Step 12 To Recovery | Stay Awake By Helping Others

Speaker 1 00:00:03 Hey, everyone. Welcome to the Pursue God podcast. I’m Pastor Brian, joined in the studio again by Pastor Eric. Pastor Mark. Guys, I’m excited for today, but I’m also a little bit sad because we’re, we’re finally in week 12 of our Steps to Recovery series. We’ve been going through the 12 steps of aa, and it’s been really fun for me to do this with both of you guys. Um, and I’m gonna, I’m gonna miss you. I’m really gonna miss you.
Speaker 2 00:00:27 Yeah. I don’t know what we’re gonna do without you,
Speaker 1 00:00:31 <laugh>. Well, you guys have, you guys made it without me for a long time.
Speaker 2 00:00:35 We can write letters, <laugh>,
Speaker 1 00:00:37 We can fa we’ll fax each other. All right. So we, I’ve been poking a little bit of fun at the 12 steps. I mean, I love the 12 steps are awesome. They’ve changed a lot of lives, yours included. But we’ve talked a lot about how some of them feel a little bit repetitive to me. We’re not gonna really go through all the 12 steps in this final episode. We’re gonna talk about step number 12, but this is the step that might be my favorite of all the steps, because I really believe in this step, in general terms, in the Christian, in the Christian life. You know, Jesus talked about going and making disciples. We, one of the things we really believe [email protected] is that, um, God calls us to be full circle followers of Jesus. Not just two thirds followers. Not just people who trust Jesus.
Speaker 1 00:01:24 That’s the first thing. And who honor God in your lifestyle. That’s the second thing. But we believe that you haven’t really experienced life to the full, which Jesus talks about in John 10 10, until you make disciples, until you pass it on, until you help someone else to pursue God. In other words, a pursuit of God. At the end of the day, surprise, surprise isn’t just all about yourself, a pursuit of God. Actually, Jesus had this in mind. All along. A pursuit of God is about other people and your impact on other people. And would you guys say that that’s true for recovery? That just maybe the reason God allowed you guys to have an addiction in the first place is so that you could sit here in this podcast so that you can run the groups that you run and you can impact other people that in, in, in other words, almost God, maybe even allowed that to come into your life so that he could get glory out of it through your experience, which is so much better than my experience in this area. You guys have obviously helped far more people with recovery than I ever have. And a big part of that is because you’ve experienced it, right?
Speaker 2 00:02:32 Yeah. That’s, you know, a pretty deep, um, topic, you know, or, or, uh, way of thinking that you just brought up. And one of the things that kind of compelled me to go on further and continue to pursue God and find out all that his word had to say, and all that he wanted me to do was out of curiosity, but even more out of a love and wanting to be obedient because he had done so much in my life. And, and so, yeah, thinking about how did this all come about? You know, the Bible says that he uses all things together for good of those who love him and who are called according to his purpose. And it’s like, if God knows everything, he knew that I was gonna become an addict. And, um, he takes the broken things and he changes them into beautiful things.
Speaker 2 00:03:21 And, and so many people have asked me before, like, if you could go back, would you change things or, or do you regret the things that you did? And I, I guess I would say I regret sin. You know, I’m repentant of sin. I don’t, I hate sin. I don’t like that. I want to go my way and not God’s way. But I would also say that I’m not sure if I believe that there was any other way that was laid out for me to do. Um, because of the path that I went down, the people that I’ve been able to impact. Um, just today I had a meeting with a guy and was able to share my story, and it caused him to open up and tell me things, tell me things in our first meeting ever that he probably hasn’t told people that have that, that tried to meet with him for years.
Speaker 2 00:04:13 Hmm. Because he felt comfortable with, you know, how extreme my story was. And, and, and you know, how transparent I was about my life. It, it, it helped him. And I’ve been able to do that in, in my ministry and in helping people pursue God and, and leading people through recovery. Um, and honestly, the way I actually got into ministry, probably one of the most successful parts of my ministry was when I followed God’s calling to start these recovery groups and to take the 12 steps and look at what the Bible has to say. That is something that God, um, really used in my life and has been extremely successful, even though I didn’t want to do it at first. I wanted to be a normal person.
