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous are an excellent summary of the teachings of Jesus Christ.
The steps begin with the admission that such dependencies are more “cunning, baffling and powerful” than our human intellects and wills can resist, and that we often deny the costs, the “unmanageability” of our lives, they cause. But most of us will never face these truths about ourselves, particularly when our addiction can be successfully hidden. AA calls this “denial” (“it’s not just a river in Egypt!”).
Most of us must hit a “bottom” in order to overcome our denial. Something must happen that so clearly shows us our pain that we become willing to admit what we hitherto denied. But once we admit our problem and our powerlessness over it, we have the unparalleled opportunity to turn to the One who can and will do for us what we can’t do for ourselves (see Psalm 32).
Wednesday, the church entered the season of Lent, traditionally a time of spiritual “spring-cleaning” in preparation for the celebration of the resurrection on Easter Day.
The Twelve Steps of AA are an excellent roadmap for authentic repentance. Any dependency can be substituted for the word “alcohol” and, for Christians, the name of Christ can and should be put in the place of “God as we understood him.”
Once we have admitted the hopelessness of healing ourselves, the steps can lead Christians toward deeper faith, more authentic self-examination, genuine spiritual healing, the repair of any relationship broken by our unhealthy dependencies, a more active and effective practice of prayer and meditation, and ultimately to a blessed sense that “God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.” In short, a faith that works.
But it’s the twelfth step that expresses the greatest gift of turning our will and our lives over to the Lord Jesus Christ: “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others (sinners, that is, people struggling with unhealthy dependencies), and to practice these principles in all our affairs.”
Call Philippi if you’d like to join our book study!
(The Rev. Michael Cook is the pastor of Philippi Christian Church in Deltaville. Email him at pastormikephilippi@gmail.com.)
