More on the Sermon on the Mount
Earlier I mentioned a post from Brad at 21st Century Reformation and his comments that The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous is a guide to discipling and that it is a good interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount. He had more to say about that this week. Here's a link to the personal testimony from Brad at 21st Century Reformation.

So, on top of all that I was at a 12-step meeting today and was standing around talking to some of my friends afterward. We were talking about the way the program works and how we depend on the others at the meeting for support. In response one of them said, "Yes, we do all sponsor each other."

It was then that it clicked again. Brad's comments, discipling, the Sermon on the Mount. We do it together, with each other. The ones who don't "make it sober" are those who continue to insist on doing it their own way. They are the ones who think they have all the answers and the best way is to think it's my way or the highway. They are the ones who won't accept "powerlessness" as a way of life or be willing to think about power coming to them from somewhere beyond their own abilities.

So we come together on a regular basis to give each other mentoring, care, criticism, hope, and strength. We "sponsor" each other.

It sure does sound like what the church is supposed to be like and can be like. It sure sounds like the way of Jesus.