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Why The Church Gathering Should be Like a Good AA Meeting

What interested me in my conversation with George (I’ll call him that) was how the rituals of the AA meeting could connect with him, whereas the rituals of our Sunday morning were so much more difficult. And yet, as I saw it, the Sunday morning gathering was every bit the same as an AA meeting, except intensified exponentially by the real presence of Christ in the Word and the Eucharist. The Eucharist is an AA meeting intensified by the real presence.

I feel we have lost this dynamic through either A.) Over-ritualized, decontextualized liturgy, or B.) Megachurches that strip us from being “present” with one another and with “the presence” of Christ himself in our midst.

Things We Can Do To Recover the Church Gathering as an AA Meeting

  • Recover true corporate confession of sin. Recover corporate confession of sin, but then resist the over-ritualizing of it. Yes, provide words just like the AA groups. And be present as one confessing sin alongside. Let us together own that we are sinaholics in need of God for sustenance and life. This is the secret of a good AA meeting.
  • Contextualize liturgy. Too often, we allow the words of our rituals to become rote. The leaders forget that our job is to usher (be a good director) people into His presence. We need to ever be translating our language. We need to lead “with presence,” ushering people to be “with” one another in total submission to the living God as revealed in and through Jesus Christ. This is what (often) makes AA meetings such a powerful formative encounter.
  • Preaching as one among. In our proclamation, the preacher must be among us as one of us leading us to the Table. He or she should not be a star set above the community. The preaching should proclaim the reality over us of Jesus Christ as Lord, which takes us out of the position of being in control of our lives. It should not be only presentation of information that allows us to take something for our own benefit. This practices the listener in keeping in control. An AA meeting practices the listener in dependence upon God.
  • The Eucharist should be the place for surrender to God in Christ. Here is where we corporately encounter Christ to receive forgiveness and sustenance. It is real, it is Himself present to us, meeting us. We must be practiced in the approach of surrender. It should be more than an individualistic time to cognitively remember what Jesus did. Instead, this remembrance should transport us into its reality for us here and now.

I am afraid, most often, our Sunday gatherings have lost the wherewithal to be an AA meeting either through A.) Over-ritualized, decontextualized liturgy, or B.) Sensationalized megachurch spectacle. Meanwhile, dare I say? AA has become the single best expression and most alive form of church in North America.

Agree? Is AA an excellent (and viral) form of church? How does the AA meeting challenge you in the shaping of your worship gathering?