THE HEART OF ADDICTION
CHAPTER 2
Man’s Theories and God’s Truth
While there may be many approaches to addiction, at the heart level there are really only two approaches: God’s biblical approach and mankind’s worldly “wisdom” approach. Most of mankind’s approaches are what I call “mixtures” because they mix Christian truths with worldly lies. Nearly every modern writer on addiction uses a worldly mindset to deal with addictive thoughts and behaviors. While it is impossible to critique every program and its approach, I will address three critical foundational theories of man that oppose the Bible in this chapter. The world’s approach differs from the biblical approach in three important, foundational ways. It is important that you understand how these approaches differ fundamentally so that your thinking can become more biblical. These distinctions can be most easily understood by recognizing that the world’s way is primarily “man-centered” while God’s way is primarily “God-centered.” God has commanded His creatures to be God-centered: “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”11 Man-centered ideas focus upon pleasing man first. God-centered ideas focus upon pleasing God first, and when that occurs, the secondary result is that man will find his pleasure in God. Man-centered ideas can be seen in the prevalence of such unbiblical ideas as “self-help groups,” addiction as a “disease,” and the idea of a “recovery process.” The lies behind these concepts must be exposed with biblical truths prior to understanding the biblical approach to addiction. Sadly, some of today’s churches are preaching and promoting these unbiblical concepts as biblical truth or mixed with biblical truth. It is the “oil and water approach” and everyone knows that oil and water do not mix. They may be placed together into one container, but they remain separate because they are totally different substances. Likewise, biblical truths do not mix well with man-centered concepts and theories. Many of the modern, secular concepts have little biblical support, but because they are popular and supposedly “work,”12 some churches embrace them. Self-Help Groups vs. Christ’s Church How many ideas and phrases have we believed in the past, thinking they were Christian when they were not? For example, where in the Bible does it say, “God helps those who help themselves”? Give up? It is not in the Bible, yet people quote it as a biblical idea. The phrase is not entirely erroneous because God does hold us responsible for our thoughts and actions and He expects us to grow spiritually. However, God has made us dependent upon Him and others, and He has given us resources so that we do not have to rely only upon our own efforts to successfully overcome substance abuse and addiction. God has provided every Christian with: •a Savior in Jesus Christ •the indwelling of the Holy Spirit •the Bible •the evangelical church •prayer •fellowship with believers in Christ in your local church There is no such thing as “self-help” for a Christian. God does not expect you to “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” without His help or the help of other believers in Christ. Repeatedly, the Bible warns believers about traveling down their own path rather than walking God’s path.13 Proverbs 12:15 states: “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.” Proverbs 28:26 says: “Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.” In a group setting, “self-help” meetings, which are often devoid of the Word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit, are like the blind leading the blind. Eventually, you are going to fall into a ditch or walk off a cliff. Turn to your pastor, deacons, elders, biblical counselors, and trusted Christian friends for support, help, accountability, and counseling. God ordained the church to do His work, and helping you to overcome addiction is included. Matthew 16:18b quotes Jesus who says that He is the foundational rock for God’s church: “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Addiction feels like hell on earth. You must utilize God’s church in overcoming addiction because it is an integral part of His plan. Referral to the “Experts” Whether churches believe that Christians can become physically addicted or not, they generally refer their members to secular modalities for help in coping with substance abuse. The physically addicted Christian must then submit to worldly wisdom devoid of Christianity in order “to get clean and sober.” Some pastors, elders, and deacons believe the lie that the church and its leaders are inadequate to help the suffering Christian addict. God has commanded His church to shepherd, protect, help, serve, and minister to Christian addicts. It may be necessary to refer a Christian addict to a medical facility or detoxification unit temporarily if there is the possibility of life-threatening withdrawal symptoms. However, there are numerous drawbacks for Christians who attend secular treatment programs for alcohol and drug addiction. Christians who spend weeks or months in secular treatment facilities are programming their minds with humanistic, man-centered, and