Need advice from those in recovery (alcoholism)

rejoiceinfaith

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I'm new to this forum. I am a follower of Jesus Christ who has struggled with alcohol. I've been sober for over three years due to God's grace. He freed me from my obsession from alcohol. Every day I thank him for keeping me sober and ask for his help in remaining sober.

My issue is my 12-step program. (I'm anonymous on this forum so I will name it: AA) I am grateful to the program because it helped me to stop drinking. I believe God led me there. However, as I gotten closer to the Lord, I have begun to feel uncomfortable in meetings. It seems there is a direct correlation between the two: the closer I grow to God, the more upset I get about how others refer to him in meetings.

Over the last few decades, the program has become increasingly distant to God. The concept of a "Higher Power" has been distorted to mean just about anything except Jesus Christ. People believe they can literally conjure up a god who will be whatever they want him to be, which is usually someone who is happy with them no matter what they do, has no commandments and does not hold them accountable for anything. It's a Santa Claus god who is just there to gift them with whatever they want. Or-even worse--god can be another person, a group of people in recovery or even an inanimate object. It is ridiculous and non-sensical. (If God could be whatever we wanted him to be, he wouldn't be God: we would.)

I've tried to overlook this in meetings and remember that my Lord and Savior is Jesus Christ. However, I sometimes edit myself because I'm afraid of the reaction I will get when I say Jesus. It is usually not positive, although a person can name just about any other "god" and no one cares. I feel convicted when I hesitate to name Christ, because I know I should not be ashamed of him or afraid of others' reaction. In fact, I'm supposed to make disciples of others.

The other thing that bothers me is sometimes people will say very offensive things about Jesus and/or make disparaging remarks about Christians. A few times I had to silently pray in order to keep sitting there and not say something or walk out. Later I felt worse because I viewed my silence as acquiescence.

I'm not sure if I should just stop going to meetings or stay and possibly be a witness to others who are struggling (and risk getting kicked out). Also, it has been drilled into my head that I must stay in the program to remain sober. I fear if I stop going I will relapse (though I have no desire to drink). Adding to this is the fact is I recently moved to a new city and state where I don't know anyone. The few friends I have made so far are in AA.

I would appreciate thoughts from my fellow Christians--particularly those who have been through recovery.
 

dqhall

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I'm new to this forum. I am a follower of Jesus Christ who has struggled with alcohol. I've been sober for over three years due to God's grace. He freed me from my obsession from alcohol. Every day I thank him for keeping me sober and ask for his help in remaining sober.

My issue is my 12-step program. (I'm anonymous on this forum so I will name it: AA) I am grateful to the program because it helped me to stop drinking. I believe God led me there. However, as I gotten closer to the Lord, I have begun to feel uncomfortable in meetings. It seems there is a direct correlation between the two: the closer I grow to God, the more upset I get about how others refer to him in meetings.

Over the last few decades, the program has become increasingly distant to God. The concept of a "Higher Power" has been distorted to mean just about anything except Jesus Christ. People believe they can literally conjure up a god who will be whatever they want him to be, which is usually someone who is happy with them no matter what they do, has no commandments and does not hold them accountable for anything. It's a Santa Claus god who is just there to gift them with whatever they want. Or-even worse--god can be another person, a group of people in recovery or even an inanimate object. It is ridiculous and non-sensical. (If God could be whatever we wanted him to be, he wouldn't be God: we would.)

I've tried to overlook this in meetings and remember that my Lord and Savior is Jesus Christ. However, I sometimes edit myself because I'm afraid of the reaction I will get when I say Jesus. It is usually not positive, although a person can name just about any other "god" and no one cares. I feel convicted when I hesitate to name Christ, because I know I should not be ashamed of him or afraid of others' reaction. In fact, I'm supposed to make disciples of others.

The other thing that bothers me is sometimes people will say very offensive things about Jesus and/or make disparaging remarks about Christians. A few times I had to silently pray in order to keep sitting there and not say something or walk out. Later I felt worse because I viewed my silence as acquiescence.

