Celebrating a Decade
Celebrating a Decade
What a difference a decade makes! The NACR is celebrating its tenth birthday. In this issue we are pausing to evaluate, pausing to celebrate, pausing to anticipate. The landscape of the Christian recovery movement has changed substantially in the last ten years. And so have we. We are not the same people we were ten years ago. Our review of the decade gives us reasons to hope. We invite you, wherever you are in your personal journey, to remember, to rejoice and to hope with us.
Ten years ago I had just entered a counselor's office for the first time in my life. I was terrified, ashamed, confused and in an enormous amount of pain. I was a pastor. I thought I was supposed to help others, not to need help myself. So, I did not tell anyone-especially church members-about the fact that I was getting professional help. In my world there was almost as much shame in a pastor seeking professional help as there was in my addictions themselves. My resistance to counseling was, of course, personal as well as cultural. I was terrified of change. And I didn't think seeing a therapist would really be of any help to me. I did not trust either Christian psychology or recovery. I did not think either were "biblical" enough to meet my standards. At that time in my life I could easily have chosen to stay in my sin and remain "biblical" rather than choosing to seek the help I needed. I was caught in a theological paradigm where I felt secure. I desperately wanted that tidy little theological package to protect me from all of the problems in my life. Ultimately, however, the pain was too acute. I don't remember being brave. I just remember being desperate. I can't say that I am grateful for the pain, but I am certainly grateful that God used it to motivate me to do things I would not otherwise have done. Without the pain, I would not have gotten any help. It was more helpful to me than all my theology. It was certainly more helpful to me than all of my pretense about being "biblical."
A lot has changed since I started my recovery, since the inception of the movement. Terms like "dysfunctional," "family of origin," "hitting bottom," "codependency" and "sex addiction" are now part of mainstream culture. Whether conversing about the American Presidency or last night's sitcom, we often look at life through recovery lenses and use this now familiar recovery language. In the Christian subculture conversations have also changed. What was once only discussed by disenfranchised members of AA groups in church basements is no longer off limits in church boardrooms and pulpits. Some churches are even adopting the Christian recovery model as their core values around which to organize worship and ministry. What a difference a decade makes!
It seems to me that my personal experience in recovery during the last decade has often mirrored the Christian recovery movement as a whole. Resistance, ignorance, pain, chaos, conflict and slow advances toward healing and hope are what the last decade looks like in my personal journey. I tried some things which worked and some which didn't. Sometimes despair and darkness have descended so profoundly that any progress seemed totally elusive. I remember dark periods when it was all I could do to take the next step—believing every step to be futile. During those times weariness seemed to be the only consistent reward for all the hard work in recovery. Perhaps one of the most dismal times for the NACR in the last decade was when we had to reduce publishing, and lay off valuable support and leadership staff just to survive. It felt like the end. It's a good example of how hard it is to see the big picture when you are in pain. God was certainly not taking a vacation. In the half-decade since that difficult time for the NACR, virtually all of the international and local church advances have taken place. I think it is a good example of one of the most paradoxical aspects of recovery. Sometimes when we can only see the darkness and hope seems out of reach, sometimes that is when God does the most remarkable things. We see things coming to an end. But that is often when God creates a new beginning. Amazing!
Personally and as a movement we have grown. We have learned a lot. We are more welcomed in the mainstream. We are not as ashamed to get help. But, we have not arrived yet. Far from it. There is a long way to go. I am convinced that we are still at the beginning of things. So much more is possible! The level of denial about addiction and abuse in the Christian community is still staggeringly high. So many pastors and churches are still blind to the systemic dysfunction that prevents them from experiencing God's grace in practical ways. Depression is still understood in many Christian communities to be a "lack of faith." Addictions are still understood simply as "people making sinful choices" and abuse is still ignored or, worse, blamed on the victim. We have not yet made much progress in dealing with the issue of spiritual abuse in the Christian community. We have not yet developed an adequate theological literature to support the practice of Christian recovery. We have not yet significantly permeated denominations, seminaries and other institutions in the Christian community. We have not yet had much impact on the tactics and strategy of the missions movement. We have only begun to find creative ways to become less marginalized in the local church.
There is a lot yet to be done—God is not done yet! I hope you will be as encouraged by this issue of STEPS as I have been. Be amazed at the advances and prayerfully anticipate more, much more. What a difference another decade will make!
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comment by: Tammy 11-7-2002
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