Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; (Ephesians 5:11, NASB)
Alcoholics Anonymous is a religious system. The gospel of AA teaches that if you reach out to something, some form of higher power, and work the spiritual program, you will gain freedom from your bondage.
However, this is not necessarily so. AA has a relatively low success rate, which is obscured by decades of public relations and publicity. One of the AA co-founders even experimented with LSD in the 1950s, hoping to find a solution for the many alcoholics who simply could not be helped by AA.
AA’s origin is unholy. Its real purpose is to point unbelievers away from Christ, and to dilute the theology of Christians who unequally yoke themselves with 12 Step programs.
An AA meeting is essentially a devotional service: The “higher power” receives praise and worship; confession is heard; testimony is given; the Serenity Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer are recited. The 12th Step instructs AA members to go forth and Spread The Word. On November 15, 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand the Second Circuit Court of Appeal’s ruling that A.A. is indeed religious in nature.
In AA, one’s “god” can be an ant, an anthill, an antelope, or anything else.
So, here is my question to Christians: How is it that the Lord can warn us not to join spiritually with non-believers, yet we do exactly that by participating in the 12 Step system? Christians who attend AA are literally partakers of two different religions. On Sunday in church they sing and praise Christ, and glorify His name. At their AA meetings, however, Jesus is reduced to “higher power,” simply one “god” among the many.
I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images. (Isaiah 42:8)
“…they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the clean and the unclean;” (Ezekiel 22:26)
Please do not choose to misunderstand what I am saying here. Of course we must interact with non-believers. Of course we must love them. Of course we must share Christ with them. But we are not to worship in a false religious system. We are not to partake in a false gospel. And I am sorry if you are a Christian caught in it, but a false gospel is exactly what AA is.
Still, it is not difficult to understand why a Christian with a drinking problem would enter A.A. Remember, few of them have been biblically warned, and those who have had concerns are often (falsely) reassured by other Christians in AA. Books incorrectly claiming that A.A. has Christian roots are rampant. Many are afraid to leave, having heard the claim that without Alcoholics Anonymous attendance, sobriety is impossible.
This is regrettable, because many, many people have gained sobriety without AA.
Several years ago, I used two Scriptures to demonstrate that AA is not of God, and not for His people. I challenged the author of numerous “AA is Christian in origin” books to explain how we can attend AA in light of these two Scriptures: Galatians 1:6-9, and 2 Corinthians 6:14-17.
The hours ticked by. Finally, a day and a half later, the author replied that he was not going to use two Scriptures but would rather rely on the whole Bible.
In other words, he was flummoxed.
Let’s look at the 2 Corinthians and Galatian verses, remembering that in AA, any god–whether a doorknob, a spirit, a new age “jesus” or anything else–is acceptable.
The Apostle Paul has much to say about a false gospel. In Galatians 1: 6-8, we are warned:
I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached, he is to be accursed!
So, if you are a Christian, telling people to go to AA, NA, CA etc. is a serious, serious, thing.
Paul makes sure the message is clear. In the next verse, Galatians 1:9, he states, As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!
I think of this Scripture often since an ever increasing number of pastors allow AA to use their churches for meetings. Thus the “higher power” theology is proclaimed within the very House of God!
Let us now examine 2 Corinthians 6:14-16 and see how it pertains to Christians in the 12 Step religion: Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?
Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?
Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? ….
Then, in 2 Corinthians 6:17, we are told, “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord.
It is at this point that many AA Christians say, “Well I don’t believe in any of those gods. I know who I believe in.”
It has been my experience that Christians in AA have their theology affected. It cannot be otherwise. And many, without realizing it, have made AA itself an idol. Many of us go to church with people who are absolutely loyal to the AA 12 Step religion. It doesn’t matter what they are told, or asked to read in the Word of God. There has been a transference of faith. Either understanding of the biblical God becomes diluted due to 12 Step exposure, or A.A. itself becomes a “god.”
And to those who bow down and swear to the Lord, and yet swear by Milcom… (Zephaniah 1:5)
To so many in the Body of Christ, AA and the 12 Steps are Milcom.
You know, before hospitals for alcoholics, before AA, there were alcoholics being freed. It is in the Bible. And because it is in the Bible, why can’t we seek deliverance from Him? With prayer and the Word and with help from brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ.
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6: 9-10)
This is hard, yes, but really, it is a wonderful warning. And look what the Lord tells us in the next verses:
Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6: 11)
Such WERE some of you. Remember, these words were given to us many centuries before AA and addiction treatment. Do we believe the Bible or not?
In his later years, King Solomon was influenced by his foreign wives, and came to worship other gods, including Milcom. Christians who believe they are unaffected by engaging in 12 Step theology would do well to study up on King Solomon and the influence of his foreign wives.
For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Amorites. (1 Kings 11: 4-5)
Has AA become your Milcom?
Do you know Christ? He will help you. He will deliver you. It is not about a false spiritual system and its myriad higher powers. It is about Christ, whose power is immeasurable.
Let Him help you.
And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They became very much afraid and said “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” (Mark 4:39-41)
He loves us so much. I forget sometimes the depth of His love, and the truth of His power.
Turn to Him.