Speaker 1 00:05:00 <laugh>. Well, you were the, you’re not normal Aaron <laugh>. And I’m very thankful for that. Mark, what are we talking about here? What, what exactly is the final step? What exactly is step number 12?
Speaker 3 00:05:11 Yeah. Well, we’ve kind of been dancing around it, but this is really, this is kind of the culmination of, um, so step three was about giving our will and our lives over to the care of God, right? And we talked about that being pretty much the most important step. Hmm. This is kind of the culmination of that. This is what we do after we’ve really fully given ourselves over, is now we are a servant of Christ. Hmm. Um, and so step 12 is, uh, here’s what it says. It says, having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts and to practice these principles in all our affairs. So this is, and I know that’s why you like this step so much. Yeah. Brian, this is, this is disciple making, right. It really is in, in recovery. This is disciple making. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 00:06:02 <affirmative>. And here’s why I love it so much. And I just learned this statement from you, mark. So I might butcher it. You might have to correct me, but I’m gonna try it. You said you can’t keep something unless you give it away. Did I say it right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And it’s, that’s an AA thing, right? Yeah. Yeah. And we, [email protected]. We’ve said that for years now. We just haven’t said it so beautifully as that. You can’t keep something unless you give it away. And I really believe it that when you, you know, your journey is incomplete un unless you start helping somebody else on the journey. And I would imagine guys, that some people might listen, be listening to this podcast, and maybe they’re still working the steps, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, maybe they’re still back at step three or four or five, so they’re not quite here yet, but they’re getting a preview of what they’re eventually gonna be at. I would imagine, tell me if this is true, that there are a lot of addicts that are saying, you’re crazy. There’s no way, there’s no way I’m qualified to help somebody else. What would you say? Have you ever seen that attitude? And what would you say to it?
Speaker 3 00:07:03 Well, that’s the attitude that I had. Um, <laugh>. I think we all have that. And I don’t think it’s even just addicts. I think, I think we all feel unqualified to help somebody else in the pursuit of God. But the beauty of it is, is that it’s not, it’s not us that’s really doing the work. We’re kind of the mouthpiece. Um, it’s the spirit that is really gonna lead somebody to Christ. And that is where that, you know, that takes some of the burden off of us. But this is really, man, there’s nothing, there’s nothing sweeter than seeing somebody walk this same path that you did and finding this new life as well. Like, there’s just, there’s nothing like it. And this, this step, it’s, it’s huge for us because, you know, I think we start these steps and, you know, in kind of a selfish mindset of, I, I need to do this for me and this step, it’s still got that selfish mindset to it of, I need this because I need to do this in order to stay sober. But it’s the, now it’s the first time that we’re able to finally start looking outside of ourselves a little bit.
Speaker 2 00:08:13 Here’s something that I want to say that’s on my heart right now too with this step is, is that this, this step’s about, you know, giving us a new purpose in life, um, helping us to refocus on what we’re called to do, what we were made to do. And, you know, for so many addicts, we’ve wondered what we’re supposed to do with our lives. We’ve had dreams, we’ve had aspirations, we’ve failed. We’ve, we’ve tried things and, and, and hurt people. And, and that might be a part of the reason why we self-medicate. But, um, at the end of the day, I know that probably a lot of you, if, if you’ve had this spiritual awakening that we’re talking about, you know, um, that you felt a pull on your life to do something great, greater to step outside of yourself and do something greater, not for yourself, but for, for the Lord.
Speaker 2 00:09:06 I know that, that, that was on my heart since I was a little boy. I, I had, um, faith as a little boy, uh, and I always had God with me. Even when I was using, um, in the back of my mind. I had always, I always knew the gospel. I knew the power of God. And, and I would have these, these fights, you know, this war inside of me. Like, I don’t want to be doing this, but I feel, I feel shameful, or I’m, I’m just gonna forget. And, but there would be times even when I was using or hanging out in the wrong crowd, that somehow, you know, I would be witnessing, um, while using with people, which is interesting. You know, it’s probably what they did back in the sixties when in the Jesus, the Jesus
Speaker 1 00:09:50 Movie, I love you, man,
Speaker 2 00:09:51 <laugh>, but, uh, I, you know, I would get clean and then I’d be like, on fire and I’d want to tell everybody about God. And then somehow I’d fall back into it and feel shameful. And eventually I started to understand, um, this, this freedom, this love that Jesus had for me, and that, uh, he wanted to save me for a purpose. Not just, not just save me from my addiction so that I could go on to be a normal person. No, he wanted to save me to go be radical. He wanted, he wanted to. And, and so I say that cuz I wanna spark something in the people that are listening too, is we set it before way back at step one. Don’t continue to just label yourself an addict, you know, a hopeless addict. You can be a, a victorious addict. You can be, um, a child of God.
