DINING WITH SINNERS
WITH (prep) function word to indicate manner of action
Sharing My Story
Before making a decision to follow Jesus, I lived as a hardcore iv drug addict. And I regularly attend a local Narcotics Anonymous meeting in order to build relationship with other recovering addicts. Only through relationship with other people who are on the same journey can my recovery move forward. My hope and prayer is that they will come to know God through the person of Jesus by working the spiritual principles found in the 12-Steps.
Last night I had the opportunity to share the story of my recovery, transformation, and how I came to turn my will and my life over to the care of God as we understand him (step 3). However, I did not get to finish. Four people listening to me speak, interrupted me and ask me to stop because I could not talk about Jesus – the God of my understanding.
Some Christians bristle at “as we understood Him.” As if it were a cop out, or where the Twelve Steps deleted Jesus. Like taking “in God we trust” from pledge, or is that from our money? I get my controversies mixed up. But here’s a little known fact: this language “as we understood him” comes from the Oxford Group, the explicitly Christian soil out of which Twelve Steps grew.
God as we understand Him. Not God as we create him, or want him to be. But God as we understand Him.
Understanding. It takes time & trouble to listen to someone, come to grips with who they are, what they’re thinking, feeling, saying, so that we can truly say, “I understand.” To understand is to stand under, not over.
There is no turning our will and our lives over to the care of God, unless we understand who God is. That he knows us better than we know ourselves; loves us better than we love ourselves.
That we are a factor in God’s life. That our existence, our actions, affect God.
Which brings us to Jesus. God is not understandable in all his infinite God-ness. In Jesus, God comes to us in a way that we humans can understand. Jesus is the graspable God. Jesus is the message that God cares! That you’re a factor in God’s life! Your existence, actions, joys & sorrows, affect God!
That’s the whole point of Jesus’ pain on the cross!
And that is the message I shared and and will continue to share. I did stop after a bit of back and forth between myself and these four people because it would of just ended up ugly. However, I was very encouraged that most of the people gathered in the meeting last night came up to me outside and said things like, “That is exactly what I needed to here because I am having a hard time coming to an understanding of God.”
Also, many in attendance were from a local rehab facility. So I am praying for them today as they begin this journey of recovery that they would come to understand God through the person of Jesus and turn their will and their lives over to him.
Michael Carpenter
Michael is an urban church planter in the Argenta Arts District of North Little Rock. He and his wife Amanda have been married since 2003 and have two children – Austin and Max. Michael is an entrepreneur, missiologist, and chef.
13 Responses to “Sharing My Story”
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- dining with sinners » Blog Archive » Sharing My Story (2) - [...] I posted on Tuesday, I had the opportunity (I was asked) to share the story of my transformation from ...
Proud of you bro for sharing this!
Peace ~
Proud of you bro for sharing this!
Peace ~
Thanks for the encouragement William.
I was praying for you. Great to learn more of your story. Thank you for your passion to share. Thank you for your wisdom to do it with “gentleness and respect.”
So sorry I missed it. Congratulations on your clean date anniversary. First let me say that I came back to the church after being humbled and led to NA. What a gift from God. And thank God I didn’t have anybody tell me what understanding of God I had to have or I would have run out the door. God in his infinite wisodm gave me a program that allowed me to come to him on my terms and not someone elses. He is far more understanding that we are. I view 12 step programs as one of the boats or the helicopter in the “Man on the roof” flood story. To this day (and I am a christian and very active in my church) I vigorusly defend Narcotic Anonymous’ members rights to come to there own understand of God as was laid out in the steps and traditions, no matter how opposed to my view or understanding. As I said, I wasn’t there so if you were truely sharing your own experience, strenght and hope then amen. If you were preaching and teaching ,then shame on you for using God’s back door to us sinners as a pulpit for your own agenda. I hope you’ll come back as we need each other and our diagreements to learn and grow. PS. I like your website. Keep coming back.
