"Wonder of Wonders" by Sidlow Baxter

     One of my favorite Christmas poems was written by the old Australian pastor and theologian, Dr. J. Sidlow Baxter. Even though I read this poem every year during Advent, I never weary of the beautiful manner in which describes my "indescribable" Savior....

     “Was ever a gift like the Savior given? He leaves the bosom of the eternal Father, and comes to the bosom of an earthly mother. The Son of God becomes the Son of Mary. The Infinite becomes an infant. He who holds the world in His arms is held in the arms of a frail woman. He whose garment is space, whose house is the universe, whose chariots are the clouds, and whose diadems are the stars, is wrapped in swaddling bands, and laid in a manger.     

     “He leaves the palace-beautiful of heaven, for the stable, the work-bench, and having ‘no where to lay His head’.  He lays aside His celestial insignia, for the peasant dress and the purple robe.  He puts aside His scepter of universal sovereignty, for the reed of mock royalty in Pilate’s hall. He who is Prince of life bows His head in death.  He who is without sin becomes Sin-bearer.  The Christ of God becomes the Crucified.  He who is the Father’s delight becomes the God-forsaken.  He who lit the stars lies in the dust.  He comes, He toils, He hungers, He thirsts, He weeps, He suffers, He bleeds and dies! – for God so loved the world that He ‘gave up’ His only-begotten Son.”

Taking Back the 12 Steps

I am becoming increasingly saddened by the lack of personal honesty and brokenness in the church these days. It seems that everyone wants supernatural power, more blessings from God, spectacular experiences of worship and extraordinary spiritual guidance, but few are committed to developing a genuinely broken and serving community of 'powerless' lovers who focus on giving and dying for the world.

What if we- in the church- learned back from 12 Step groups what the founders of Alcoholic Anonymous originally learned from the Church? What if we had the same sense of brokenness, urgency, and life-long commitment as those who 'hit bottom' and then find ways of helping one another to rise above our inclination to live self-centered, faithless, hopeless, and loveless lives? What if we built back into the 12 steps the Christ-centered roots they came from so that we could honestly and repeatedly say– through our church experience– for the rest of our lives:

1. We admitted we were powerless over our inclination live for ourselves at the expense of others.

2. Came to believe that Jesus could restore us to spiritual sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as he has revealed himself in his written and living word.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have God develop within us the attitudes of Christ.

7. Humbly asked him to do in us what we cannot do for ourselves.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation in the Scriptures to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of our shared accountability, we committed ourselves, with God’s help to carry this message to those who are still as hopeless as we once were without Christ, and to practice his principles in all of our affairs.

My question to you is this: Is there something about these 12 steps that could help us to be more realistic about ourselves, while at the same time raising our expectations and hopes for one another? Do you see anything here that might have been lost along the way for the church in America? I certainly do.

My gut tells me that 12 Step programs are growing because the church is falling short of doing what it is intended to do for the broken and hurting of our world. These groups may be living closer to the life God intended for the church than the church is now living.

Grace and Characater Defects

            “I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.”  — Marilyn Monroe

Many of us may share Marilyn's attitude. We are unwilling to be changed. But let's face: Change does not come easily! There is a Chinese saying which goes something like this: ‘It is easier to reshape a mountain or a river than a person’s character....' I've found this to be true even in my own life. How about you?

In my experience, and the experience of millions of others, it is only God who can ultimately remove my character defects. If this true, then what is my role in being changed? 


Well, as I see it, my role is first of all to notice (develop self-awareness) and then admit my defects honestly (the obstacle, of course, is my pride). I must surrender to God (the obstacle here is my spirit of self-reliance and independence), and pull on His grace (the obstacle: my general unwillingness, laziness, or my desire to hold on to them). I must be willing to 'be changed' (this can happen if I become tired of living a lie or weary of the effects indulging my defects brings into my life and the lives of those I love). I must be willing to accept the leading (the will) and grace of God (his divine enablement and power) for that change.


At the end of the day, it is noticing and honestly admitting our weaknesses (to self, God, and others) that may be the greatest challenge for most of us on the road to change. 


By the way, remember that 'nature abhors a vacuum'; it is not enough to remove a character defect- something new and better must take its place. God is ready to help in this matter as well.


That's how I see.