The aim of this blogg is to start a rolling conversation about life as an addicted people drawing on the twelve steps of the AA and the NA and the response to the creator God. It will attempt to do this from a spirituality rooted in the ‘Methodist movement’ of temperance and the pursuit of Christian perfection.
It took a long time… At last driven in desperation, I came upon a field, my addictions and my memories tearing away at my inner self. I fell to my knees in mud and water and looked upwards and groaned a prayer from the pit of my mire…a prayer that could reach heaven or hell…
Whats your temptation? Whats your addiction? Whats your fight? What keeps you from living?
I found a way…a prayer in faith
My prayer hath power with God; the grace
Unspeakable I now receive;
Through faith I see Thee face to face,
I see Thee face to face, and live!
In vain I have not wept and strove;
Thy nature and Thy Name is Love. Charles wesley
Do the memories of the past tear a hole? Can you let them go? Do you want to let them go? Whats holding you back? Living in fear or are you not living at all?
Long my imprisoned spirit lay Fast bound in sin and natures night; Thine eyes diffused a quickening ray- I woke, the dungeon flamed with light, My chains fell off, my Heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed thee. Charles Wesley
thevinyard
I have had a brief read of your blog as suggested on your comments to me. I think the line you are taking as outlined is a valuable one, not just for yourself, but also for Methodists and other Holiness denominations.Please continue..
One area I have struggled with is the product of temperance as practiced by many who are involved in working/journeying amongs the addicted. We have allowed the position of alcohol to become ‘just another rule’, and lost the roots of the reasoning for it, but we have (as all too often the case) gone from one extreme to the other ie decried a culture of excess to insisting on a culture of total abstinence in relation to drink. Some traditions from the holiness movements were born out of prohibition….. prohibition didn’t work!
Balance rather than abstinence should be the route in all things of life. We have to be distinctibve in what we are following. Are we following a biblical position or a mral position – these are not the same but can overlap. We have to remember that alchohol is only mentione in terms of drunkeness and excess, Jesus drunk it and even promoted the use at weddings, John Wesley would stay in pubs overnight, drink beer and use wine in communion.
I am not promoting that recovering alcoholics can still drink, but addressing a potential, practical reason why we have fallen foul of promoting a moral only too often. I have been convicted of drink, I haven’t drunk for over 8 years, I haven’t been alcoholic, but I do believe that you need to be convicted of something to minister with alcoholics and drug addicts – not just be a non-partaker. When you read Wesley’s letters, you can see that he explained reasons and did not just spout a rule – this is the consequence of ‘respectable church’ as mentioned in one of my replies. We have too much singing the words instead of being those words. Grace is exactly that, especially in practicing the disciplines Wesley promoted in his groups and classes, but they had an degree (a high one) of accountability, ie response to covenant just like the AA and NA.
Keep it going!
‘ already stifled by the institution’
The Bible study and being with them is part of what I am about…
I was also asked to lead a ‘Contextual Bible study’ to a marginalised group of people as part of my BA. I presented what happened in lectures and wrote it up etc etc – ‘stifled by the instituition’ As part of that I am to supply written reflections from those who took part- all assuming that those marginalised would have an education- and be able to read or write. The guys I was with have recently come from prision or have no where to lay their head because they are escaping gang culture and have alcohol/ drug problems. Some of them cannot read or write. Yes, I see your point- Kingdom not instituition. How easily we exclude. Who do we think of nowadays when talking about evangelism. It was back to the very begginning- rhetoric- as i read several times to them on that park- it was alive… Is that not how the early Methodists learnt their theology- reapeating the Hymns being taught to them-line by line- many of them could not read and now we expect them to be? Who do we seek to serve?
I have been given a room in a local homeless unit for one night a week to run a series of bible studies and have offered pastoral support.
The question Catholic or Evangelical. Take a look at the page on the blogg and a general look around- its another question- does British Methodism succeed in balancing the two- with reference to Hymns, Sacraments, social action and Evangelism.
I still affirm- the covenant prayer and the twelve steps are in all of this…
did not say on the last post- something which was on my mind- you said-
‘We have too much singing the words instead of being those words. Grace is exactly that, especially in practicing the disciplines Wesley promoted in his groups and classes…,’
That all came to life when reflecting on the presentation i gave of the bible study..
As Methodists we are so proud to stand and tell stories about the revival and how the early Methodists were uneducated and learnt their theology…
I wonder how people will react to the fact that there will be no forms from these guys… they cannot fill them in… but their depth.. their experience is the birth of Methodism…
Are we too middle class? And where the church does seek those on the very edge what are we doing? I have come to realise that we can not just parachute ‘in style evangelsim’ and then leave and expect them to come to church… We must be with them- to stand with them – to love them with a zeal like Jesus- to incarnate Christ himself…I read somewhere that Wesley mourned leaving His Oxford don friends to be with those on the…
When I sat speaking to the other pre-ord students about this- I said- ‘with them I spoke the highest deepest doctines of our Faith- ‘faith in Christ-Salvation comes and our response is to grow in love…’