Eric Davis of The Cripplegate analyzes the popular packaged addiction program, Celebrate Recovery (CR) that many churches have adopted. The program, created by John Baker and Rick Warren, is supposedly based on biblical principles. In his review, Davis informs us that “CR is founded on eight principles taken from the Beatitudes and has similarities to the twelve steps of Alcoholic’s Anonymous.”
The question we must ask ourselves is, should Christians get involved in a program that stems from A.A.’s twelve steps? Absolutely not says researcher John Lanagan. Lanagan has done a massive amount of research on A.A., and what his research has turned up is that A.A. co-founders Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith were deeply involved in the occult aka spiritualism. “Alcoholics Anonymous has served its purpose,” says Lanagan. “That purpose has been to weaken the church, dilute the theology of Christians exposed to the 12 Step religion, and to point unbelievers away from Christ.” Discover the “spiritual” truth behind A.A. here.
So now to part 1 of Eric Davis’ 2 part series…
Enslaving behaviors are as old, and common to humanity, as sin itself. Since our fall at the dawn of time, we have been naturally enslavement to every destructive behavior possible. In response, various efforts have been made to deal with the problem.
One such effort is a packaged addictions program called Celebrate Recovery (CR). John Baker and Rick Warren of Saddleback Church created the program in 1991 to help people with various addictions. Rick Warren writes, “[D]uring the ten-week series that I preached to kick off this program, our attendance grew by over 1500!” (John Baker, Celebrate Recovery Leader’s Guide, 12). During the past 25 years, some 20,000 churches in the United States have reportedly used CR, with some 2.5 million people having completed the program. Needless to say, CR has had a major influence on the church.