The reason for the 9th tradition... would it work?

The 9^th tradition states: "AA, as such, ought never be organized, but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve".

Leo, named for the Russian author, was born to two college professors in Berkley back in the early 70’s. His parents were part of the “flower power” movement and drugs were often seen in his home as he grew up. Exceedingly bright, he never felt like he fit in with the other kids. A loner he was offered a scholarship to Reed College in Portland, Oregon to pursue a degree in philosophy. By the end of his sophomore year he was spending more time high than sober. He loved to sit around and talk philosophy with others that seemed to be just like him so long as a joint was lit or a needle was nearby. The drugs were a magical short cut the relationships he always wanted. At least they were until a combination of an overdose while on academic probation for missing too many classes cost him his full ride and eventually his place in the school. It wasn’t that long before he was standing beside a freeway exit asking for money so that he could get his next fix. Somehow he made it to Narcotics Anonymous

On this particular night he was sitting next to Hamilton at an eight o’clock meeting. They couldn’t be much more different from each other. While Leo sat in ripped jeans and a dirty old Grateful Dead t-shirt Hamilton was dressed in a coat and tie. He sold cars these days. It hadn’t started that way. A “type A” personality, he grew up in a big church on just off the 205. His parents were hard working, straight laced children of the Eisenhower 50’s and a fundamentalist Baptist lifestyle. Do’s and don’ts ruled his world. In the youth group he ruled. In school he was successful but always a bit on the outside. No one knew about his stash of porn that led him to consciously choose women over God at age 17. He couldn’t live with two Gods. His parents’ God deserved better than that. So he stopped going to high school and began to party with is friends after games and whenever he thought that he might hook up. Drugs were a part of the picture and they really were no big deal, a few lines here and there to make the feelings of ecstasy a little more intense, and a few drinks here and there to give him the courage to go after the real “looker” didn’t seem to hurt anything.

He went to the UO where he was big in the fraternity world and did well in his business classes. Out of college he hired on to sell pharmaceuticals. In his first year he netted over $130k. Meanwhile his bank account only had a few hundred in it and he was mortgaged up to the hilt. Rightly or wrongly he was fired after just two years on the job. His numbers plateaued, and  he was having a hard time making all his “meetings”. Often he’d call to reschedule appointments, and he was labeled “unreliable”. And when he was arrested for DUII, it gave his company all the reason they needed to let him go. The court ordered AA and so he went because he had to, but never really bought in. He finished all his court ordered meetings and vowed never to go back. He’d never drink and driver again he swore.

He couldn’t get a job in pharmaceuticals again. So he started to sell cars. He was good at it. But after only six months, he got greedy on a deal, cheated a colleague out of their cut, lied, got caught and got fired. He was so angry out of the deal that he went cruising, picked up a girl and binged with her on drugs and sex for 72 hours until the hotel manager called the cops because the party had grown and they were disturbing their neighbours.

He couldn’t find work now. He ended up in NA and found a job at a used car lot on 82^nd and began to piece his life back together again. His life was work, and NA. He knew he had to survive.

Leo was a confirmed anarchist. He didn’t trust government or authority of any kind. Everyone was equal. That is why he loved the NA rooms. It was, to him, in many ways the perfect anarchist society.  The only time he got antsy was when the meeting had their monthly business meetings. He hated those. He wasn’t sure if he believed in God but he was coming to believe that there had to be something more than all this that was, in fact keeping him clean. When asked, he’d say that the fellowship was his higher power. It was all he needed. He could trust it. There was no system that the fellowship had to serve. There was no structure that people had to fit into in order to belong. It was safe and the wisdom in the fellowship sometimes blew his mind. For now, the fellowship was all he needed.

Hamilton yearned for the fellowship to be more than it was. He was six years sober now. He’d worked his way up the car dealerships and was making pretty good money again. He could look at himself in the mirror with out wincing anymore most of the time. He was back in church. It was another big church up in Vancouver. They had programs for everything. He found places that he could serve and feel good about himself. Occasionally he felt badly because he was still very much the ladies man, but he figured Jesus would understand. He wanted NA to get more involved. He wanted them to do more things to help addicts get better. He was pointed by some old timers to various organizations that were doing stuff to help addicts recover and he found that he could throw himself into the work of RAP (Recovery Association Project). It was working on RAP that he came to know Leo who was working with the Oxford House. It was his friendship with Leo that helped him understand why NA wasn’t better organized.

While he still wished that NA was better organized and was willing to do more things. He came to appreciate that they didn’t. NA had to be a place for everyone. It had to be a place that Leo could get clean. It had to be a place whose focus was so simple that anyone could belong.

