Primary Purpose

Jesus knew that money and buildings would divert his followers from the message about the kingdom and how to avail ourselves of this kingdom in transformation.  A fellow named Bill Wilson, the founder of AA, also got this wisdom.  Unfortunately, my church did not quite hang on to the Jesus wisdom.  We got big into money and buildings.  This is one of the reasons that a lot of hierarchs are focused on money, property and prestige.  Bill Wilson, a spiritual neophyte, got it right.  The Sixth Tradition of AA states: An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.  Such wisdom, and it came from a drunk.  Sometimes AA acts more like a spiritual program than does my church!  Ironically, AA rents space from church buildings.  I hope those recovering drunks remember that the next time someone dumps on Christianity.