There is nothing to Fear in Leaving Alcoholics Anonymous

By Chad Prigmore

I recently received an email from a woman who has been trapped in Alcoholics Anonymous for years and has now through God's grace had her eyes opened to the truth of what AA really is and is now beginning to grow in her faith in Jesus Christ. I am posting my response to her email in hopes that it will help others who have been ensnared by the sinister and fear based teachings of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Her main concerns were for her husband who has been in AA for years and what to do for those who reject any talk of Jesus or church and yet want to have sobriety.

​The following is my response:

​Regarding your first email, I understand your struggles after waking up to the truth of what Alcoholics Anonymous is after you were a part of it for so long. I was fearfully trapped in AA for thirteen years and fled from it eleven years ago and have not stepped foot in a meeting since. I can tell you from my own experience that you have been tremendously blessed to be freed from Alcoholics Anonymous by God's grace through Jesus Christ. Also, your greatest strength going forward will be in seeking to grow closer to Christ through prayer, study of the Word, and Christian fellowship. 
 
What I pray you will come to see as I did is that the entire premise of modern recovery is non-Christian. Read through the scriptures, look at all the miraculous healings and transformations that are attested to in scripture through the life giving power of Jesus and it becomes very clear that all we must do is seek Him through the prayerful study of His Word and He will transform us and carry us to freedom.
 
2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.' And 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us, "All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work."
 
The Holy Spirit cannot be packed up and marketed as a recovery or self help program which is exactly what "Christian Recovery Programs" have tried to do for so long. John 3:7-8 tell us that, "...'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit." 
 
God's Word is inerrant and sufficient for victory in any battles we face. We read in Hebrews 4:12, "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." 
 
We must pray for faith in the Word and the working of the Holy Spirit through it not only for ourselves but for those that we are reaching out to with the gospel. So, to answer your question about where do I send someone if they did not go to a twelve step group? I don't send them anywhere - I share the gospel with them and try to surround them with mature believers who will embrace them and share the love of Christ with them in true Christian fellowship. And, where do I send people who hate God? I don't send them anywhere - I share the gospel with them and I pray that the Holy Spirit will move on them, open their eyes to the truth, and do an awesome work in their lives. We must have faith in the power of the Word and the Holy Spirit. From a Biblical Christian perspective there is no reason, need, or justification to refer anyone to Alcoholics Anonymous.
 
For the woman in AA that may be calling you for help, I would strongly suggest that you take your Bible and share the gospel with her - do not take the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. Show her in the Word that drunkenness is sin so that she understands that she does not have a disease but is suffering from the destructive effects of the sin of alcoholism and/or addiction. Share Galatians 5:19-21 with her which makes clear that drunkenness (alcoholism) is sin: "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, DRUNKENNESS, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." Then I would recommend sharing the message of salvation through the Romans Road with her. If you are not familiar with the Romans Road just let me know and I would be glad to take you through it - it is a very effective way of conveying the message of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Do not be afraid of telling this woman what you have learned about AA and that the only way to true freedom is through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. Be bold because when you proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ you are standing on the only infallible truth in the universe!
 
In John 14:6 Jesus tells us, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." And in John 14:14 He tells us, "If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it." These scriptural truths make clear the reason why the prayers in Alcoholics Anonymous - like the third step and serenity prayer don't work. They don't work because they are prayed as part of a program that rejects the teaching of scripture and rejects the name of Jesus Christ. Because Alcoholics Anonymous misleads it's adherents into believing that they are diseased and that they can be assured of eternal peace in the kingdom of a god "of their own understanding" it is an absolute spiritual train wreck that is leading millions to destruction as the price for a recovery that is not even needed.
 
Now that you have seen the truth of AA and come to know the Lord - forget about recovery because you have been delivered and saved by Jesus Christ. Acts 2:21 says, "And it shall come to pass, that whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."  To focus on recovery when we have been blessed to know Jesus Christ is to sell one's self very short. Now your driving passion must be to strive to know more of Jesus, to be conformed to His image, to share the gospel and raise up disciples for Christ as He commanded us to do in the great commission.
You see, in Jesus Christ, recovery becomes nothing more than just another blessed by product of our salvation. Just seek Him and strive to know Him more and more, and to obey His commands and proclaim the gospel to those that are still lost. 
 
The best thing I feel you can do for your husband is to explain to him why you can no longer attend Alcoholics Anonymous, if possible show him what you have learned, and most importantly pray for him ceaselessly and be such an amazingly bright light of Christ's trans-formative loving power that your husband will want to know what has so richly blessed you.
 
If my suggestions seem strong or overbearing, if it seems that I have put all reliance on Jesus and cast all else aside (which I have) - then please consider the following verses of scripture carefully. 

"And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." - Mark 12:30
 
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments." - John 14:15
 
"...My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness..." - 2 Corinthians 12:9

"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'" - Matthew 28:18-20
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Those four above verses eliminate any justification for Alcoholics Anonymous or any other recovery program from having any place in the Christian life. 

God Bless,
 
Chad