Do Emergent Leaders Know A.A. is Turning People Away From Jesus Christ?
 
Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. (Jeremiah 2:11)<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Why have so many rejected the Christ of the Bible? Why have so many created a "christ" of their own understanding? What happened?
Emergent leader Phyllis Tickle knows. 
"As Phyllis Tickle has noted, the development of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) probably did as much as other, more celebrated events to undermine our concept of religion. Emerging in the late 1930s, AA made it acceptable to talk about a generic God–a 'higher power.'" (bold mine) You can find this statement in A Heretic's Guide To Eternity, by Spencer Burke (The Ooze) and Barry Taylor, pg. 34-35, foreword by Brian McLaren.
Burke and Taylor further note what AA has brought on us. Of course, they see it as a good thing: "Consequently, a generation of people began speaking about God in new ways not previously sanctioned by the consensual illusion–and traditional religious perspectives began to change as a result."
Yes. And what a change it has been.
In the ground-breaking article by Jack Alexander, an article which is now official "A.A. General Conference-approved literature," here is how the "god" of Alcoholics Anonymous can be defined: "Any concept of the Higher Power is acceptable. [The alcoholic] may choose to think of his Inner Self, the miracle of growth, a tree, man's wonderment at the physical universe, the structure of the atom, or mere mathematical infinity. Whatever form is visualized, the neophyte is taught he must rely on it and, in his own way, to pray to the power for strength."(Bold mine)***
The article notes that even a tree can be prayed to. Interestingly, the Bible refers to this: Who say to a tree, "You are my Father," And to a stone, "You gave me birth." For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face. (Jeremiah 2:27)
In The Fall of the Evangelical Nation, secular author Christine Wicker credits Alcoholics Anonymous with "hastening the fall of the evangelical church." (pg. 134-138)
Wicker states A.A.'s Twelve Step program "slowly exposed people to the notion that they could get the [higher power] without the dogma, the doctrine, and the outdated rules. Without the church in fact." This has removed the authority and influence of "the preacher and the Bible and tradition." (pg. 134-38)
Emergent leader Brian McLaren attacks biblical understanding, and tries to revise both God and the Bible in A New Kind of Christianity. In his chapter on reinterpreting God's Word, he notes, "Even for those of us on this quest, breaking out of centuries-old habits won't be easy…" (A New Kind of Christianity pg. 85-86) In the same paragraph, McLaren makes an interesting statement. "No wonder those of us who want and need to change our approach [to the Bible] may need to form twelve-step groups to deprogram our thinking. (Ibid., pg. 85-86)(Bold Mine)
McLaren knows this has already happened–and is continuing to happen–through both Christian and cultural acceptance of 12 Step spirituality. Unlike numerous Bible-believing pastors who allow Twelve Step groups to meet in their churches, the Emergent leaders are clearly aware of what Alcoholics Anonymous has brought about.
Can we just admit it? Alcoholics Anonymous teaches precisely what Jesus Christ warns against: The Broad Way.
According to the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book (the A.A. "bible"), "We found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him. To us, the Realm of the Spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive; never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek. It is open, we believe, to all men. When, therefore, we speak to you of God, we mean your own conception of God." (pg. 55) (Bold mine) 
The Lord tells us, "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is BROAD that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it." (Matthew 7:13)
Give credit where credit is due. The false church will have (has?) emergent and contemplative roots, but we have not yet realized the spiritual destruction Alcoholics Anonymous has birthed.
*** The Jack Alexander article with the anti-biblical higher power definition is also covered HERE.