Thanks Steve. I was just simply sharing my own experience, strength, and hope. I cannot tell my story without talking about Jesus. Furthermore, I would not interrupt anyone no matter how much I may or may not disagree.
I was there and you were preaching and teaching. You were also promoting christianity, christian based treatment programs and your church. I personnally dont care how you understand GOD thats up to you. When im in a narcotics anonymous meeting i need to respect the tradions and share about my experience with what the program of narcotics anonymous has done for me. Im like steve i hope that you keep comin back, but would appreciate it if i didnt feel like i was in church or being preeched to while im trying to attend an N.A. meeting. If i want to find jesus youll be the first one ill talk to. Hope you have the love,honesty,honesty and unselfishness to post this perspective of someone who was there.
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Zach, while I appreciate your perspective, it is impossible to share my experience, strength, and hope without talking about Jesus. My faith in Jesus and my commitment to the work of his church in the world is the direct result of my spiritual awakening as a result of working the steps. So I will carry that message to others by practicing these principles in all of my affairs. In no way did I mean to imply that you must follow Jesus in order to belong to the NA fellowship because the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using. However, I do have deep theological convictions that the only way to come to an understanding of God is through the person of Jesus. Furthermore, let us all respect the 12th tradition and place principles before personalities. Peace be with you.
Please know that i have no problem with your spiritual beliefs. All that i am saying is that i beleive that there is a time and place for everything and i dont think that an N.A. meeting is a place for quoting the bible and “teaching” from it . Sitting from were i was sitting that is what it looked like. I have studied the oxford groups and can see how instrumental their downfalls were to the development of the traditions we have today. I can also see how their principles played a crucial part in the development of the steps we have today, but i think that information would be more appropriate in an A.A. meeting rather than an N.A. meeting. Maybe im wrong. Thank you for joining our home group, and i am sorry for how emotionally fueled my last comment was. I guess im still learning that sometimes its not what you say its how you say it. Have a nice day.
No reason to apologize Zach. I just reviewed my notes from Monday night and I did not quote from the Bible other than telling of how Jesus turned his will and his life over to the care of the Father on the night he was betrayed and how we can and should follow his example. The Oxford Group is the explicitly Christian soil that the 12 Steps grew out of whether we like it or not. Besides AA, NA, CA, etc all use the same 12 steps.
While I understand your commitment to Jesus and spreading his word and am a follow of Jesus Christ myself, I think the presentation of your story may have been a bit abrasive to those who have their own belief or those who are struggling to believe. You said yourself that in the begininng if you had known the rehab facility you went to was Christian based you would have never gone, granted it turned into something wonderful but you had to come to that yourself. Everyone deserves that right- to come to believe in a power greater then themselves however they can. While I agree that interupting your celebration was innappropriate, I do also agree that in a NA celebration it is better to focus on the program and how you had a spiritual awakening as a result of the 12 steps. I also think it is your story and you tell it as you see it and if people dont like it then they can leave! I think we are blessed to have you in our home group because diversity is what makes the world go round. We can lead but not force! Try not to pass judgement on those who believe in something different or who “borrow” someone elses God untill they find their own. As far as I know there is only one judge and He has never physically been here to pass judgement. God bless you!
Christy. Thanks for the encouragement. The truth is I wouldn’t of gone to any kind of rehab. I just wanted to get away. I was not trying to force anything on anyone or pass judgment (even though I was judged). I simply told of the spiritual awakening I had as a result of working the steps. Now I am trying to carry that message to others and practice these principles in all of my affairs. I’ve always thought it as odd as how people can be open to anything when it comes to a higher power except for the one true God. The reason this is true is that people want a god they can control rather than actually turning their will and their lives over to God. We can make up all the gods we want, but the truth is there is only one God and we can know him, have a relationship with him, and walk a journey of understanding him through the person of Jesus Christ. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Ugh, I liked! So clear and positively.
Have a nice day