anti-Christian teachings. While learning these worldly perspectives that deny the very truth of the Bible, it becomes much more difficult for a Christian who is enslaved to an addiction to come to know the God of the Bible. Philippians 4:13 tells Christians that you “can do all things through Christ” who gives you the strength to do so. Biblical teachings are the only answer because the Bible •is the truth •is sufficient to teach the man of God all things (II Timothy 3:16-17) •reveals God’s character in an accurate and balanced manner Most secular modalities cannot or do not teach the biblical principles of addiction accurately. In fact, basic concepts about mankind propagated by these secular modalities are in direct opposition to the Holy Scriptures. Here are four examples of unbiblical ideas that are promoted in many “Christian programs”: •Man is born without a sinful nature •Man is inherently good and has a “clean slate” at birth •Man goes “bad” due to an “addiction” and must “recover” the old person who was really “good” prior to the “addiction” problem •Addiction is not a sin – it’s a disease Turn to Appendix A for a comparison and contrast of the biblical church and self-help groups. Disease Concept of Addiction vs. Sin Nature Although the idea is less than one hundred years old, the theory of addiction as a “disease” is so prevalent today that it is being preached in some churches! When a lie is repeated many times over, it is often perceived to be true. Such is the case with addiction. While the purpose of this book is to demonstrate the transforming power of the biblical approach to addiction, the prevalence of the disease idea makes it necessary to briefly acknowledge it.14 Initially, the idea of addiction being compared to a medical disease was conceptualized to help people understand the dynamics of addiction. By comparing it to a medical disease, theorists hypothesized that addiction could be better understood. The idea was not originally intended to make addiction into a disease of its own, but regrettably, that is exactly what has happened.15 The humanistic idea that addiction is a “disease” implies that some sickness outside of the addict overtakes them once they’ve tried a mood-altering substance. This “disease” has either penetrated them somehow from the outside, or it is a genetic “disease” passed down by parents. When addicts accept the “disease” idea, they believe they must wrestle with this cancer-like illness for the rest of their lives. The “disease concept” gives the worldly approach more credibility as people often consider the idea to be “real science” and a “medical problem.” This lie offers no hope that the addict will ever completely overcome the “disease”. It is a flawed, humanistic theory on addiction.16 This worldly advice is the best that mankind has to offer. Non-Christians are hopelessly lost, however, whether addicted to drugs or not because they are not trusting Christ with a faith in Him that produces repentance. However, this lie tells Christians that they are hopeless victims of a false “disease” which is not true for the believer in Jesus Christ. Addiction is not a disease. Addiction is a “sin nature” problem and the body responds to the substances in natural ways. Then, in time, the actions associated with addiction become habitual and extremely difficult to overcome. The “symptoms” of the problem are observable and common in most addicts. However, the similarities between the biblical approach and the secular, man-centered approach end there. How can these mixture approaches (mixing some truth with lies) help you attack addiction God’s way when these humanistic lies are in direct opposition to the Holy Scriptures? They can help someone overcome the addiction in the short-term but they do not offer long-term, sustaining help. They do not help an addict clearly understand the heart of addiction and the mixture often confuses those who desire to study God’s Word. God does not consider addiction a “disease,” but a “sin nature” problem. Biblical concepts are truly life-giving to those who profess to love and to trust in Jesus Christ. Trust God’s Word More than Your Ideas and Feelings If you, the Christian addict, have established sinful habit patterns in the flesh, then you must replace them with godly habits.. You have made small decisions in the beginning of your usage of the substance that has now led you to a seemingly hopeless situation in which you feel as if you have no choice. Thankfully, Christians are “born again” and receive a new heart and new nature. The Holy Spirit takes up residence inside you and works in conjunction with God’s Word. You still experience struggles against sin because the sinful nature does not automatically vanish when you are born again. Some of the habits you have learned are not just physical habits but are habitual patterns of thinking and responding to life’s hardships. Your responsibility as a Christian is to cultivate Godly ways of habitually thinking, speaking, behaving, and feeling. This is to be thoroughly explained in the chapters on “Renewing Your Mind.” Again, the idea that your struggle with an addiction is an “incurable, lifelong