Invocation to A.A.'s Christ-less god<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Let there be no strange god among you; nor shall you worship any false god. (Psalm 81:9)
 
"I am firmly convinced the longer a member's years in A.A., the less important the nature of [God] becomes," writes the author of 'A member's birds-eye view of Alcoholics Anonymous.' This assertion, made decades ago, contains much truth.
 
But this has also proved true of our culture. The <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />United States has been saturated with A.A. and other 12 Step groups for more than seven decades. As a direct result our respect, understanding, and desire for the Biblical God has faded.
 
In 'The Fall of the Evangelical Nation,' author Christine Wicker credits Alcoholics Anonymous with "hastening the fall of the evangelical church." The author notes how A.A.  "slowly exposed people to the notion they could get [a god] without the dogma, the doctrine, and the outdated rules. Without the church, in fact."
 
In other words, people could worship whatever form of "god" they imagine. The A.A. deity, the "higher power," is a lot like a salad bar-people choose a little of this, a little of that. What is on the plate can always be added to, subtracted, or rearranged. But when "god" is so malleable, so is morality.
 
Since the 12 Steps, demonic in origin, have nothing to do with Christ, neither sin nor Biblical repentance is addressed. This , of course, is very appealing to the flesh. The Steps address "wrongs," "making amends," and "moral inventory," but one inserts one's own moral understanding alongside one's own custom-made god.
 
Unrepentant homosexual Gene Robinson, an Episcopal Bishop, gave an intentionally Christ-less invocation at one of the Presidential inaugural events. A recovering alcoholic, Robinson prayed instead to A.A.'s higher power, the "god of our many understandings."
 
The nature of the apostate Bishop's prayer illustrates the profound theological shift that has taken place in America.  
According to a recent Barna survey, "By a three to one margin (71% to 26%) adults noted that they are personally more likely to develop their own set of religious beliefs than to accept a comprehensive set of beliefs taught by a particular church." Incredibly, 61% of born again Christians also embraced this salad-bar approach. Obviously, many in the church today are not believers at all.  
 
The sorrows of those who have bartered after another god will be multiplied. (Psalm 16:4)
 
Let us acknowledge that A.A. has helped some people get sober. A smattering has even found Christ while attending Alcoholics Anonymous. Yet, this in itself has proved an effective decoy. It furthers the misconception that people should be encouraged into this all-gods religion because ultimately they will come to Christ. This rarely happens.
 
Throughout Scripture the Lord forbids spiritual fellowship with non-believers. He warned Solomon what would happen because of his heathen wives. (1 Kings 11); He approved of King Josiah's agony over the false gods in the Temple. (2 Kings 22:8-23:24); He clearly commands us to be a separate people. (2 Corinthians 6:14-17) Belonging to the 12 Step religion, where all "gods" are seen as equal, is a grave insult to the Ancient of Days.
 
For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens. (Psalm 96:4-5)
 
Make no mistake-the success of A.A. is not in treatment effectiveness, which is limited, but in public relations and publicity. A.A. and other 12 Step groups have excelled not in bringing people to Jesus, but in weakening the Body of Christ, and steering the culture away from the God of the Bible.
 
America has accomplished much. We have guarded Israel. We have helped spread the gospel throughout many other lands. But now, the apostate church rises, with much of the coming one world religion in place in rudimentary form.
 
When is a smile a snarl? When are helping hands the talons of hell? When is spirituality a sibilant, serpentine kiss? Bishop Robinson's inaugural invocation to the 12 Step god is a harbinger of what is to come-and, indeed, what is already here.
 
www.mywordlikefire.wordpress.com
 
(Note: Be encouraged. Our churches are full of people who have been delivered from bondage. The Lord will make a way for you. An excellent online ministry-a truly Biblical ministry-is Setting Captives Free.)