Speaker 2 00:10:46 You can be someone that you never thought you could be because you have God with you, God on your side. I’ve done things that I never thought I’d be capable of doing or able to do or qualified to do. But because the Lord wants to use me and use you for a purpose, um, he’s, he’s, he’s going to qualify you in ways that you didn’t even think were possible. And so I just, I just want to encourage people to, um, dream about what you can do, but not for yourself, but for the Lord and for other people.
Speaker 1 00:11:21 Yeah. There’s another saying. It goes something like this. God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called. And so everybody listening right now, if you’re at step 12, you’re called, you have a calling on your life to help someone else. You know, in the broadest sense, there’s two types of people. There are people who live for themselves, and there are people who live for someone other the than themselves, right. In the broadest sense. And I think one of the core observations that I’ve had about addiction is it’s very self-centered. It’s living for yourself. And so you need, I like your word radical, Eric. I think people have to have to be radical. You can’t, you can’t just pick this middle ground and say, I’m gonna just, I’m gonna just hang out here in the middle. Most people who are addicts can’t function like that. That you’ve got, you’re, there’s something about addicts, I think guys where it’s, there’s a little bit of an abandon to an addict.
Speaker 1 00:12:16 There’s a, there’s kind of an extreme personality for an addict. That’s kind of why I think maybe you, you kind of almost need, a lot of times you need the substance to get, to get enjoyment out of life. Almost like a a someone else might not need that. They might not live on the, on the extremes. They might live a little bit more in the middle. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I would say I probably live more in the middle in my life. But I, what I love about you guys and other people that I’ve, that I’ve known that have come out of addiction is there is like an abandon to them. They take the way that they’re naturally wired, and then God uses it in incredible ways. And, and, and that’s, that can happen for everyone listening to this today. God calls you and a and a key to your, to your recovery and your continued freedom is helping someone else. If you don’t help someone else, you’re probably not gonna keep your, your sobriety. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, right?
Speaker 2 00:13:14 Yeah. And so that’s our first, first point in in step twelve’s lesson today, is that a person who is spiritual, quote unquote spiritual now has new and powerful tools to live a purposeful life. You know, if we look back at, at where we’ve come, you know, in all of these steps, right? We had, um, times of humility, we had times of getting out of denial and recognizing there’s a power great in ourself. And that’s, that’s the Jesus of the Bible. And, and learned how to surrender. And, um, asked him to help us take an inventory and get rid of some of our character defects. And, you know, so we’ve understood the gospel. We’ve understood, you know, how he’s called us to live this new life now that we have the spirit now helping us, right? We have God’s spirit dwelling inside of us. The Bible says in Ephesians chapter one, when you believed the Holy Spirit came and resided in a person now.