disease” is a half-truth of humanistic and mixture approaches. The Bible tells you the truth: you will struggle with sinful thoughts, words, and behaviors related to addiction even after you have initially overcome the physical portion of addiction. A biblical, Christian counselor will acknowledge that: •Physically, you may experience real cravings. •Mentally, you may always battle to take your thoughts captive in this life. •Emotionally, you may struggle with feelings of depression, despair, anger, and guilt that will tempt you to want to use drugs and alcohol for an “escape.” •Spiritually, there may be days when you think God has forgotten you and you believe yourself to be separated from Him. A biblical counselor will point you to John 14:16-17 which states: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” The Holy Spirit lives within you even when you feel as if God is far away so do not trust your feelings. To battle your substance abuse problem and addiction requires your best efforts to work at overcoming the powerful grip of the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual components of the sin involved. However, the good news is that your struggles with your “sin nature” will lessen in time as you build a sober and obedient lifestyle while applying the practical tools given in God’s Word, some of which are outlined in this book. In addition, you are not ill-equipped if you are a Christian - you have the power of the Holy Spirit working in you. It is hard work, but worth both the temporal and eternal benefits from God. This is called the process of sanctification in the life of a believer. We will address more on this cooperation of the believer and the Holy Spirit in later chapters. I John 4:4 has some good news for God’s people: “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” Therefore, you cannot say that you are “powerless” to overcome your addiction because Christ within you provides you with the power you need. “Recovery” vs. “Transforming” A final distinction between the secular and mixture approaches as opposed to the biblical approach to addiction is in basic terminology. Instead of the secular word “recovery,”17 a Christian addict who is truly willing yet struggling to maintain sobriety is in a process called a “transformation” according to Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Let’s distinguish between the two terms and their underlying, foundational meanings. The verb “recover” is defined as “to bring back to normal position or condition” as though you have “stumbled, then recovered yourself.”18 The idea of stumbling and then recovering yourself is rooted in the idea that we are born as “good” people without a sin nature. This idea is a comfortable, humanistic concept akin to the idea of “self-help.” Its popularity stems from our desire to believe that we are inherently good rather than inherently sinful. Also, it is a popular idea that we can stumble along life’s path and pick ourselves up “by our bootstraps.” Who needs God when we can “recover our self?” No one needs God if they have the power to “recover” without Him. Furthermore, in the definition for “recover,” you do not need to return “back to” a “normal position” because you were not “normal” before. You were born with a “sin nature” and must become “a new creation” in Christ Jesus.19 There is nothing normal to regain other than returning to your normal, selfish, addicted person. Again, the foundational principle of this definition for “recovery” is the humanistic idea that man is inherently good. Humanists wrongly believe there are good people and there are bad people, but everyone starts out “good” with a “clean slate.” Regrettably, many treatment centers, locked facilities, and self-help groups propagate these humanistic lies and sometimes do so under the guise of Christianity as a so- called “Christian program”! In stark contrast, the Bible does not view man as born “good.” The Bible shows all persons to be born with a selfish “sin nature.” The focus of the sin nature is to please self. The verb “transform” is defined as having “to change in character or condition.”20 Addicts must have the nature of their hearts changed. Addicts cannot change their own hearts. Family members cannot change the addict’s heart. Biblical counselors cannot change the addict’s heart. Only God has the power to change someone’s heart; He changes the heart of a Christian addict by making that heart want to do the right things. Willingness is the essential starting point for a Christian addict. When God changes your heart, then you can begin to replace your flawed, “perishing thinking” with the perfect, joyful, and righteous thinking of God Himself. If you identify yourself as a Christian substance abuser or addict who has had a heart change yet you find yourself struggling with an addiction, then you are in need of a complete “transformation” and not just a “recovery” of your “old self.” Let your old self die and let the new creation in Christ Jesus live! In fact, all Christians want to avoid yielding to their old selves as much as possible. All Christians have three primary responsibilities in the “transformation” process: 