Russell Spatz, a 43-year sober veteran of sponsoring hundreds of men, attending thousands of meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous, and who is sought after as the main speaker at groups all over the world, gives us a very truthful and direct answer to an issue that is increasingly of major concern to many members of Alcoholics Anonymous. This concern centers on the growing awareness in A.A. circles that there are very few long-term members attending A.A. meetings. The reason: It is believed that there is simply not that many people that achieve decades of long-term sobriety in A.A., when compared to those that obtain 1-5 years of sobriety. It is Russell’s belief, and many others world-wide, that the A.A. of today is not fostering an environment that produces the original claims that A.A. had in the beginning. Those claims are made clear in the following excerpt from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous.
“We have found much of heaven, and we have been rocketed into a fourth dimension of existence of which we had not even dreamed. The great fact is just this, and nothing less: That we have had deep and effective spiritual experiences which have revolutionized our whole attitude toward life, toward our fellows and toward God’s universe. The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our Creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a way which is indeed miraculous. He has commenced to accomplish those things for us which we could never do by ourselves” (Alcoholics Anonymous, Chapter 2, There is A Solution).
This excerpt from the Big Book was a testament of the original members of A.A. that actually tapped into the power of the biblical God. The biblical God is the only understanding of God that can yield this claim, as well as the many other claims, truths, and promises made throughout the Big Book. These references to God throughout the book have all been validated that the source of the individual’s beliefs that enabled to make such claims, is truly biblical.
Somewhere along the history line of A.A. the idea of the biblical God has been diminished so severely in in-person meetings it is almost non-existent. It has been replaced by the increasing misbelief that talking about God in meetings will “kill the newcomers.” Of course, that is a gigantic lie, but it seems to prevent and block the normal free flowing sharing experiences of people who do embrace the biblical God. It was the belief in a biblical God that initiated and brought about the A.A. program and its solution in the beginning years. And yet it is so easily forgotten.
Listen to this talk of Russell Spatz in one of the many in-person and zoom meetings he speaks at daily. He is very clear on the reason as to why the A.A. program in today’s environment does not satisfy the real needs of the old-timer. This talk was recently given at the “Life is Good Group” in Florida.
This author is in full agreement of the points that Russell makes about the erosion of truth that has happened in the majority of the A.A. meetings world-wide. This has happened because of the erroneous interpretation of the phrase “God as we understood Him” found in Step 3 of the 12-Step A.A. program.
From the book Eternal Sobriety, Chapter 3, The 12-Step Waltz, pages 48 and 49, we see this corroborating evidence:
“Initial sobriety (abstinence) in A.A. can be (and often is) accomplished without conscious reliance upon spiritual belief or practice. Sober atheists and agnostics are among us. It is relevant to note that atheists and agnostics had an effect on the final wording of the 12 Steps. To accommodate this group the Steps were modified such that “God” became “God as we understood Him.” This resulted in the nonsectarian, spiritual latitude we find in A.A. today. That latitude was not intended to eliminate God or provide for some substitution for God.
The terminology of “God as we understood Him” provides enough latitude to allow anyone to benefit from spiritual principles, regardless of their sectarian belief in God. Benefits are inherent to the principles. They just work better when belief in God becomes a reality. In A.A. we discover we are not God (although we acted like it); and application of the principles can grow us out of atheism and agnosticism – if we were before. With growth, we learn that the group’s collective wisdom has limited power. The people in the group are human, too. They often make mistakes, and they do not always have the right answers.
There is tremendous support found in Alcoholics Anonymous. We derive great emotional support from likeminded alcoholics struggling together with a common problem. The beliefs found in the group are a collective source of wisdom that helps many. Its primary purpose is to help us stay sober. By itself the group is not enough. The growth that we gain from working the Steps and from going to meetings is not enough to carry us through the hard situations of life.
Until we have plugged into the true source of Power, God Himself, we cannot draw enough power from secondary sources to live an abundant life of peace and serenity. Inventing a self-made god as our source of power will delay us in finding lasting serenity. We can form habits to prevent us from drinking. We might even acquire a great deal of knowledge of the program, and perfect the art of staying sober one day at a time. Without God, we will remain spiritually incomplete.
Given the right conditions or circumstances we would still likely take that drink of alcohol – if it wouldn’t reduce us to the original state of suffering that brought us to Alcoholics Anonymous. This desire is likely deep in our belief system, and if not, can easily return. Only our Creator can look into our complex belief system and provide what’s needed to remove that harmful and destructive desire to drink.
