In his new book “Rumors of another world,” (Zondervan, 2003), Philip Yancey writes that moral guilt is one factor pointing to another world.  Humans intuitively know that something is wrong and no amount victimization or rationalization will make it go away.

Yancey calls twelve-step groups one of the best treatments for human failure caused by guilt-producing decisions.  Indeed, Bill Wilson, the cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), reached the unshakable conviction that an alcoholic often must “hit bottom” before admitting moral failure in his own life. 

Writing his fellow strugglers, Wilson said, “How privileged we are to understand so well the divine paradox that strength rises from weakness, that humiliation goes before resurrection, that pain is not only the price but the very touchstone of spiritual rebirth.”

This week the Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Urbana starts up their popular 12-step program called “A Healing Journey.”  Based on the 12 steps of AA, some 70 participants from the area have signed up for a soul-searching 12-week journey.  “The recovery process is always a journey,” said Pastor Pam Larson, who heads the program.

Larson and her team center the church program on the teaching of Jesus.  During the 12 weeks, the participants do 84 different personal Bible studies, focusing on a different step each week.

“We divide into gender and issue specific groups,” Larson said.  “Anonymity is highly respected, and confidentiality is absolutely nonnegotiable.  Leaders are asked to leave if they ever break confidence.”

Larson, who frequently shows her own transparency, believes the 12-step programs can both release people from addictions that help them cope with life, however unsatisfactorily, and produce Godly behaviors.  Larson is happy to challenge anyone to consider the 12 steps, pondering their simplicity and power:

1.  “We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors and that our lives had become unmanageable.”  Those who admit they are powerless take a huge first step out of denial.

2.  “We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.   Pastor Larson said, “We say to all who come to our program that Jesus is our higher power.  We certainly have people with every level of faith, though.”

3.  “We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God.”

4.  “We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.”  In the Vineyard program, participants reconstruct their journey in minute, painful detail.

5.  “We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs.”  Not the general nature -- the exact nature.  “Not, I drink too much occasionally.”  Rather, “Every night I drink an entire 6-pack of beer.”

6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.”  Here is where God intervenes, doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.

7.  “We humbly asked Him to remove all our shortcomings.”

8.  “We made a list of all persons we had harmed and become willing to make amends to them all.”  The Vineyard program then adds, “And become willing to forgive those who had hurts us.”

9.  “We made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.”  Here the Healing Journey notebook says, “And we forgave those who have hurt us.”

10.  “We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.”

11.  “We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and power to carry that out.”

12.  “We, having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, tried to carry this message to others, and practice these principles in all our affairs.”  The Healing Journey notebook proclaims, “We tell our story because the world around us is desperate for hope and good news, and we know that Jesus is the only living water that will satisfy their thirst.”

Larson has welcomed people struggling with addictions ranging from serious substance addictions to those obsessive about cleaning to those struggling with rage and anger.  She is convinced the 12 steps slowly become part of the fabric of the lives of those who practice these principles in all their affairs. 

Joining the Vineyard program will mean searching your soul and admitting your addiction.  But, you’ll certainly not be alone.  And just imagine experiencing freedom daily for the first time in a long, long time?  Larson can be reached at 217/384-3070.