1) Put off the old habit patterns of the flesh 2) Renew the mind with God’s Word 3) Put on godly habits of the Holy Spirit.21 Ephesians 4:22-24 is the basis of these three responsibilities that can be applied to the Christian addict: “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.” These three aspects of “transformation” will be covered in more detail in later chapters. One more note about the secular word “recover.” An alternate meaning for “recover” is “to cover again”22 and unfortunately, this is precisely what most addicts do on a continual basis. Here are some heart searching questions to ponder: •Are you willing to give up your mood-altering, addictive substance for a life of submission and sobriety, or does God still need to change your desires to be more pleasing to Him? •Have you been trying to cover the consequences of your addiction by lying and deceiving those who love you? If so, maybe your heart has not yet changed, and you are not interested in becoming sober any more than a rich man desires to become poor. •Have you gone to treatment centers in an effort to appease your wearied loved ones, but not been able to stay sober for long once you left the facility? •Have you gotten off drugs and alcohol but then turned your addiction to sex, food, or other temporary pleasures? This concept is commonly called “cross-addicted” and occurs frequently because no real heart change was made. •Are you willing to submit yourself fully to the process of change that will occur in you as you repent, are forgiven, put off the old manner, renew your mind, and put on the new manner of living for Jesus? Rather than change temporary addictions, you, the Christian substance abuser and addict, require a complete “transformation” from your old self, old way of thinking, addictive habits, and old manner of speaking. Your “new self” must now live in a way that pleases and glorifies God. It is not a “recovering” process of forever grappling with a more powerful foe with no real hope of overcoming it. Instead, it is a “transformation” process by God’s grace and you become a new creation in Christ. It cannot be done apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. One Approach with Authority If you are still not convinced that addiction is not a “spiritual disease with a lifelong process of recovery and self-help groups,” then I challenge you right now to stop reading and go research all truly scientific journals for one shred of scientific proof that addiction is a “disease.” It cannot be done because there is no scientific evidence to support the notion that addiction is a “disease.” It is a man-made theory and it is wrong. Secularists accept the idea of a “disease concept” because it makes sense to them, but their foundation is wrongly based upon the idea that man decides truth. God decides truth, not man. Addiction looks like a disease, but it is a sin nature problem in the heart rather than a disease coming from the outside to the inside. The heart of mankind is not inherently good at birth and does not become corrupted through the traumatic events of life. Instead, the heart of mankind is corrupt at birth and stays corrupt until God intervenes because of His love. The biblical approach agrees with the world’s observations about the symptoms of addiction. But the heart of addiction and the root cause are not the same because the biblical approach deals with a sinful, selfish heart. We are about to examine the same thoughts, words, emotions, and behaviors that humanistic, secular addiction counselors examine when “treating” an addict. This book will observe the same facts, evidence, or “symptoms” of the addiction as the secular world. However, a major difference will emerge in the following pages: you will view these “symptoms” from a biblical foundation of truth that will shed light upon this common problem of addiction. When that occurs, you will be better able to discern the half-truths of the world, and you will distinguish the lies from the truth. You must first learn God’s truth to be able to identify the lies of Satan. Do not try to merge the world’s best ideas with God’s truth or you will get confused. Allow God to speak the truth in love to you about your addiction and you will find peace, joy, comfort, wisdom, and blessing. Read with an open mind realizing that your foundational thinking is probably a mixture of worldly half-truths rather than the purity of God’s Word of Truth that is life-giving and freeing. As you read, consider yourself a “transforming” substance abuser or addict rather than a “recovering” one if you are truly willing to maintain a sober lifestyle that pleases God.
Prayer of Heart Change and Application:
Dear Heavenly Father, I want to face my addiction your way: not in my own strength, not in my own best ideas, not in mankind’s best ideas, and not in a selfish way. I want to submit my knowledge of addiction to you so that you can transform my understanding of it and I can become wise. I need your wisdom, Lord. Please give me knowledge, wisdom, understanding, insight, and discernment so that I will no longer suffer from this addiction and so that I will honor you. Amen.
