By using man’s reason as the ultimate authority to determine what is possible and what is not possible man misuses reason. He ends up doing good things the wrong way. Take the current 12 step programs for example. In the beginning, before these programs were established, the alcoholic gave his life to Jesus as his Lord and Savior. During his recovery he participated in a daily Bible study, prayer, asking for guidance, reading a devotional and sharing his problems with others. When he went home, he continued with these same personal “quiet times.”
He also had one meeting a week. Consisting of prayer, reading from Scripture, quiet time, and using devotionals for discussion. Then he went upstairs for a prayer session where the elders prayed that alcohol be taken out of his life and that he devotes himself to living according to God's will. Then, in many cases, the person “recovered”.
Today, these programs have added the 12 Step program, medication, psychological counseling, AA Meetings focused on the testimonies of sober alcoholics. They determined Bible, prayer, and belief in God are optional and encouraged the people to depend on their meetings. The result is, there are no longer any recovered alcoholics, only “recovering” alcoholics (drug addicts, sex addicts, food addicts….and so on), because they are all “sick” with a disease that will not go away.
Compare this with faith-based programs, such as Victory Outreach Recovery Homes or Teen Challenge, where belief in God, Bible study, prayer, etc., are still the focus. The good news is they are a part of the new creation, the restoration of all things. Therefore, the disease is healed, and the character of the person is changed when they faithfully obey the Word of God. The result is they become “ex-alcoholics” and “ex-addicts.” These faith-based programs understand alcoholism and drug addiction the way God understands them, i.e., they are the result of sin in the world. This means the addicts are responsible for their actions and, not only do they need to be healed, they also need to repent and be forgiven. Jesus revealed that there is a connection between sickness and the sinful condition many times in Scripture. After telling a paralyzed man that his sins have been forgiven, Jesus asked:
5 Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? 6 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." So he said to the paralyzed man, "Get up, take your mat and go home." 7 Then the man got up and went home. (Mat 9:5-7 NIV)
Through man’s rationality addictions have become a “disease” that needs to be cured. So, the people remain addicted until a cure is found, which means they are not responsible for their actions. This same pattern, using man’s reason to determine truth that results in a misuse of reason, can be seen in other current human issues like homosexual behavior, abortion, and many other issues where man has put his reason or logic before the Word of God.
The point is: The contemporary recovery programs end up doing a good thing the wrong way. God never intended people to use reason as a tool to establish what is ultimately true; that is the role of God’s Word alone. Reason and logic were given as tools to enable us to study God’s Word and to help us think like God does, so that we may faithfully apply it in every area of our lives.
This type of misuse of reason results in a worldview that “compromises” Christian principles and values; and “cheapens” the word “Christian.” Even more to the point, it is a “deception.” This deception succeeds in mixing Christian principles and values with the same kind of values of the world, producing principles and values that are more acceptable to the world. These are values that Christians are supposed to reject: “Do not love the World nor anything in the World…(1Jn 2:15)