Speaker 2 00:14:13 And so that’s kind of what this step, you know, reminded me, says, if after having a, a spiritual awakening, well, yes, of course. We were born again as the Bible says, you know, made new by the Spirit regenerated. And after having that, now we’ve got, we got not just, I mean we, it says tools. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, but really, I mean, we have the, like we have the ultimate power tool <laugh>. We’ve got, we’ve got the Holy Spirit, God himself residing in us. And with that comes all of the fruits of the spirit we’ve talked about in, in, in all of these steps. You know, with the Holy Spirit comes all of these giftings and abilities. And along with how God made us to now go and, and use them for another purpose. You know, we used our craftiness, our shrewdness in a worldly way back in the day. And, and we used it to go get our fix. But now God’s gonna take that along with combining his spirit with us to be able to go do great things and, and, and wise things. And even, you know, it just reminds me of the parable of the shrewd manager, you know, where we can even be, um, wise in that way, but to build God’s kingdom and to help other addicts and, and other people in general, you know? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>,
Speaker 3 00:15:36 So Yeah. Yeah. We don’t go bury it in the field, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. That’s exactly. Um, but no, it, you know, you talk about we’ve got these new and powerful tools, and I think that’s something that a lot of people don’t, don’t really grasp, grasp the things that we, we end up learning when we go through these steps. Unless you’ve really gone through these steps. I mean, being able to be brutally honest with yourself, being able to, to, uh, make amends to people. I mean, the, these are things that don’t come natural to us. Mm. And so I think these are really powerful because we’ve learned how to, um, break ourselves down really, you know, look, you know, through, look at ourselves through God’s eyes and, and see where we fall short, but also how to have real better relationships with the people around us. These are, these are powerful tools that we’ve learned through the spirit who has worked through us through these steps.
Speaker 3 00:16:38 And it does, it, it it’s given us this, this way now that we do have, we can live this purposeful life. And I love when you, when you mentioned that earlier, Brian, about, um, he doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called. And it, and it totally reminded me of when Eric, I’d been coming to your group for, I don’t know, a year or two, and you wanted, you wanted to start another group, and you asked Charissa and I to lead it <laugh>, and that’s exactly where I was. I remember saying something to you like, are you sure? Are you sure about that? And that was the statement that you said to me Exactly. Word for word. And I, and that stuck with me. And it was just, I, I just went, I just went with it. I just trusted that God’s gonna, God’s gonna do something. I trusted you, um, first and then, you know, I I, I learned to trust in God with it. And he did, he, you know, used an imperfect broken person like me. And, and, um, I’ve, I’ve helped people the same way that, that you helped me. And that’s, that’s the beautiful part of all this. Well,
Speaker 1 00:17:43 Really, I think what people need to know is availability is way more important than ability. And so, so I think Mark, for you, you, you were available and God used you, you know, not just to lead the group, but you’re leading a campus now, you know mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you, it kind of fell on your lap that, that we had a need at one of our campuses at church. And, and I, I, I still remember when Eric said, Hey, I think you should have Mark be the pastor of that campus. And I said, really? He said, yeah. He, he loves Jesus. He, and it’s really what, what Paul talks about here in Galatians six one, it’s, this is what it means to be spiritual. Right? Paul says, brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.
Speaker 1 00:18:28 Keep watching yourself, let you two be tempted. So it’s the sense that I get when I read that is that there’s a responsibility on your life when you’ve been aw. Like the, like the step says when you’ve been awakened, when you’ve had your spiritual awakening, when your eyes are opened now. And you know, the crazy thing about God opening your eyes is when he opens your eyes, he gets the focus off of you and onto other people. And that’s really what gives you the freedom to serve other people and to overcome maybe your insecurities or, right. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, because the question you asked Mark, when, when Eric said that the question you asked was coming probably from a place of, I don’t view myself that way. I don’t think you got the right guy. It’s, it’s really a question. Any kind of security gets us to focus on ourselves. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and our inabilities. Where, where, where the more we, the more spiritual we are, the more connected to the vine we are, the less we focus on ourselves, the less we get kind of caught up in our own heads and afraid to step out and do what God is calling us to do. So I think you’re very spiritual. You know, I don’t know if Sharise would call you very spiritual or not, but mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 00:19:36 <laugh>
Speaker 1 00:19:37 <laugh>. But to me that just means connected, connected to the vine and just flowing out of that relationship that you have mm-hmm. <affirmative> with God rather than flowing out of the natural stuff that you, that we’re also used to flowing from.
Speaker 2 00:19:51 Yeah. And I, I think, yeah. The idea of Paul saying you who are spiritual should restore, you know, is, is kind of this idea that now that you’ve gotten to this place of maturity mm-hmm. <affirmative> and have had life change, it’s almost, uh, a calling right? To now, you need to go help your brothers go, help other people go restore other people in a, in a gentle spirit, go love on them, be Jesus to them as Jesus came to you through another person, probably Right? As we go out there and we’re, we’re making disciples, sometimes the only Jesus people know are, are the people that are representing him. And that’s what it really means to be a Christian. Uh, Christian means little Christ. We’re going out there into the world, and those of us who are call themselves Christians, should go and help our brothers and sisters back onto, onto the right path.