While there may be many approaches to addiction, at the heart level there are really only two approaches: God’s biblical approach and mankind’s worldly “wisdom” approach. Most of mankind’s approaches are what I call “mixtures” because they mix Christian truths with worldly lies. Nearly every modern writer on addiction uses a worldly mindset to deal with addictive thoughts and behaviors. While it is impossible to critique every program and its approach, I will address three critical foundational theories of man that oppose the Bible in this chapter. The world’s approach differs from the biblical approach in three important, foundational ways. It is important that you understand how these approaches differ fundamentally so that your thinking can become more biblical. These distinctions can be most easily understood by recognizing that the world’s way is primarily “man-centered” while God’s way is primarily “God-centered.” God has commanded His creatures to be God-centered: “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”11 Man-centered ideas focus upon pleasing man first. God-centered ideas focus upon pleasing God first, and when that occurs, the secondary result is that man will find his pleasure in God. Man-centered ideas can be seen in the prevalence of such unbiblical ideas as “self-help groups,” addiction as a “disease,” and the idea of a “recovery process.” The lies behind these concepts must be exposed with biblical truths prior to understanding the biblical approach to addiction. Sadly, some of today’s churches are preaching and promoting these unbiblical concepts as biblical truth or mixed with biblical truth. It is the “oil and water approach” and everyone knows that oil and water do not mix. They may be placed together into one container, but they remain separate because they are totally different substances. Likewise, biblical truths do not mix well with man-centered concepts and theories. Many of the modern, secular concepts have little biblical support, but because they are popular and supposedly “work,”12 some churches embrace them. Self-Help Groups vs. Christ’s Church How many ideas and phrases have we believed in the past, thinking they were Christian when they were not? For example, where in the Bible does it say, “God helps those who help themselves”? Give up? It is not in the Bible, yet people quote it as a biblical idea. The phrase is not entirely erroneous because God does hold us responsible for our thoughts and actions and He expects us to grow spiritually. However, God has made us dependent upon Him and others, and He has given us resources so that we do not have to rely only upon our own efforts to successfully overcome substance abuse and addiction. God has provided every Christian with: •a Savior in Jesus Christ •the indwelling of the Holy Spirit •the Bible •the evangelical church •prayer •fellowship with believers in Christ in your local church There is no such thing as “self-help” for a Christian. God does not expect you to “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” without His help or the help of other believers in Christ. Repeatedly, the Bible warns believers about traveling down their own path rather than walking God’s path.13 Proverbs 12:15 states: “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.” Proverbs 28:26 says: “Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.” In a group setting, “self-help” meetings, which are often devoid of the Word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit, are like the blind leading the blind. Eventually, you are going to fall into a ditch or walk off a cliff. Turn to your pastor, deacons, elders, biblical counselors, and trusted Christian friends for support, help, accountability, and counseling. God ordained the church to do His work, and helping you to overcome addiction is included. Matthew 16:18b quotes Jesus who says that He is the foundational rock for God’s church: “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Addiction feels like hell on earth. You must utilize God’s church in overcoming addiction because it is an integral part of His plan. Referral to the “Experts” Whether churches believe that Christians can become physically addicted or not, they generally refer their members to secular modalities for help in coping with substance abuse. The physically addicted Christian must then submit to worldly wisdom devoid of Christianity in order “to get clean and sober.” Some pastors, elders, and deacons believe the lie that the church and its leaders are inadequate to help the suffering Christian addict. God has commanded His church to shepherd, protect, help, serve, and minister to Christian addicts. It may be necessary to refer a Christian addict to a medical facility or detoxification unit temporarily if there is the possibility of life-threatening withdrawal symptoms. However, there are numerous drawbacks for Christians who attend secular treatment programs for alcohol and drug addiction. Christians who spend weeks or months in secular treatment facilities are programming their minds with humanistic, man-centered, and anti-Christian teachings. While learning these worldly