I tell the stories because they point to the reason Bill Wilson said the 9^th Tradition was necessary. People are different. People approach life, recovery, and Christianity differently. Meg on her blog, dandelionwine, quite rightly points out that we have a “soul type” that pushes us toward certain spiritual likes and dislikes. People will try to push recovery groups too. They want to push them in their own pet directions; much in the same way the church has often been pushed in peoples’ pet directions: the Episcopalians who insist on standing still until the last candle is out and Jesus has seemingly left the building, the Baptists who seem unable to sing anything unless it is written in 6/8 time and they are able to roller skate to it; the Charismatics who require a back beat to their prayers and a swaying motion that gives the allusion that they know how to dance; the Presbyterians who like things quiet so the old folk can sleep in the back pews; and the Lutherans that insist there be a keg at every church function. (Wow that was a long sentence.) The nature of groups is that they get pushed around by their organizational techniques and methods.

Bill Wilson didn’t want AA to get pushed around and all other 12 step  12 tradition groups have followed suit. You would think that this lack of organization would slow them down, but it hasn’t because the end of the tradition states that they may create service boards who are directly responsible to those they serve. Bill wanted the structure to serve the mission rather than the people to serve the structure. He did it this way. It has worked. It is an answer to the organizational “pull” problems. All sorts of alarm bells ring in my cranial cavity as I look at this step.

One of my friends here in Portland loves the idea of “organic” church, but has a hard time making it work. He doesn’t like programs and is intentional about avoiding them but he also feels that this hamstrings the Spirit’s ability to work though his congregation.

I am ambivalent on this point because if you talk to any 12 stepper they will tell you that you cannot treat the 12 traditions like a buffet where you are able to pick and chose which ones you want. The traditions work together in harmony. They would tell my pastor friend here in Portland that the reason “organic” church doesn’t work in his venue is that he is a professional and the laity will always let the professionals do the work. They would tell him that he is too thinly spread and has lost his focus in his attempt to be missional. I do not know who is right on this point. I am intrigued by the possibility of seeing if the 12 traditions could be instituted by a church plant as being their “structure” to see if they could be the body of Christ for the world.

Comments

[Stephen Grant]

Meg, Most AA and NA meetings are called "open meetings". What this means is that anyone can go. They do not have to identify as an alcoholic.

AA has an inter-group which is a kind of clearing house that serves the individual meetings and helps drunks looking for a place to go find one that is appropriate for them.

If you wanted to attend a few meetings to do your own research, I would call the AA number and simply explain that you wanted to find a meeting (or, I would suggest several different meetings) in your area to simply see what is happening.

You will discover that there are many different kinds of meetings: big speakers meetings that seem a lot closer to a church service and small intimate meetings that resemble a small group Bible study in a college dorm room.

Most meetings will ask that if there are any new comers they identify themselves by first name only. You can say at that time, "I am Meg and I am simply checking AA out." After the meeting undoubtedly someone would initiate contact to see if they could be of service, but it is no big deal.

NA is the same way...

I'd encourage you to check it out and see what you think...

[Barefootmeg]

"When asked, he’d say that the fellowship was his higher power. It was all he needed. He could trust it."

I found this part particularly interesting. I think this is true of a lot of people regarding church. They put their trust in the organization rather than in the God that the organization is supposedly all about. Then something happens (a pastor has a particularly egregious "mess up", or someone in the church hurts them in some way) and suddenly all of their trust has just been blown and they're instant atheists. I've seen this happen on multiple occasions.

As far as the 9th tradition goes, it seems to be saying, "the group should reflect the people therein." So rather than already having a style or feel or program that the participants have to fit into, the group should have the look and feel of those who are in it -- which I suppose would mean that everyone should also be adding their own piece to the puzzle for that to happen. And the old-timers need to be comfortable and willing to let the new-comers alter the feel of the group.

I've never been to an AA meeting. I'm curious, is everyone required to participate (introduce themselves, state their issues, etc.) or can you come multiple times without ever squeaking out a word to anyone?

[Stephen Grant]

I think you are exactly right, Steve. Most of us put God on and take Him off like we would a coat. I overheard an NA old timer state: "If recovery isn't the center of your life it won't work." I think we could say that for the church as well...I think that is why so many people get disillusioned with God. It is not that God lets them down, but that they weren't really giving him a chance taking control too much of the time.

[Steve Ganz]

Hey Steve, do you think that one reason why AA and the church differ is because so many people who are in the church have never felt their own depravity so deeply that they cling to Christ with their entire strength as those in AA do to their 'traditions'? If Christians actually set their hope FULLY in Christ and followed the Holy Spirit as if their life depended on it - that our church structures would look very different than they do today?