There are a lot of new things going on in my life. My kids are growing up, and it has been a joy watching them grow up over the years. I am about to take my oldest son to Auburn for a campus visit. My stepson is set to graduate from high school over the summer. My youngest son will be a junior and is considering his future career aspirations. And then there is my daughter, who works full-time at a salon, where she is an aspiring cosmetologist. So, now instead of helping them with their math homework – something I wasn’t all that great about – I am giving them career and real-life advice. Sometimes it is challenging because they think they know everything. (I will admit, they get it honestly.) However, what I end up telling them is that it (whatever “it” is) will almost always take longer than you think it will and will always look different than planned.
Not According to Plan
I was very young, and I had a plan when I began ministry, I knew I was called to pastor. But, I thought I knew a little more. I knew what Bible college and seminary I would go to and everything. As you might guess, none of it went according to my plan. Instead, my plan had detours and adjustments. I finished college, seminary, and a postgraduate degree, but not from the original planned places.
Secondly, for most of my church work, I did so bi-vocationally. I worked a “regular job” while serving a church. My kids experienced and watched all those struggles. Finally, in 2024, thanks to God’s grace, I am working as a full-time pastor at Faith Presbyterian Church! It took a lot longer than I thought it would.
Just the Beginning
I know that the same advice applies to the guys in recovery. It is going to take more time than they think it will. For the better part of a decade, I worked at The Saving Way, the thrift stores that support His Way. During this time, I would get the opportunity to interact with the guys as they begin and walk through the journey of Christ-centered recovery, and I would seem like a broken record saying, “Well it might not work like you have it planned. It may even take longer.” I often said this when the guys would balk about the program being soooooo long, when in reality, it is just an introduction to a lifestyle change.
Part of the issue is that the residents can get caught up in “what to do.” It is easy to do. The staff at His Way has a very in-depth program, and the day is filled with many classes, information, and stuff to do. The guys can get so busy, they possibly miss a very intentional message that guides the whole program. That message is simple. Recovery doesn’t happen by their efforts. There are things they can do, but it is not by their efforts.
The Message of the Bible
The same problem exists in larger humanity. People come to me, as a pastor, wondering what the Bible tells them they should do. I must be careful here because there is an aspect of obedience in the Bible. However, if it was about something you or I could do, then who would be our redeemer? It would be ourselves.
However, that is not the message of the Bible. The message of the Bible, from the beginning to the maps, is that people desperately need God. Consider the “heroes” of the Bible. Abraham was a friend of God, the promised father of many nations. Except for that story with Hagar. David, a man after God’s heart, except for that story with Bathsheba. Paul, the writer of most of the New Testament, held the coats in approval, as the Sanhedrin stoned Stephen. These are just a few examples to show that God is not in the business of working with perfection. Instead, God continues to work with people who need redemption. The truth is that is all of us. His Way builds their whole program around the truth that sobriety and recovery are built on the life-changing redemption of Christ. The Christ-centered recovery program shows these men that their journey to sobriety begins with Christ’s redemption.
Interestingly enough, that life-changing redemption is the only thing that doesn’t take longer than expected. Christ redeems us instantly! However, working out or living out our redemption, that certainly takes time.
Written by Dr. Michael B. Bowe, Pastor of Faith Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.