I'm not sure if I should just stop going to meetings or stay and possibly be a witness to others who are struggling (and risk getting kicked out). Also, it has been drilled into my head that I must stay in the program to remain sober. I fear if I stop going I will relapse (though I have no desire to drink). Adding to this is the fact is I recently moved to a new city and state where I don't know anyone. The few friends I have made so far are in AA.

I would appreciate thoughts from my fellow Christians--particularly those who have been through recovery.
I met someone in AA who called his higher power HP. It may have been Jesus or not, all I remember is he was a good friend. Some people in AA have quality sobriety, others are dry drunks with brain fog. I remember someone saying a horse thief got sober, but he was still a horse thief. Sobriety is not that big a deal without further repentance. I no longer attend meetings as I am not an alcoholic. I may drink one bottle of wine in three weeks. Some people are not supposed to have any alcohol due to their genetics. I respect that. Twelve step programs helped me through part of my life, but just going to meetings without doing full repentance is not good enough. Some people who would have likely died drunk turned to Jesus and got saved instead.
 
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Unofficial Reverand Alex

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I'm not in recovery, or have ever had alcoholism, but I'm a Psychology major who's taking a class on addictions, so I may be able to offer some advice.

First of all, 3 years is a good chunk of time. Relapse is always possible, but it won't happen for awhile if you have lost all desire to drink. If/when the desire to drink comes back, even then you might be okay. I have a friend who's mother is a former alcoholic, and after a few sober years she's started drinking an occasional glass of wine & does just fine. Her dad is also a former alcoholic who refuses to touch any booze. I don't know what sort of treatments they had, but know that your brain re-regulates itself after a significant time without alcohol, or any drug.

Try looking into the science of what's going on in your brain with alcohol--truth is a good remedy for far more than we give it credit. Remember, Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the light". All truth, scientific, mathematical, philosophical, theological, or any kind of truth comes from God, and thus, will lead you closer to Him. (Thomas Aquinas talked extensively on the subject of faith & reason--this is just a little snapshot of what he wrote). If nothing else, it's very interesting to see the different ways that drugs kill you & make you feel dependent.

As far as concerns about them not being respectful to your faith, have you tried requesting that they not make fun of Jesus like that? Obviously, I don't know these people, but they would be unlikely to respond too badly to such a request, for purposes of helping the recovery group work better. Pray for it to work well, and trust that His will shall be done.
 
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Mike Czaj

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I'm new to this forum. I am a follower of Jesus Christ who has struggled with alcohol. I've been sober for over three years due to God's grace. He freed me from my obsession from alcohol. Every day I thank him for keeping me sober and ask for his help in remaining sober.

My issue is my 12-step program. (I'm anonymous on this forum so I will name it: AA) I am grateful to the program because it helped me to stop drinking. I believe God led me there. However, as I gotten closer to the Lord, I have begun to feel uncomfortable in meetings. It seems there is a direct correlation between the two: the closer I grow to God, the more upset I get about how others refer to him in meetings.

Over the last few decades, the program has become increasingly distant to God. The concept of a "Higher Power" has been distorted to mean just about anything except Jesus Christ. People believe they can literally conjure up a god who will be whatever they want him to be, which is usually someone who is happy with them no matter what they do, has no commandments and does not hold them accountable for anything. It's a Santa Claus god who is just there to gift them with whatever they want. Or-even worse--god can be another person, a group of people in recovery or even an inanimate object. It is ridiculous and non-sensical. (If God could be whatever we wanted him to be, he wouldn't be God: we would.)

I've tried to overlook this in meetings and remember that my Lord and Savior is Jesus Christ. However, I sometimes edit myself because I'm afraid of the reaction I will get when I say Jesus. It is usually not positive, although a person can name just about any other "god" and no one cares. I feel convicted when I hesitate to name Christ, because I know I should not be ashamed of him or afraid of others' reaction. In fact, I'm supposed to make disciples of others.