perspectives that deny the very truth of the Bible, it becomes much more difficult for a Christian who is enslaved to an addiction to come to know the God of the Bible. Philippians 4:13 tells Christians that you “can do all things through Christ” who gives you the strength to do so. Biblical teachings are the only answer because the Bible •is the truth •is sufficient to teach the man of God all things (II Timothy 3:16-17) •reveals God’s character in an accurate and balanced manner Most secular modalities cannot or do not teach the biblical principles of addiction accurately. In fact, basic concepts about mankind propagated by these secular modalities are in direct opposition to the Holy Scriptures. Here are four examples of unbiblical ideas that are promoted in many “Christian programs”: •Man is born without a sinful nature •Man is inherently good and has a “clean slate” at birth •Man goes “bad” due to an “addiction” and must “recover” the old person who was really “good” prior to the “addiction” problem •Addiction is not a sin – it’s a disease Turn to Appendix A for a comparison and contrast of the biblical church and self-help groups. Disease Concept of Addiction vs. Sin Nature Although the idea is less than one hundred years old, the theory of addiction as a “disease” is so prevalent today that it is being preached in some churches! When a lie is repeated many times over, it is often perceived to be true. Such is the case with addiction. While the purpose of this book is to demonstrate the transforming power of the biblical approach to addiction, the prevalence of the disease idea makes it necessary to briefly acknowledge it.14 Initially, the idea of addiction being compared to a medical disease was conceptualized to help people understand the dynamics of addiction. By comparing it to a medical disease, theorists hypothesized that addiction could be better understood. The idea was not originally intended to make addiction into a disease of its own, but regrettably, that is exactly what has happened.15 The humanistic idea that addiction is a “disease” implies that some sickness outside of the addict overtakes them once they’ve tried a mood-altering substance. This “disease” has either penetrated them somehow from the outside, or it is a genetic “disease” passed down by parents. When addicts accept the “disease” idea, they believe they must wrestle with this cancer-like illness for the rest of their lives. The “disease concept” gives the worldly approach more credibility as people often consider the idea to be “real science” and a “medical problem.” This lie offers no hope that the addict will ever completely overcome the “disease”. It is a flawed, humanistic theory on addiction.16 This worldly advice is the best that mankind has to offer. Non-Christians are hopelessly lost, however, whether addicted to drugs or not because they are not trusting Christ with a faith in Him that produces repentance. However, this lie tells Christians that they are hopeless victims of a false “disease” which is not true for the believer in Jesus Christ. Addiction is not a disease. Addiction is a “sin nature” problem and the body responds to the substances in natural ways. Then, in time, the actions associated with addiction become habitual and extremely difficult to overcome. The “symptoms” of the problem are observable and common in most addicts. However, the similarities between the biblical approach and the secular, man-centered approach end there. How can these mixture approaches (mixing some truth with lies) help you attack addiction God’s way when these humanistic lies are in direct opposition to the Holy Scriptures? They can help someone overcome the addiction in the short-term but they do not offer long-term, sustaining help. They do not help an addict clearly understand the heart of addiction and the mixture often confuses those who desire to study God’s Word. God does not consider addiction a “disease,” but a “sin nature” problem. Biblical concepts are truly life-giving to those who profess to love and to trust in Jesus Christ. Trust God’s Word More than Your Ideas and Feelings If you, the Christian addict, have established sinful habit patterns in the flesh, then you must replace them with godly habits.. You have made small decisions in the beginning of your usage of the substance that has now led you to a seemingly hopeless situation in which you feel as if you have no choice. Thankfully, Christians are “born again” and receive a new heart and new nature. The Holy Spirit takes up residence inside you and works in conjunction with God’s Word. You still experience struggles against sin because the sinful nature does not automatically vanish when you are born again. Some of the habits you have learned are not just physical habits but are habitual patterns of thinking and responding to life’s hardships. Your responsibility as a Christian is to cultivate Godly ways of habitually thinking, speaking, behaving, and feeling. This is to be thoroughly explained in the chapters on “Renewing Your Mind.” Again, the idea that your struggle with an addiction is an “incurable, lifelong disease” is a half-truth of