Speaker 1 00:20:48 So guys, is there a temptation for someone who’s getting to the end of the steps? Is there a temptation for people to say, you know, thank you aa, thank you, God, thank you, Jesus, but I want to be done with this. I don’t really want to run in, in these circles anymore. I don’t, I don’t want the label. I don’t, I don’t need the label. I’m over it. I’m good. Are there people that would sometimes say that just, just to say, I just want to be out away from this world and just live, like you said, Eric, live like a normal person now. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. I’m not a recovering addict, I’m just a normal, I just wanna live a normal life.
Speaker 2 00:21:26 Yeah. I did that. I mean, after a couple of years of being clean and, and, and going through some of this stuff and then, you know, kinda moving on and getting into, you know, serving and living this stuff, stuff out. Um, except for, um, doing it in a different way, I, I thought to myself, yeah, you know, my story is just a little bit maybe too radical or extreme. The world might not be able to handle it or people might not be able to to hear it. And, and so I’d like to explore, you know, that, you know, getting rid of that part of my life and kind of starting over new, and, you know, and, and I remember, um, you know, I think it was for a year or two, I didn’t have anything to do with recovery. And I remember it was, it was just like this, this internal struggle and pain that I was in.
Speaker 2 00:22:23 It was like, I, I knew God was wanting me to do something with my story, but I didn’t want to. And it, and it was almost like I w he was, he was, you know, causing me to suffer until I would, um, seek what he wanted for me to do. And, and that was when, like what I said earlier is we started these recovery groups and, and started going through these lessons, uh, in a biblical way. When I surrendered to that, finally I was like, okay, I guess I can’t get out of it. <laugh>, I guess I can’t escape my past. And, um, now I realize that my past is not mine to even escape. You know, I think it’s, this is, if I believe that God was, you know, in a, a lot of that and he was, he was sovereign and all of that, then what am I doing when I try to forget it and, and just kind of shove it under the rug and, and worry about people hearing about my story?
Speaker 2 00:23:23 I’m basically stealing God’s glory. Hmm. You know, because you read these stories in the Bible, like, there is not a single normal person in the Bible. I mean, honestly, every story is like this extreme radical God performing miracles changing people. I mean, I don’t know if you know any of normal stories in the Bible, but I mean, when I read that thing, it’s like, oh my gosh, this is us. You know, like mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And, and so those stories were written why to Glorify God and to show how powerful he is. And so I think our stories too then are, are similar, not the same thing as the word of God, but similar in the fact, in, in the sense that God is still working today, miracles out in people’s lives, and we are walking witnesses of the power and glory of God. And so when I, again, like you keep saying, Brian, I’m making it about me, my insecurities, you know, the things that, the things that I did, I don’t want other people to know, and I just, I want to be done with it. Um, that’s, that’s a selfish way of thinking. Again, we gotta change our mind and go back to how is my life gonna glorify God and not myself?
Speaker 1 00:24:36 Second Corinthians one says, says it like this, verse three and four, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercies and God of all comfort. Now, pay attention to that word comfort, cuz you’re gonna hear it a lot here, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Now, nothing like the extra spiritual version there. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I’m sure the NLT said it a little bit better than that, but <laugh>, this was a good translation. It, you know, that’s, that’s what he, that’s what Paul’s saying there, is that God gave you, I mean, really, if you read between the lines, you get, you were given your affliction so that you could be comforted by God so that you could comfort someone else with the comfort that came from God. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So the comfort that you got, you get to pass on to the next person.
Speaker 3 00:25:34 Yeah. And I think, you know, you’re, you’re talking about the, the temptation to, to just be done, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I think almost everybody who goes through these steps, how’s that temptation? And when you read these verses right here, man, it should take us right back to remembering where he has comforted us, where he has rescued us from. And that right there, I mean that, how could we not want to help offer that to other people mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, and, and that that’s really the beauty of it. He did, he did it for a purpose. And, you know, when we were talking earlier about, you know, w would you, would you wish that you’d never, you know, had this addiction or something? And I, you know, there, there are things that I wish I hadn’t had to go through mm-hmm. <affirmative>, but I wouldn’t, I, I would rather be nowhere else than I am right now.