The other thing that bothers me is sometimes people will say very offensive things about Jesus and/or make disparaging remarks about Christians. A few times I had to silently pray in order to keep sitting there and not say something or walk out. Later I felt worse because I viewed my silence as acquiescence.

I'm not sure if I should just stop going to meetings or stay and possibly be a witness to others who are struggling (and risk getting kicked out). Also, it has been drilled into my head that I must stay in the program to remain sober. I fear if I stop going I will relapse (though I have no desire to drink). Adding to this is the fact is I recently moved to a new city and state where I don't know anyone. The few friends I have made so far are in AA.

I would appreciate thoughts from my fellow Christians--particularly those who have been through recovery.
 
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Mike Czaj

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I'm new to this forum. I am a follower of Jesus Christ who has struggled with alcohol. I've been sober for over three years due to God's grace. He freed me from my obsession from alcohol. Every day I thank him for keeping me sober and ask for his help in remaining sober.

My issue is my 12-step program. (I'm anonymous on this forum so I will name it: AA) I am grateful to the program because it helped me to stop drinking. I believe God led me there. However, as I gotten closer to the Lord, I have begun to feel uncomfortable in meetings. It seems there is a direct correlation between the two: the closer I grow to God, the more upset I get about how others refer to him in meetings.

Over the last few decades, the program has become increasingly distant to God. The concept of a "Higher Power" has been distorted to mean just about anything except Jesus Christ. People believe they can literally conjure up a god who will be whatever they want him to be, which is usually someone who is happy with them no matter what they do, has no commandments and does not hold them accountable for anything. It's a Santa Claus god who is just there to gift them with whatever they want. Or-even worse--god can be another person, a group of people in recovery or even an inanimate object. It is ridiculous and non-sensical. (If God could be whatever we wanted him to be, he wouldn't be God: we would.)

I've tried to overlook this in meetings and remember that my Lord and Savior is Jesus Christ. However, I sometimes edit myself because I'm afraid of the reaction I will get when I say Jesus. It is usually not positive, although a person can name just about any other "god" and no one cares. I feel convicted when I hesitate to name Christ, because I know I should not be ashamed of him or afraid of others' reaction. In fact, I'm supposed to make disciples of others.

The other thing that bothers me is sometimes people will say very offensive things about Jesus and/or make disparaging remarks about Christians. A few times I had to silently pray in order to keep sitting there and not say something or walk out. Later I felt worse because I viewed my silence as acquiescence.

I'm not sure if I should just stop going to meetings or stay and possibly be a witness to others who are struggling (and risk getting kicked out). Also, it has been drilled into my head that I must stay in the program to remain sober. I fear if I stop going I will relapse (though I have no desire to drink). Adding to this is the fact is I recently moved to a new city and state where I don't know anyone. The few friends I have made so far are in AA.

I would appreciate thoughts from my fellow Christians--particularly those who have been through recovery.

I have the privilege of leading a fellowship group of mostly believers in recovery. What I have learned in my time with them is that honest and committed support is very important not only to staying clean and sober, but in growing in victory with an addictive history and background. There is a group here called Celebrate Recovery which uses AA type principles under the Lord Jesus Christ and His word. Others have found support through the Salvation Army program. So there are options.
 
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John Bowen

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Its helped millions since it was founded a great success. The problem with AA though it was founded on helping people who were considered in a hopeless state of alcoholism .So there was no teachings of Jesus on the devil the prince of this world behind alcohol (all additions ) it would be too scary for severe alcoholics. And after you get sober where to you go from there ? The program hasn't evolved It simply focused on fighting an addition not on lifelong spiritual and personal growth, positive goals. Only real way to overcome any codependency of anything is by walking the path with Christ .The ultimate freedom independence .Maybe its your mission to help people learn that in your recovery program .Blessings
 
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