Choosing something other than the real God is folly according to Jeremiah the prophet. He states: Say this to those who worship other gods: “Your so-called gods, who did not make the heavens and earth, will vanish from the earth and from under the heavens.” But the Lord made the earth by his power, and he preserves it by his wisdom. With his own understanding he stretched out the heavens. (Jeremiah 10:11-12)
We should be careful to not confuse “God as we understood Him” with a “god of our own making.” In other words, we should align ourselves with the original intent of Step Three and not try to conjure up some false idea of God. The truth of the matter is, in early A.A., it was not a question if God existed – it was a question of how well the alcoholic understood Him. We are speaking of the biblical God and not just some idea of a supernatural entity. There is ample historical evidence of the A.A. beginnings to validate this fact. Making light of the truth about God in A.A. is a serious error often made.
We need to remember that we are the alcoholics who could not stop drinking after years of trying on our own. Do we honestly have the knowledge and power that will allow us to ascertain the true nature of God? It seems wise and expedient to seek the truth about God from spiritual sources that are free from self. The Bible is clear: There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death (Proverbs 14:12). If old King Solomon, renowned for his wisdom, wrote that he couldn’t choose the right way to God, how do you and I figure we can do any better? (Eternal Sobriety, pp. 48-49)
If you are a Bible believer and you are finding it difficult to share about the true God because of complaints that you are killing the newcomer or that the program is spiritual and not religious, there is real help. You are not alone. Two things are happening. First, there are now many A.A. meetings by groups over the on-line Zoom network, where the issue is not dominating. In fact, many are very God-friendly. These groups allow you the luxury to share your own experience, strength, and hope including your understanding of the biblical God. Second, is that you can be enlightened as to how to gain the ability to share your experiences at all A.A. meetings, as it was intended in the beginning, by properly sharing truths found in the Big Book and other A.A. literature.
There is currently a workshop on Zoom (not an A.A. meeting) that will help you understand the problem and what you can do to minimize it. He does both a Friday evening and a Saturday morning workshop. His workshop talks are all about helping individuals understand the difficulties that arise when not finding the real God in secular AA meetings. His sessions are followed by individuals sharing how finding God has made a big difference in their 12-step recovery. Here is the audio from a typical Zoom workshop, as given by Russell Spatz on Saturday, August 12. 2023. Personal shares are emitted from this example for anonymity purposes.
The workshop Zoom information is at the end of this article. If you wish to follow Russell Spatz more closely, you can join a large WhatsApp group of like-minded people, where you will find daily announcements of God-friendly meetings, posts of different Zoom meetings, and interactive chats. To be added to Friends of Russell on WhatsApp click this link:
https://chat.whatsapp.com/Ff5bfD2w92E9hjVv0TNScH
You can also send an email to Russell and make a request to be added to a weekly email where Russell will be speaking and find previous talks. rspatz@spatzlawfirm.com
Here is the link for the website where all of Russell’s talks over the years including recent can be found.
Russell S. (all) Archives – Alcoholics Anonymous Speaker Recordings (rocketed.org)
There are now on-line Zoom groups appearing that are God-friendly. One such group is called “The South Dixie” group and they meet Monday through Friday afternoon meetings and 2 times a day in addition to weekend meetings. Most of the members of this group also attend and listen to the Saturday workshop and attend Friday night A.A. meetings that are God-friendly and hosted by Russel Spatz. The way to get more information about God-friendly meetings and workshops is to attend one of the daily meetings of the South Dixie group. Here is their schedule. These meetings are all in the Eastern Time Zone. Russell is often at the M-F 4 PM afternoon meeting.
Russell Spatz Weekly Workshops
Fridays 7:00 PM (EST) – Alive Again (Christian 12-step recovery)
Meeting ID: 832 6524 1424 PW: Jesus
Saturdays 9:45 AM (EST) – 9:45 am (Doors Open) – WORKSHOP on Emotional Sobriety w/ Russell (You must be registered with ZOOM to log in – it is free to register)
Meeting ID: 784 190- 750 PW here4faith (workshop is 1.5 + hrs.)
If you are in A.A. and want to grow in your understanding of the biblical God and wish to learn how the A.A. program was patterned after biblical truth, you can purchase the book Eternal Sobriety here. Eternal Sobriety: A Spiritual Guide to Understanding Recovery: Pearson, Neal R: 9781533385352: Amazon.com: Books