Speaker 3 00:26:34 And whatever God did to bring me here, I’m grateful for that. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and, and yeah, this is, this is powerful. This is, this is now, it gives a purpose to what we’ve gone through. Just, just, um, being rescued from it and then trying to shove it in the past and forget about it. Well, what purpose does it serve? It’s, it’s nothing. It, it, it served no purpose. Now it can serve a purpose. Like, like Eric, you were talking about earlier. God works everything for good, for those who love him. You know, it says in in his word, and this is one of those things, he will use this for good. And it doesn’t have to be a waste. So we shouldn’t waste it. And if we don’t take this out and use it, if we don’t do step 12, go out and comfort people offer, offer, you know, the way that we’ve been helped offer that to other, other people, man, then we’re, we’re wasting it. We’re wasting what we’ve
Speaker 1 00:27:28 Been given. That’s a good, that’s a great word. Don’t waste your addiction. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, you, you, it is a waste. It was just, it was just wasted on you if you don’t, if you don’t help someone else to experience the recovery that you’ve experienced. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 00:27:43 <affirmative>. Yeah. It’s also a humbling thing too. It’s, you know, rem when you’re sharing your story a lot, you remember where you came from, so then the glory goes back to God and not yourself. Because that’s one of humans’ biggest problem, especially addicts, is pride. You know, you start to all of a sudden, you know, uh, get some success and get some blessing from God, and, uh, things are going well for you. And, and the natural response is to say, man, I got this thing licked. I’ve done a great job. I’m an awesome person, man. I am gifted. I have all these talents. I don’t know why people wouldn’t want to, you know, listen to me. Right? And, and, and that’s what will happen. I, I promise you, because I’ve had those thoughts in my mind, and I’ll just be honest, is, is that if I start to forget where I came from and all that God did in my life, then I start to again, go back to the selfish way of thinking, thinking that somehow I got myself out of this. Right. Like, and, you know, wanting to put on a, a fake face for everyone else. And so we need to share our stories to help other people and to also remember where we came from too.
Speaker 3 00:28:58 Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 00:28:59 <affirmative>. Now you say, the last thing you say here in this topic, Eric, is that the last step is really the first step back to the beginning, but with a new perspective. What do you mean by that?
Speaker 2 00:29:10 Well, because this is something people will always say, well, where do we go from here? You know, we is is after I go through the 12 step, is it done? Like, do I get to graduate and, and not do anything, not go to groups, not be accountable to anyone anymore. And I say, no, no, I’m sorry. You know, I’m sorry, but you’re now on a new trajectory in life now. Um, take all the things that you just learned and go back through ’em again with another person. Hmm. You know, take someone else through it with you, because it’s kind of like reading the Bible. You know, you, every time you read through it, you, you glean something new. You get something that you never had before. Right? And so, again, um, trying to go back and practice all these principles in your own life, um, and then being reminded of, you know, how you answered these questions. And when you take another person through it, you can help them by sharing your story all over again. Taking someone else through it, um, is going to be, um, what we say we used to say is, we mature by helping others. If you want to keep growing, you’ve gotta help other people and help them the same way that you were helped. So if you were helped by these 12 subs, take ’em back through it, right?
Speaker 1 00:30:31 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, Jesus said it like this, but we gotta, we gotta end on this verse when we’re talking about step 12, it really kind of comes all the way back to Matthew 20 eight’s called the Great Commission. When Jesus Co mission means He, he wants us to go on mission with him co mission. And he says in verse 18 of Matthew 28, all authority in heaven on Earth has been given to me. And then in verse 19, he says, therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, son, holy Spirit. And teaching them to observe all the commandments that I’ve given you. And behold, I’m with you always to the end of the age. I love that passage. We could spend the next hour talking about it. But first thing that jumps out at me is he said, he says, the reason I want you to go is because I have authority.
