Before we dive into a critique of Celebrate Recovery, it must be stated that for many years, there was not a Christian alternative to the popular Alcoholics Anonymous program. Many churches have used this program, most of which are genuinely trying to love God and help people. In addition, there are many variations of CR depending on the church, the individual leader, and the beliefs of the local church leadership. The following information is based solely on my research of Celebrate Recovery's material and observations in the meetings I attended. The purpose of this article is to humbly and faithfully present a few of the foundational beliefs of Celebrate Recovery and the potential for those who struggle to miss true freedom from addiction and sin through the hope of the gospel.
Celebrate Recovery (CR) was created in 1991 by John Baker and his wife Cheryl. John was an alcoholic and had attended AA meetings, but had the desire to create a welcoming place for people that acknowledged Jesus Christ as their higher power. John Baker shared “a vision God had given him for a new Christ-centered ministry where people could find freedom from their hurts, hang-ups, and habits.” (https://celebraterecovery.com/about/)
John shared his vision with Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in southern California. His new ministry plan was happily received and Celebrate Recovery was born.
The Saddleback church webpage describes CR as “A Jesus-centered, 12-step program open to anyone looking for freedom from their hurts, hang-ups, and habits.”
Per Celebrate Recovery’s webpage “Thousands of churches have started a Celebrate Recovery ministry around the world, and that number continues to grow. Celebrate Recovery is not just growing in churches, but in recovery houses, rescue missions, universities, and prisons around the world. It continues to be a growing global movement.” (https://celebraterecovery.com/about/) In addition, CR has several complimentary ministries:
Celebration place ( for kids age 5-13 )
The Landing ( junior high and high school)
Celebrating Pastor’s Recovery ( CPR)
Welcome Home for Veterans
Native Nations and CR International
The need is great and from this limited information we can see that Celebrate Recovery has been well received and loved by many churches and Christians around the world. But what is the message being taught? Is it truly biblical or is it grounded in secular thinking and cultural recovery models? Can bible believing churches embrace this model and still care for their people in a God-honoring way? There are very apparent conflicts with scripture that will be addressed in this article. I pray this is helpful as you consider the best option to serve your church family and community.
Is Jesus just “a higher power”?
One of the fundamental problems with CR is the placement of Jesus Christ as a “higher power.” Although Jesus is stated as the only higher power, this severely minimizes who He truly is. A popular thought regarding Jesus in the culture, and even in the church, is one where we invite him into our life and our problems all go away. This is not a new concept, a “me-centered Jesus” is what most people want. We are the king of our own kingdom and when we make a mess of it, we expect him to clean it up. After all, I accepted him into my kingdom, shouldn’t he be responsible to make it the way I want so that I can be happy? But this is NOT the way of God, and this thinking makes Jesus simply a “god of our own understanding” (12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, Step 3). The truth is, God doesn’t come into our kingdom to make it the way we want, he rescues us from the destruction of our own kingdom and places us in his kingdom, where HE is king. 1 Peter 2:9 says:
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
Jesus Christ is God in the flesh and we can never minimize him to something other than who He is. We should stand in awe of Almighty God, humbled by the fact that he would accept us into his kingdom.
“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power “ Hebrews 1:3a
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” John 1:1-5
In addition, there is no emphasis placed on the hope given through Christ’s sacrifice or the promise of reconciliation with God and eternal life. The message of sin is so watered down that it could be named as just another problem that Jesus can solve.
If the message of Jesus’ sacrificial love, the depth of our sin, and the payment that was made on our behalf is left out, Jesus is relegated to be just another “higher power” that is required to give us what we want.
Hurts, Hang-ups and Habits
Hurts, Hang-ups and Habits have been the fundamental concept of Celebrate Recovery from the beginning. Freedom from these three things are paramount. Hope and healing is offered through the 12 steps, 8 principles and attending CR with Jesus as your higher power. This model groups all of life’s struggles into the same category. Some of the problems addressed are: Co-dependency, Chemical Dependency, Love and Relationship Addiction, Physical/Sexual/Emotional Abuse for Women along with a 12 steps for physical/sexual and emotional abuse (not recommended if you are sensitive in this area), Mental Health, Gambling Addiction, Sexual Addiction, Food Addiction, Eating Disorders, Freedom from Anger, Adult Children of family dysfunction, and Mixed Issues (which basically covers every other area).
