This is something I put on my site months ago shortly after I started going to AA. Soon after I posted it I was reprimanded for correcting someone’s opinion on a Scripture they brought up. And I was told that religious beliefs were not allowed in AA. I took the letter off my site because it didn’t seem to be true anymore.
There is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us (Christians) there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.
Therefore, even though AA says to look to, and depend on, your Higher Power, or God as you understand Him, the reality is, there is only one God or Higher Power who can help them, and He is the Christian God.
Regardless of the words they use, only one God can accomplish what they seek for and provide what they need. And in a situation in which families are negatively affected and individuals are cast away as a lost cause, the living God, who is Himself, love, will not turn away from someone because they have the wrong perception of who He is, but will instead reach out to that person with open arms.
He who makes the sun rise on the good and the bad and sends rain for the good and the bad also gave His Son for them. He hears the cries of the broken-hearted and weeps with them. He will help them whether they know who He is or not. If they accept His help He will most certainly make Himself known to them and give them the opportunity to become members of His kingdom.
So I am re-posting this letter because, in the end, it will be true, whether those involved know it or not.
Oaks of Righteousness
The Lord is wonderful. Oh my goodness, He is so wonderful. I have been attending AA meetings. I am an alcoholic and attended one or two meetings when I quit drinking. I didn’t care for them, so I never went back. I have been sober for decades and have never needed to go to meetings, but I recently started because a family member is battling alcoholism.
It just so happens that everyone who attends the group I now attend is a follower of Christ. These dear people are among the choicest on earth. They are broken but not destroyed; they are embattled but not defeated; others regard them as weak, but they trust in the grace of God through which power is perfected in weakness. These dear ones are judged as outcasts, yet they fit perfectly in the hands of God.
Isaiah said of Jesus in chapter 61:1-3,
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners;
2 To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn,
3 To grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
Afflicted, brokenhearted, captives, and prisoners describe addicts to a tee. They are afflicted by a disease they did not ask for. They are brokenhearted because the disease affects their lives and the lives of their families. They are captives of their condition and, thus, prisoners within their own minds.
All who attend the meetings I attend have placed themselves in God’s hands, trusting in His Son, whom Isaiah foretold would come for them. The Son of God Himself meets with them, for this group gathers in His name. As they battle a common foe, encouraging and uplifting one another, He lovingly leads them down a path strewn with delicacies and treasures that enrich their souls and encourage their minds; delicacies and treasures reserved for those who search for and accept the truth.
He has given them a garland to replace the ashes of their past sins and the oil of gladness to soothe the mourning of those sins. He has given them a mantle of praise to prevent them from fainting as they tread forward daily, praising the One who sustains them. As a result, these outcasts of society are growing into oaks of righteousness, having been planted by the Lord, and He is being glorified by their honesty with themselves and with each other and by their compassion and love for one another.
I am truly honored to be a part of this group of outcasts who walk with Jesus outside the camp, bearing His reproach. May God continue to bless these oaks of righteousness He has planted.
Jon David Banks, God’s most unworthy servant
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org
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