Speaker 1 00:31:17 So he’s, it’s not an option. He’s saying, go do it. If you’re my follower, go make disciples. And, and what is, what does it mean to make a disciple? It means to teach them to observe everything I’ve commanded you. So, like you said, right, Eric, everything you’ve learned, every all the tools and tricks and tips that you’ve learned over these 12 lessons, go teach it to somebody else. And then I, I can almost see the disciples, cuz remember they were just fishermen and tax collectors. They were just normal guys. Right. We’ve talked a lot about normal guys here today. They were just normal guys. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and nothing special about ’em. No special training, no special qualification. They weren’t Pharisees, they weren’t trained in the Torah, in the Old Testament law. You could, I could tell, I could just see it. If we could see the picture of this, I could see when Jesus is giving this commission to them, I could see them just saying like, what are you serious us?
Speaker 1 00:32:13 I could see probably fear, anxiety coming over their faces. Probably like some people today listening to this saying, I don’t know if I buy this one. I bought the first 11, but I don’t, I think I’m gonna return number 12. I don’t like this one. And that’s why I think Jesus ended in verse 20 with this. He says, behold, I’m with you always to the end of the age. Hmm. You, you know, you’ve had a spiritual awakening. Jesus is with you. You’re not going in your own strength. You’re not going in your own power. You’re not going with your own own comfort. You’re going because you’re, you’re going cuz Jesus said to, and you’re going with him, he’s going with you. He’s gonna be with you even as you go and help someone else.
Speaker 3 00:32:48 Yeah. And you’ve already seen at this point him working. You’ve already seen him rescuing you from, you know, traits and behaviors and fear and all these things that you were ruled by. So you, I mean, by the time you get to this step, you already see the miraculous work that he can do. And I think, you know, we talk, you, you were just talking about the disciples and what normal guys they were. Well, Peter, the fishermen, right? Who, like you said, he wasn’t a pharisee, he wasn’t this religious, uh, teacher. Uh, he goes, and in the book of Acts, he actually, he, he basically takes them through all of their scriptures and teaches them the gospel that was, that was, you know, wrapped through the whole story of the Bible mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And I mean, that was for somebody untrained to be able to do that, to teach that.
Speaker 3 00:33:43 I mean, that, that’s the kind of stuff that God does mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And I know I’ve seen him do it in my life. I know you’ve seen him do it in your life. I’m sure Eric and you, Brian, where it, you know, he will give you the words, he’ll speak through you. There are times where I, I, I didn’t have any knowledge of something that I was discussing with somebody. And somehow he, he was able to just give me the words to say, Hmm, I’ve seen it many, many times. And, and so that’s, that’s where this really is. It’s, he will be with us. Mm-hmm. He will. And we’ve already seen it, and he’s gonna continue to do it.
Speaker 2 00:34:19 Yeah. Let’s back up real quick. In Peter’s life, um, he’s such a great, um, example of probably a modern day addict. You know, he, he was zealous, he was passionate, he was bold. He was an extreme guy, but he was always up and down and up and down, right? He w he wanted to be committed and faithful. And he says, Lord, I would never, I would never desert you, even if all these other guys, if the, the the 11 desert, you, I’m not gonna do that. And, and what does he do? He, you know, he deserts Jesus and denies him three times as he got arrested. Uh, he was scared that he was gonna be harmed. And so he falls back and is, is, is acting and cowardice. And, and then when Jesus is resurrected, um, he, he, he comes and meets his disciples on the beach.
Speaker 2 00:35:07 And, and Peter decides, I’m just gonna go back to what I’m comfortable doing, what I know. Right? I’m gonna go back to the thing that I was doing before Jesus called me. And, and, and Jesus calls him and he says, Hey, you’re not catching any fish out there. He is like, why don’t you throw the net on the other side? And, and Peter’s like, well, hey man, I’m a fisherman. I’ve been doing this for a while, <laugh>, you know, I mean, if I the fisher, if they’re not on this side, they’re not on that side, right? And, and so Jesus says, no, throw the net on the other side. And Peter’s like, all right, I’ll do it. And, and they end up catching this huge catch, you know? And it’s like, it’s almost as if Jesus is saying, I control those fish. You know, I, I’m the one who has power over everything.
