Bondage to a program is not legitimate recovery! As the pastor of counseling at Cornerstone, my greatest desire is to see men and women leave my office and not come back. That’s not because I dislike people, or don’t want to be helpful, just the opposite. I want to see people grow, I want them not to need counseling anymore. The same is true of our Recovery ministry. The primary goal of this ministry is to help people get out of recovery.
We do not want anyone to spend the rest of their life in Recovery. We want each person to experience healing and freedom that comes from knowing Christ, so that they can live for God. This means that recovery is a ministry of movement. We want to move people through the program and merge them back into the main stream of discipleship within the local church. If we think of discipleship as a stream then Recovery is like a small eddy off of the larger stream. It’s a place for people to pull in get some help. But it is not a place to linger too long. Eventually you want to merge back into the main current of the stream so that you can move on with your life. There’s no timetable on how long it will take someone to recovery. We do not view recovery as a formal program that has a set timeline for everyone. We recognize that dealing with our problems and acquiring the appropriate skills to move forward looks different for everyone, but the goal is the same for all: get out of recovery.
Many people who start a program like Recovery find themselves trading one addiction for another. Though they may successfully achieve sobriety, or overcome their specific struggle, they are now in bondage to a once-a-week meeting. They are slaves of a different kind. The gospel promises us, however, freedom. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free…” (Gal. 5:1). Our desire at Cornerstone, then, is that we would not allow people to become so dependent on a ministry, a counselor, or a workbook that they cannot survive without that weekly meeting. We firmly believe that healing is possible because of the work of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. It is not an easy process, but it is possible. That’s why we regularly stress that Recovery @ Cornerstone is a ministry of movement.
The danger for some is that recovery can replace the church as a whole. A person can become so dependent on a ministry that it can become like a little church within the church for them. But that’s not a healthy approach. This is a ministry that meets temporary needs. It cannot provide the comprehensive discipleship that all believers need. Furthermore, an individual’s testimony and experience can be a great help to those in the larger church who will never frequent recovery. We don’t want to rob the larger body of those stories of God’s grace, or those hands of service. We want, then, to keep people moving forward and eventually get out of the program.
The other danger is that some will so identify with their struggle that recovery actually becomes counterproductive. For those who get stuck long-term in recovery there is a great possibility that they will never achieve the kind of freedom and victory that they want. Their identity can become so synonymous to their struggle that they always view themselves as an addict, as anxious, as depressed, as a widower, that they will never leave this ministry. When this happens recovery only reinforces their perception of themselves. We want to keep people moving forward that they might see and understand their identity is grounded in Christ. We want them to see that as serious as their struggle is, it does not have to define who they are and how they will live the rest of their lives. If we don’t stress the movement aspect of this ministry some will never move.
Recover is a ministry of movement. It’s not about timetables, but it is about helping people avoid the pitfalls and dangers of a recovery culture church. We want them to see beyond their problems, beyond this moment in their lives, beyond this ministry and experience the freedom that comes from being in union with Christ, and the help that comes from being involved in the larger community of believers. All are welcome at Recovery, but all are encouraged to leave too. We want to help people get out of recovery. At one level we are all always going to be in a kind of recovery, but in terms of a formal ministry no one should stay in recovery. Recovery is a ministry of movement.
Sparrow & Heart Soul Care 