Greetings, Friends (of whom I see some of you on Facebook from time to time),
If I did a Search, I'm sure I could find some of my old posts on this topic & link to it. But I'm off work tonite (3rd shift rest area caretaker, i.e., custodian/janitor). Which, when I'm off work I'm always in a good mood. So I feel like posting,
Brief aside: Steve once mentioned in a lecture that he liked being a janitor because it didn't take much thought; that he could meditate on God & the scriptures. (Same here, but I also play a lot of guitar when my work is done . . . not that I consider myself a "musician"), LOL
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In any event, I was active in AA for 18 years on & off. The longest time of continuous sobriety I maintained was 9 months. So, it was: on & off & on & off & etc., etc.
At one point I was laid off from my job and learned that my county would pay for me to go to my county's counseling center. I did it for something to do, but still had some intentions of really trying to sober up.
As it turned out, my counselor was a Christian. Soon I was going to "Christian 12 Step" meetings with him. Most Christian recovery groups (12 steps kind and Celebrate Recovery) accept what I'll call 'the medical model' of recovery. That is, they view alcoholism as a 'disease' from which one never fully recovers -- even if they stop drinking.
At these Christian meetings they had certain Bible verses to 'match' the 12 steps, which were slightly revised from AA's, but were essentially the same.
One time I brought up 1 Cor 6:9-11 . . . "and such WERE some of you." I had known of these verses for years and years; that alcoholism (drunkard) was a past tense thing in the Bible.
Making a long story short, I simply asked [begged!] God to make my alcoholism PAST TENSE. I went thru withdrawals (DTs) for three days alone in my apartment. When I came to, so to speak, I wanted a drink about as much as a mouthful of rocks. The desire was lifted away from me.
Then it occurred to me that Jesus was in the grave three days and nights, which, the worse withdrawals occur during the first 72 hours. (I knew this as I also worked in Alcohol Rehab in the Navy . . . after having gone thru it myself, which I tried to hide from my peers, even stealing the documentation of it out of my service record and throwing it away. Which is a felony crime, but don't tell anyone, OK)? LOL
Back to the medical model. While it is true that some people may have a genetic predisposition to become alcoholic, the medical model insists the 'disease' is incurable, though manageable thru abstinence.
AA teaches this as well. Reason being, I suppose, is that many alkies tend to forget, rationalize away and/or deny that they are (these are all symptoms also).
The medical profession has shown that wherever an alcoholic leaves off, and then drinks again, they pick right up where they left off. This happened to me many times. My last bout with beer was exactly like this: 15-20 beers a day and non-stop on weekends. More than I'd drank before.
So, where am I going with all of this?
I suppose, statistically-speaking, I would fit the medical model as an alcoholic, whether I ever drink again or not.
But you see, it wasn't UNTIL I wanted to become a FORMER ALKY (by God's Grace, as Brother Matt said) that it actually happened.
I no longer go to AA, but did go to a meeting when I made 5 years sober (5.5 years ago). I had received a lot of good advice over those years. Most especially with my first AA sponsor who was one of 'The Good Ol' Timers', i.e., 'old school AA' before the medical profession got involved with their multi-million dollar recovery biznis.
So, biblically-speaking, I felt that I had to announce myself as a 'recovered alcoholic' at AA and Christian meetings. (This caused some controversy in AA, which, at one point I asked a guy if he would like for me to read some Bible for him during a meeting) - "No thanks!"
I simply had to renew my mind and think how God does, as opposed to BEING an alcoholic. For when I thought I had an incurable disease, the 'disease' always won.
Two Models
Medical (genetics, behavioral modification/management)
versus
Biblical (mind renewal, stop sinning, new identity in Christ)
Y'all take care!