humanistic and mixture approaches. The Bible tells you the truth: you will struggle with sinful thoughts, words, and behaviors related to addiction even after you have initially overcome the physical portion of addiction. A biblical, Christian counselor will acknowledge that: •Physically, you may experience real cravings. •Mentally, you may always battle to take your thoughts captive in this life. •Emotionally, you may struggle with feelings of depression, despair, anger, and guilt that will tempt you to want to use drugs and alcohol for an “escape.” •Spiritually, there may be days when you think God has forgotten you and you believe yourself to be separated from Him. A biblical counselor will point you to John 14:16-17 which states: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” The Holy Spirit lives within you even when you feel as if God is far away so do not trust your feelings. To battle your substance abuse problem and addiction requires your best efforts to work at overcoming the powerful grip of the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual components of the sin involved. However, the good news is that your struggles with your “sin nature” will lessen in time as you build a sober and obedient lifestyle while applying the practical tools given in God’s Word, some of which are outlined in this book. In addition, you are not ill-equipped if you are a Christian - you have the power of the Holy Spirit working in you. It is hard work, but worth both the temporal and eternal benefits from God. This is called the process of sanctification in the life of a believer. We will address more on this cooperation of the believer and the Holy Spirit in later chapters. I John 4:4 has some good news for God’s people: “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” Therefore, you cannot say that you are “powerless” to overcome your addiction because Christ within you provides you with the power you need. “Recovery” vs. “Transforming” A final distinction between the secular and mixture approaches as opposed to the biblical approach to addiction is in basic terminology. Instead of the secular word “recovery,”17 a Christian addict who is truly willing yet struggling to maintain sobriety is in a process called a “transformation” according to Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Let’s distinguish between the two terms and their underlying, foundational meanings. The verb “recover” is defined as “to bring back to normal position or condition” as though you have “stumbled, then recovered yourself.”18 The idea of stumbling and then recovering yourself is rooted in the idea that we are born as “good” people without a sin nature. This idea is a comfortable, humanistic concept akin to the idea of “self-help.” Its popularity stems from our desire to believe that we are inherently good rather than inherently sinful. Also, it is a popular idea that we can stumble along life’s path and pick ourselves up “by our bootstraps.” Who needs God when we can “recover our self?” No one needs God if they have the power to “recover” without Him. Furthermore, in the definition for “recover,” you do not need to return “back to” a “normal position” because you were not “normal” before. You were born with a “sin nature” and must become “a new creation” in Christ Jesus.19 There is nothing normal to regain other than returning to your normal, selfish, addicted person. Again, the foundational principle of this definition for “recovery” is the humanistic idea that man is inherently good. Humanists wrongly believe there are good people and there are bad people, but everyone starts out “good” with a “clean slate.” Regrettably, many treatment centers, locked facilities, and self-help groups propagate these humanistic lies and sometimes do so under the guise of Christianity as a so- called “Christian program”! In stark contrast, the Bible does not view man as born “good.” The Bible shows all persons to be born with a selfish “sin nature.” The focus of the sin nature is to please self. The verb “transform” is defined as having “to change in character or condition.”20 Addicts must have the nature of their hearts changed. Addicts cannot change their own hearts. Family members cannot change the addict’s heart. Biblical counselors cannot change the addict’s heart. Only God has the power to change someone’s heart; He changes the heart of a Christian addict by making that heart want to do the right things. Willingness is the essential starting point for a Christian addict. When God changes your heart, then you can begin to replace your flawed, “perishing thinking” with the perfect, joyful, and righteous thinking of God Himself. If you identify yourself as a Christian substance abuser or addict who has had a heart change yet you find yourself struggling with an addiction, then you are in need of a complete “transformation” and not just a “recovery” of your “old self.” Let your old self die and let the new creation in Christ Jesus live! In fact, all Christians want to avoid yielding to their old selves as much as possible. All Christians have three primary responsibilities in the “transformation” process: 1) Put