Where I can appreciate the cultural words and more accessible terms, the Bible would frame hurts, hang-ups and habits as Sufferers, Sinners and the enSlaved. By only seeking Jesus for healing from these specific things, sin and repentance are not at the forefront and a biblical understanding of suffering is completely dismissed. All believers are sufferers, sinners, and can be enslaved, but addressing these issues as blanket problems can be confusing and potentially harmful. Scripture speaks to these problems separately, yet always points back to the message of the gospel.
To the Sufferer, God speaks lovingly and gently.
In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus says “ Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
John 16:33 ” I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
In his book Saints, Sufferers and Sinners, Mike Emlet says regarding suffering “There is a temptation to either numb ourselves in resignation or to aggressively try and fix what’s wrong by wielding whatever control and power we can muster within ourselves. Scripture models neither approach, but instead directs us to our Savior with whom we are united, in both his suffering and his comfort.” (Saints, Sufferers, and Sinners; Mike Emlet, Page 79)
Understanding a biblical view of suffering is crucial because this is the place where people can be damaged the most. By addressing “hurts” in the same category as hang-ups and habits, fragile, breakable people can be deeply harmed. Suffering people need to hear the glorious truths of the gospel; even though we will suffer here on earth, we have been rescued, redeemed, we belong to Christ and are promised an eternal life without any pain or suffering. (Rev 21) If CR takes every situation and applies the 12 steps and 8 recovery principles as the solution with Jesus Christ as the higher power, then freedom from your hurt, hangup or habit is always the goal. How does a sufferer find hope to persevere?
To the Sinner, we are lovingly called to repent and believe.
“And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:31-32
“But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus.” Acts 3:18-20
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:8-9
Jesus calls unbelievers to repent and believe for salvation, and calls believers to keep repenting! Reducing sin to a “hang-up” it omits the weight of responsibility and the call to repent and confess our sin. CR states that we are forgiven when we believe in Jesus, but never acknowledges a Holy God, the gravity of our sins against him and the awesome mercy of God for payment of these sins through Jesus' death, burial and resurrection.
To the enSlaved we are exhorted and called to obedience.
“It was for freedom that Christ set us free. Therefore, stand firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1
“Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” Romans 6:16-18
“to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-24
God’s mercy softens our hard hearts. When we trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord, we change, because we love him and desire to please him. The beginning of being freed from any habit is a changed heart. We can stand firm, put off old habits and put on new desires because the Holy Spirit lives inside us. This is not easy; it’s very difficult. This is why God gave us the church, brothers and sisters in Christ, and faithful pastors and leaders to help along the way.
Forgiveness
Celebrate Recovery’s doctrine of forgiveness is troublesome and potentially harmful to those who have no knowledge or limited knowledge of God. Directly from one of their meetings, these three principles of forgiveness are taught (emphasis theirs):
1. Forgiveness from God to us
Have you accepted Jesus' work on the cross?
Have you accepted God’s forgiveness?
Romans 3:22-25
2. Forgiveness from us to others
Have you forgiven others that hurt you? Romans 12:17-18
Who is your anger hurting the most? It sets you above others
You must forgive “GOD” Yes, that’s right, you must forgive God.
God gave us free will, all harm from others was their choice, God has nothing to do with our suffering, so anger toward God is misplaced. (1 Peter 5:10: “You will have to suffer only a little while; after that, God, who is full of grace, the one who called you to his eternal glory in union with the Messiah, will himself restore, establish and strengthen you and make you firm.” (CJB Complete Jewish Bible))
3. Forgiveness for ourselves
We must ask God to help us forgive ourselves
If we don’t forgive ourselves, we can’t forgive others
Acknowledge ourselves, give ourselves greater respect
Forgive yourselves and change the future.
The first 2 names on your list of amends should be God and ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39: “And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself”)
Forgiveness from God to us is most assuredly needed. This however is the most extensive explanation of the gospel presented. The sheer amount of information on the other points compared to God’s forgiveness shows that the focus is not on our sin and the penalty for that sin.
