AA utilizes the "buddy system" (called sponsors) to keep its members in line and on track. This is vital to their philosophy: NO ONE IS AN ISLAND OR A ROCK, WE ALL NEED SOMEONE. I learned the same mindset in the Army also called the "buddy system" and wouldn't have made it through had I not found someone I could count on through thick and thin when the chips were down he was there. Basically, I was "discipled" by Navigators and learned that one must be accountable to ever grow. It isn't just "Jesus and you," as some approach the Christian life. This is an opportunity to go one-on-one with a mature believer and to get intense personal mentoring.
We all need someone to fall back on in time of need and that knows us, even our faults and weaknesses--accepting us nevertheless. One of the greatest tragedies in war is that many soldiers lose their buddy and it's like losing a family member or worse because they have so much invested in him. Buddies laugh and cry together and go through experiences together so they can share their lives: It is an awful fate to face life alone without anyone to share it with.
The Christian life is like that, it's not so much whom we know, but also who knows us and how well--are we aboveboard and forthright? Galatians 4:9 says that it's not that we know God, but that He knows us; this is echoed in Psalm 139, which declares how well He knows us. We are indeed "fearfully and wonderfully made." No one can face life's challenges and adversities alone, and most people find a mate to share life with, but those who are single they must keep on searching for someone significant to bond with. It is a gift of God to be able to remain single (called celibacy) and still find fulfillment.
We all need someone to fall back on in time of need and that knows us, even our faults and weaknesses--accepting us nevertheless. One of the greatest tragedies in war is that many soldiers lose their buddy and it's like losing a family member or worse because they have so much invested in him. Buddies laugh and cry together and go through experiences together so they can share their lives: It is an awful fate to face life alone without anyone to share it with.
The Christian life is like that, it's not so much whom we know, but also who knows us and how well--are we aboveboard and forthright? Galatians 4:9 says that it's not that we know God, but that He knows us; this is echoed in Psalm 139, which declares how well He knows us. We are indeed "fearfully and wonderfully made." No one can face life's challenges and adversities alone, and most people find a mate to share life with, but those who are single they must keep on searching for someone significant to bond with. It is a gift of God to be able to remain single (called celibacy) and still find fulfillment.
It is the hard times in life that teach us to lean on Jesus and to seek help in the body of Christ, so that we don't become self-sufficient and think too highly of ourselves, or even become independent. In the "buddy system," nobody is superior nor inferior, but both are equals in the Lord and pull each other up by their bootstrap, depending on them in time of need. They owe each other and see eye-to-eye, not necessarily on every issue, and they can walk hand-in-hand throughout life.
The important thing is unity, not uniformity and knowing what things are negotiable--they must keep bearing in mind that they're on the same side. Even spouses have their disagreements, quarrels, and then eventually makeup and go on living in spite of it. We are to prefer one another above ourselves and to fully accept one another despite their faults; for we are not perfect either and Christ has accepted us. Soli Deo Gloria!