Speaker 2 00:35:54 And I told you that you are gonna be a fisher for of men. When I first called you, I told you that I was gonna change your life. You’re, you’re trying to go back to the old way of living. But here I am now, come and sit down and eat with me. And then he, he restores him by saying, do you love me? And he says it three times to try to, to, to offset the three times that he, that he denied him. And he says, do you love me? Okay, then go feed my sheep. You know? And so then I, I believe Peter, you know, was able after that to, after he was restored by Jesus, by the grace and love of God, like to know, all right, I know my purpose now. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> like he’s, he’s taught me for three years and I’ve, I’ve stumbled and I’ve fallen back time and time again, but I know what I’m gonna do.
Speaker 2 00:36:42 So much so that I’m willing to go die for, um, telling this message that he wants me to tell to the ends of the earth, to go make disciples, to be fishers of men. And he’s such Peter’s, such the, you know, such a great example that I, I feel like I can, I can relate to him out of everyone in the Bible mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, because he had this zeal and passion to go and he, he changed and he was radical. And like you said, he preached the sermons and he was basically the leader of the disciples. Mm-hmm. You know, when he went on. And, um, God used a broken man to go do great things. And it’s because Peter was willing to take this great commission seriously. And so for us as addicts, um, and this is, this is what I’m gonna say, like, don’t have a peter moment and go fall back into what you used to do using, or or another way of life, a selfish way of life, because you’re, you’re fearful.
Speaker 2 00:37:37 I mean, so many times people get to this step, or even in Christianity when you’re called to make disciples, it’s like, ah, I don’t know if that’s my purpose. I mean, that’s like the pastor’s purpose, you know, that, that like the, the holy people’s purpose, that’s their purpose. But for me, no, I’m, I’m supposed to, you know, I look out to the world and I’m supposed to have the white picket fence and have all the items and the, you know, the house and the, the, the family and just, that’s what I, that’s what people start to idolize, you know? And, but the Bible says, you know, I know all the things that you need. Seek first the kingdom of God, and I’ll add these things to you. And so he’s calling not just addicts, but everybody to a radical mindset of, will we be kingdom minded and trust that God along the way will give us that abundant life.
Speaker 2 00:38:27 But first, and this is what I tell addicts all the time. Like, they, we get to this step and they’re like, okay, we’ve had some clean time. We don’t need to come to groups so much anymore. And, and you know what I usually see, it’s like almost every one of those people ends up relapsing again. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yeah. And this right here is, is really the, the way to not relapse. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. It’s, if you start going and helping other people and, and living out that commandment that Jesus gave every one of his followers, um, he will do a work in you that, that he had never done before. Because that is the purpose in which you can’t have, um, continuous power flowing into you and not have it being poured out into other people. Like we are a vessel, we’re a conduit. And so God promises to pour into us as we pour into other people.
Speaker 2 00:39:26 Somebody gave me this amazing analogy about the Dead Sea. Um, he said, somebody said that there is a, there’s another bo body of water in Israel that’s like, um, is it the Sea of Galilee? The Sea of Galilee in the Dead Sea actually come from the same, uh, source of water. So why is the Sea of Galilee so rich full of fish and life and all that, the, you know, the same place where Peter was gonna catch that big catch. And the Dead Sea basically has no life in it. It’s because the Sea of Galilee has it, it has, it flows out, it has water coming in, and it has water coming out, and it’s a continuously fresh body of water. But the Dead Sea, it ends there and nothing comes out of it. And so for us, do we wanna be the Dead Sea or do we want to be the fresh sea, the, the, the sea that has life and, and, and growing in it and able to supply the needs of other people? Like do we want to be that or do we want to become the salty dead sea that has nothing in it? We’ve gotta be pouring into other people if we want to be healthy
Speaker 1 00:40:38 <laugh>. That’s good. Mark, let’s finish by reading step 12 one more time.
Speaker 3 00:40:44 Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Speaker 1 00:40:53 So find all of these conversations, all 12 steps [email protected] slash recovery. Use it in your recovery group. Use it one-on-one to disciple somebody. You can find all these podcasts there. You can find some videos to go along with it, discussion questions. It’s all there. And so much more at pursue god.org/recovery.