off the old habit patterns of the flesh 2) Renew the mind with God’s Word 3) Put on godly habits of the Holy Spirit.21 Ephesians 4:22-24 is the basis of these three responsibilities that can be applied to the Christian addict: “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.” These three aspects of “transformation” will be covered in more detail in later chapters. One more note about the secular word “recover.” An alternate meaning for “recover” is “to cover again”22 and unfortunately, this is precisely what most addicts do on a continual basis. Here are some heart searching questions to ponder: •Are you willing to give up your mood-altering, addictive substance for a life of submission and sobriety, or does God still need to change your desires to be more pleasing to Him? •Have you been trying to cover the consequences of your addiction by lying and deceiving those who love you? If so, maybe your heart has not yet changed, and you are not interested in becoming sober any more than a rich man desires to become poor. •Have you gone to treatment centers in an effort to appease your wearied loved ones, but not been able to stay sober for long once you left the facility? •Have you gotten off drugs and alcohol but then turned your addiction to sex, food, or other temporary pleasures? This concept is commonly called “cross-addicted” and occurs frequently because no real heart change was made. •Are you willing to submit yourself fully to the process of change that will occur in you as you repent, are forgiven, put off the old manner, renew your mind, and put on the new manner of living for Jesus? Rather than change temporary addictions, you, the Christian substance abuser and addict, require a complete “transformation” from your old self, old way of thinking, addictive habits, and old manner of speaking. Your “new self” must now live in a way that pleases and glorifies God. It is not a “recovering” process of forever grappling with a more powerful foe with no real hope of overcoming it. Instead, it is a “transformation” process by God’s grace and you become a new creation in Christ. It cannot be done apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. One Approach with Authority If you are still not convinced that addiction is not a “spiritual disease with a lifelong process of recovery and self-help groups,” then I challenge you right now to stop reading and go research all truly scientific journals for one shred of scientific proof that addiction is a “disease.” It cannot be done because there is no scientific evidence to support the notion that addiction is a “disease.” It is a man-made theory and it is wrong. Secularists accept the idea of a “disease concept” because it makes sense to them, but their foundation is wrongly based upon the idea that man decides truth. God decides truth, not man. Addiction looks like a disease, but it is a sin nature problem in the heart rather than a disease coming from the outside to the inside. The heart of mankind is not inherently good at birth and does not become corrupted through the traumatic events of life. Instead, the heart of mankind is corrupt at birth and stays corrupt until God intervenes because of His love. The biblical approach agrees with the world’s observations about the symptoms of addiction. But the heart of addiction and the root cause are not the same because the biblical approach deals with a sinful, selfish heart. We are about to examine the same thoughts, words, emotions, and behaviors that humanistic, secular addiction counselors examine when “treating” an addict. This book will observe the same facts, evidence, or “symptoms” of the addiction as the secular world. However, a major difference will emerge in the following pages: you will view these “symptoms” from a biblical foundation of truth that will shed light upon this common problem of addiction. When that occurs, you will be better able to discern the half-truths of the world, and you will distinguish the lies from the truth. You must first learn God’s truth to be able to identify the lies of Satan. Do not try to merge the world’s best ideas with God’s truth or you will get confused. Allow God to speak the truth in love to you about your addiction and you will find peace, joy, comfort, wisdom, and blessing. Read with an open mind realizing that your foundational thinking is probably a mixture of worldly half-truths rather than the purity of God’s Word of Truth that is life-giving and freeing. As you read, consider yourself a “transforming” substance abuser or addict rather than a “recovering” one if you are truly willing to maintain a sober lifestyle that pleases God.
Prayer of Heart Change and Application:
Dear Heavenly Father, I want to face my addiction your way: not in my own strength, not in my own best ideas, not in mankind’s best ideas, and not in a selfish way. I want to submit my knowledge of addiction to you so that you can transform my understanding of it and I can become wise. I need your wisdom, Lord. Please give me knowledge, wisdom, understanding, insight, and discernment so that I will no longer suffer from this addiction and so that I will honor you. Amen.