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in process “‘God as we understood him’”

May 15, 2013
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By Glen Doss, Major

How does a person seek help from God when he or she is having difficulty accepting the tenets of the Christian faith, if help is desperately needed now? This is a challenge we must be bold enough to confront when reaching out to the lost and disenfranchised in our charge.

As chaplain, I have found a method which works for me. But when I share with others that I sometimes encourage Adult Rehabilitation Center (ARC) beneficiaries that they might begin by praying “to God as they understand him,” I am often met with astonishment!

Today I want to clarify my actions—and suggest that this approach is in line with Salvation Army founder William Booth’s philosophy of “soup, soap, and salvation”—everything in its proper order. Booth realized that a person’s physical needs for food, shelter, personal hygiene and self-worth must be addressed, as well as spiritual needs. A corollary to this philosophy is the famous Alcoholics Anonymous slogan: “First things first.” In sharing Christ, what counts are results.

The Reverend Samuel Shoemaker, rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in New York, coined the phrase “God as we understood him,” which we find in the literature of Alcoholics Anonymous—as well as that of its numerous spinoff 12-step programs.

Shoemaker had what I believe was good reason for introducing the method. Here’s his thinking:  “Any honest person can begin the spiritual experience by surrendering as much of himself as he can, to as much of Christ as he understands. Begin honestly where you are” (Shoemaker, “Extraordinary Living for Honest Men”). Elsewhere he writes: “Congregational minister Horace Bushnell once said, ‘Pray to the dim God, confessing the dimness for honesty’s sake.’ I was with a man who prayed his first real prayer in these words: ‘O God, if there be a God, help me now because I need it.’ God sent him help. He found faith. He found God…God will come through to you and make himself known” (“How to Find God”).

I agree with Shoemaker, for I have seen men—and was once one myself—who cannot swallow all of Christian theology in one gulp. Just a few days clean and sober, their mind’s full of cobwebs, they come to us with a million questions and doubts about organized religion. They are enormously anxiety-ridden, struggling moment by moment with whether to stick around or run and go get drunk or high.

After an assessment of the individual, if the wall of understanding appears impervious, then, like Shoemaker, I advise him to reach out to the God of his own understanding, to whatever vague concept of God he may have, and seek his help. I encourage him then to watch what happens next. I direct him: “Surrender as much of yourself as you can to as much of God as you understand.” I quote James 4:8—Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

I tell such men, “Let’s begin where you are. You currently have a wall up against the Christian faith—it will take you time to get there—yet we both agree that you need to latch on to God’s power today! Not later!  Let’s start from where you are, and over the next days and weeks, as you listen to the sermons, hymns and Bible studies, hopefully these deeper matters will become clearer to you.”

It is my experience that the vast majority of the men and women who begin their spiritual journeys in our ARC programs—and remain for the full six months—regardless of their religious backgrounds eventually find Christ there. Over the course of extensive spiritual immersion—twice a week chapel services, Bible studies, and daily morning devotions—they ultimately give considerable thought to the Christian faith. As they see many of their prayers answered and repeatedly hear testimonies from others who declare themselves empowered by Christ, most who begin by praying to “the dim God,” eventually find the Trinitarian God of Scripture. The philosophy that works is “one day at a time.”

When management guru Peter Drucker called The Salvation Army “the most effective organization in the U.S.,” he was only confirming what people who work there already believe—that well-trained leadership, careful infrastructure, and a clear, spiritually based mission keep the focus on “soup, soap, and salvation.” The “God as we understood him” approach is part and parcel of this soup and soap philosophy—it leads to salvation.

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