In an editorial published in July of 1948, Bill Wilson wrote: “Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever
non-professional. We define Professionalism as the occupation of counseling
alcoholics for fees or hire. But we may employ alcoholics where they are going
to perform those services for which we may have to engage non-alcoholics. Such
special services may be well recompensed. But our usual AA ‘12th
step’ work is never to be paid for.”
The 12th step states: “Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others and practice these principles in all our affairs.”
In another article an alcoholic
writes:
The 8th Tradition insures that
anytime a newcomer reaches out for help, he will receive it, free of charge.
Members freely share their own experience, strength, and hope with the newcomer
and by doing so, help themselves by reinforcing their own recovery in the
process.
It's how the 12 step programs
work. Giving it away in order to keep it.
A 12 stepper in Portland Oregon is a gifted speaker, tells his own story well, and is in demand to travel to other regions of the country to tell his story. It is not uncommon for him to travel to four to six conferences all around the country to practice his own 12th step work, sharing his story of strength, hope, and love. He is not a wealthy man by any stretch of the imagination. In order to get him to Maine, the Maine inter-group paid for his airline ticket and covered all his costs. But he was not paid to travel 2500 miles across country for a long weekend. He did it because he wants to keep that which he has been given. He has a life now and he doesn’t want to lose it. He remembers the pain of life without recovery and he loves enough to want others to find a way of escape as well.
Meanwhile in Eugene, Oregon there is a hospital called Serenity Lane. It exists to help addicts and alcoholics begin a life of recovery. It is an intensive inpatient rehabilitation facility. One old timer in AA realized his son had a problem and checked him in to help him get a start. He paid the fees. No one in AA batted an eye that this old timer would pay professionals to help his son get clean.By doing so he didn't violate the traditions. He merely went outside of AA
It doesn’t really matter how it happens so long as it happens. “Just get clean. Just discover a life you never knew. Just find life! Do it here. Do it there. Do it hopping on one foot. Do it standing on your head. Do it wearing a toga or by shaving your head. Take a trip. Stay home. Lock yourself in a room by yourself or with a thousand others. I don’t care how you do it… just get clean!” is the cry of anyone who has been in 12 step groups for any length of time.
Most recovering alcoholics are partial to AA. After all AA is their life line. You can’t blame them for thinking that AA would be good for anyone with a drinking problem. Most however, are not arrogant enough to think that AA is the only way to stop drinking.
AA’s traditions are for AA. Others may find other ways. AA doesn’t have an opinion on what they do. They only know what they can and can’t do. And they have discovered that the power of AA is that they it is non-professional.
One drunk states it this way:
(W)e all know that if that were
the case, that there were AA "professionals" the beautiful
identification we drunks feel when sharing with and listening to one another
might go down the tubes.
I couldn't trust authority when I
was first getting sober and I don't think I am unique as a drunk. And who (sic) does
an AA authority go to when he or she hits a wall? Certainly not a meeting full
of the folks he has been practicing his profession on. Professional AA's just
wouldn't work.
Matt 10:5-10 states:
Jesus sent
out the twelve apostles with these instructions…7 Go and announce…that the Kingdom of Heaven is near.* 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy,
and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!
9 "Don't take any money in your money belts—no gold,
silver, or even copper coins. 10 Don't
carry a traveler's bag with a change of clothes and sandals or even a walking
stick. Don't hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve to
be fed. (Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by
Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All
rights reserved. Emphasis added)
If an
alcoholic wants so much to pass on the gift of life he has been given, that he
will travel thousands of miles without payment to take the message of hope with
him, why can’t Christians? We say we have life. We say we have hope. We say we’ve
discovered: forgiveness, peace, joy, hope, love, and faith to name but a few and yet we require payment to share how to find them? How many pastors would stay on and preach if their church's decided not to pay them anymore? (I think both of my current ones would, especially since one only gets his car payment made anyway.)
The
median income of a pastor in the US is over $84,400
annually. Long gone are the days of the Franciscans and their vow of
poverty. If you look at any list of “professional” occupations you will find
listed among their number, “pastors” or “ministers”.
The
pastor shocked at the ramifications of this will turn quickly to 1 Corinthians
9 or 1 Timothy 5 and point out that Paul was clear that elders and preachers
are to be paid, and the Timothy passage in particular seems to state that they
should be paid well.
The
quick and easy response is also to point out that Paul also argued that women
should remain silent in church and that slaves should obey their masters. This
would not be entirely fair, however.
In his letter to the Corinthians Paul is
arguing for his own apostleship. The matter of being paid is not a question of
right or wrong it is a matter of, “You do this for them, why not for Barnabas and
me.” The letter to Timothy is not as simple. We do not have time to wrestle through the exegesis here.
Having
said that, I believe with all my heart, that Paul did not foresee a world in
which 95% of the church’s resources would be spent “reaching” the richest 5% of
the world’s population here in North America. I do not think he foresaw pastors making well over the
median income of the population base. I do not think he had in mind a
professionalized clergy.
If he
were writing today, I think he’d be aghast at how the average Christ follower
felt unqualified to share the gospel because he was not a professional. He
would be aghast at how much the gospel message cost, and he would go back to
the words of Jesus, “Freely you have received, freely give.”
There
is something ingenious to Bill Wilson’s vision of 12th step work
being forever non-professional. There is something extraordinary about the
concept of classlessness in the fellowship that this tradition allows for and
strengthens. These are ideas that are ripe for a 21st century
church. How much more powerful our message might be if it were removed from the
clutches of greed and money and was re-rooted in the narratives of people
finding life amidst the ruin of treacherous isolation and despair at the foot
of the cross of Jesus. I want to go there.
Thankfulness to my father who told me on the topic of this web site, this blog is truly awesome.
Posted by: Elwood | 22 November 2013 at 09:01 PM
Having rread this I thought it was extremely informative. I appreciate youu finding the time and energy to put this article together. I once again find myself personally spending way tooo much time bith reading and posting comments. But so what, it was still worthwhile!
Posted by: non 12 step rehabs | 19 November 2013 at 08:14 AM
I leave a response when I especially enjoy a article on a blog or I have something to valuable to contribute to the discussion. It is a result of the fire communicated in the article I browsed. And after this post The 8th tradition wonders whether the message is diluted by profesionalism - Promises. I was moved enough to post a leave a responsea response :-) I actually do have a couple of questions for you if you tend not to mind. Could it be simply me or do some of the responses come across like they are written by brain dead visitors? :-P And, if you are writing at additional places, I would like to keep up with you. Would you list the complete urls of your shared sites like your twitter feed, Facebook page or linkedin profile?
Posted by: Rozella | 07 November 2013 at 12:32 AM