This week I went to my first AA meeting & it was an eye-opener. A friend had recently come to me & told me they were seriously struggling with alcohol so I said I’d help. So off we went to the first AA meeting we could make. It was an incredibly simple, structured, profound hour.

Honesty

“My name is X and I am alcoholic.”
“Hi X”.

This fundamental &, to be frank, brutal honesty by each person in their open confession of their most glaring struggle set a tone of incredible acceptance. Churches should take note. We are in the confession of sin business but so often we get in our own way and adopt attitudes which hinder people from being so honest. I know I’m not the first person to make such an observation but it still struck me forcibly. James 5:16 is a practice that too often goes unobserved but the call to confess & pray is clear. The path to holiness runs through the gate of confession.

Weakness

The honesty went a little deeper than just naming the problem but also to the identification of the root of the problem. Several people in the room said something similar to this:

“I have a sickness & it is too powerful for me.”
“I can’t do this on my own. I need help.”
“I come so I’m not alone.”

Which is a pretty good explanation for why I go to church. There is a sickness that is too powerful for me (we call it sin) and I need help. I go to church because there I find the help that I need as I am shown Jesus & His gospel.

As John Stott wrote,

We have formidable enemies arrayed against us. Unbelievers are in opposition to us.

Indwelling sin is a powerful force which assaults us.

Death is an enemy. So is he who has the power of death, the devil. In fact the world, the flesh and the devil are all too strong for us.

But Paul does not ask the simple question, ‘Who is against us?’ His question is: ‘If God is for us’-the God who foreknew, predestined, called, justified and even glorified us, if that God is for us-‘who is against us?’ To that question there is no answer. The world, the flesh and the devil may still set themselves in array against us. But they can never prevail against us if God is on our side.

Men Made New, John Stott, IVP 1966

That is the truth I need to hear in the songs I sing, the prayers I pray, the word that is preached, the bread I eat & the wine (non-alcoholic) that I drink.

God

I’ve lived in Sweden for 11 years now & the only place I’ve heard more talk about God is in church. Sometimes not even there. In a secular land here was a group of people all of whom essentially believed in god, had developed a faith & some even believed that god loved them. Now I’ve no idea who that god was to them or whether it involved Jesus or not. But it was encouraging to hear people who came from no belief at all to hear of their belief in a god. That faith came though an admission of weakness, should be no surprise, it is true for all of us.

Transformation

‘My life was in ruins but through this programme I have a new life. I keep coming so I can have a good life.’ Again, not too many places I hear of testimonies like that outside the church & it’s very encouraging to hear. Alcohol threatened to & at one point did destroy these people’s lives & families. But through faith, confession & community lives have been rebuilt. Wonderful.

Encouragement

It was a constant, genuine stream of encouraging words to two newcomers. We were in the right place we were told, doing the right thing, keep going, keep loving, keep searching, we’re glad you’re here, come again. I’ve definitely been to churches that are a thousand times less honest and even less encouraging.

There are no doubt other takeaways but church while it is more should not be less than these kind of places and so if you come to Grace Church on Sunday you will probably hear my confession, “My name is Phil, I am a sinner & I am being deeply loved by Jesus.”