Forgiving yourself is a popular concept in the church today. This comes from secular therapies that offer self-love as the cure. Remember, biblically speaking, the foundation of man’s problems is self love and mankind has been searching for an answer to his problems outside of God from the beginning. The problem with this belief is that we don’t sin against ourselves, we sin against a Holy God, forgiveness is relational. The felt need of self-forgiveness is actually shame. We still feel bad about ourselves even after we believe in Jesus for salvation, we think that to be forgiven by God just isn't quite enough. It feels unbelievable that God would forgive us completely. The beautiful thing is that Christ bore our guilt and shame on the cross. “It is finished,” He said (John 19:30). This beautiful truth is hard to understand and grasp and sometimes it takes a long time for this to settle in our hearts. But Jesus Christ is our goodness, our righteousness and as believers, when God sees us, He sees his perfect Son. Some people have horrible pasts, with much hurt and sorrow. Even so, God sees us and knows us (Psalm 139), He calls us his children (1 John 3:1) and we can never be separated from his love (Romans 8:38-39). This covers shame and takes away the need for self-forgiveness.
Most importantly, teaching the need to forgive God is dangerous. This implies that God has somehow made a mistake or has sinned needing forgiveness. Don’t forget, forgiveness is relational. We seek forgiveness from one another when we sin against someone. If we believe that God cannot sin, as the Bible clearly states (1 Peter 2:22, 1 John 3:5, Hebrews 4:15), this idea is fundamentally unbiblical. David Powlison addresses it this way:
“The person who really deals with anger at God by repentance and faith will no longer feel angry at God. He will feel overwhelming gratitude because he has found forgiveness, not because he has granted forgiveness…The repenting and believing heart will not settle for some uneasy truce between past sufferings and current willingness to tolerate some relationship with God. The believing heart will find truth, joy, hope, and love unspeakable.” (David Powlison, Anger at God, Journal of Biblical Counseling 30:2; 2016)
To put Celebrate Recovery’s understanding of forgiveness in perspective, I’d like to suggest a sample “prayer” of a young girl who thinks she must forgive God for her pain. She is a first time guest at CR, doesn’t know anything about Jesus, but has a true desire to seek God. Here is her prayer:
God,
I’m really having a hard time and I don’t understand why bad things happen all the time. I am so tired of feeling sad and anxious. I am supposed to believe in Jesus and accept your forgiveness, but I’m not really sure what that means. I think Jesus died for my sins, but the things that happened to me weren’t really my fault so I think I need to forgive you. I was told that it wasn’t your fault either and that you didn’t mean for the bad things to happen. Were you too busy to see what was happening? We all make mistakes, I forgive you for that. So since I forgive you and you forgive me, we’re all good now? Will you help me forgive myself? -Amen.
Can you see how harmful this is? This prayer is taken directly from the concepts of forgiveness taught by Celebrate Recovery. Offering false hope and salvation is a serious offense to God. As followers of Christ, we are responsible for how we teach the Word of God. In the book of Job when Job and his friends question God and his ways, God responds this way:
“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know!" Job 38:3-5
In other words, who do you think you are?
Fellow Christian, we cannot miss this. God is not a higher power that we conjure up to take away our hurts, habits and hang-ups. Our God is Sovereign, Holy, Just. He is the creator of the universe. He cannot lie, He never sleeps, He is always near, He is perfect in all his ways and He WILL COME in judgement someday. We must share the good news of Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord to those struggling with addictions. There is nothing more important than true salvation of their souls.
"Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:5-11
The message of the gospel is a responsibility that must be shared rightly. Freedom from addiction is not the greatest need; freedom and forgiveness from sin is. Believers in Jesus are made new, are given a new heart and new desires. THIS is the best news for a lost and hurting world. The church must be confident in sharing the truth of scripture - there is power in God’s Word. We do not need to use the concepts of the world to bring help and hope. A compassionate presentation of the truth of our condition and the good news of what Jesus accomplished at the cross will truly change people.
If this understanding of Jesus is new to you, please reach out to us. We would love to share the good news of Jesus Christ with you and help you connect with a church in your area.
If your church would like to start a Recovering Hope meeting and ministry, get more info here.
The Author: Lara Kees is an ACBC Certified Biblical Counselor and serves as the church liaison for Hope for Addiction.