PART 14 I AM AN OVERCOMER

Is there a spiritual addiction that we should pursue?

14

Addicting Ourselves to the Ministry of the Saints

 

Have you or are you involved in some addictive behavior?

When most of us think of an addiction, our minds immediately think of alcohol or drugs. We could say that our body craves these, i.e., a physical dependence. However, the definition of what is an addiction is far-reaching.

                                 

Addiction

The condition of being habitually or compulsively occupied with or involved in something.⁸⁶

Scripture provides an interesting way to describe this condition. Please go to the Book of Hebrews.

Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

We’re instructed to lay aside (get rid of) every weight (stumbling block; burdens that delay and impede our spiritual course⁸⁷), and the sin (a specific hindrance or the heaviest burden) which doth easily beset us (easily distracts, ambushes, or entangles us; readily occurring).

In this sense, we could say that an addiction could be described as living in the habitual indulgence of corrupt passions. What are these? These are hidden sins of unclean thoughts, which can express themselves in habitual practices such as alcoholic intoxication, drug abuse, gambling, fornication, etc.

Matthew 15:18-19 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

The things which proceed of the mouth come forth (begins) in the heart. A person’s heart in this context isn’t the physical organ but the entire man, the inward life of “evil thoughts” that issue in words and deeds.⁸⁸ Some of the thoughts that result in overt actions are murders, adulteries, fornications, etc. Are each of these addictive behaviors? Maybe not, but the thoughts that think about them could be considered as such.

 

Is there a way out from addictive thoughts and behavior?

If we’re talking about alcohol abuse, alcoholics anonymous has a 12-step plan. For drug abuse, there are many treatment centers located throughout the USA. There are at least three avenues available to address compulsive decisions. The initial one has to do with seeking help from traditional institutions. Sometimes they work, other times they don’t. Here’s an article about one such individual who found the help needed to address his out-of-control lifestyle.

 

MY ADDICTION RECOVERY STORY

How did your addiction start?

I began drinking at an early age, taking my first [drink] around 7, and my drinking became regular by my early teenage years. I was a kid who never felt like I fit in anywhere, and I struggled with anxiety and feelings of loneliness. The taunts of kids in schools would grate on me day in and day out, but the moment I found alcohol, all of that changed. It gave me all the confidence I’d never had. It made the bad times [tolerable] and the good times even better. But the thoughts of drinking and escaping never left my mind, and it became an obsession. I’d shoplift booze from the local convenience store, hide it from my [family,] and drinking alone became my regular getaway.

By 15, I found myself embarking on an initial journey into recovery. It [lasted] 5 1/2 years, but truthfully, I never got truly honest with [myself] and was only riddled with jealousy that, for my remaining high school years and the first three years of college, other young people could [drink,] and I couldn’t. So I swore I’d try a drink on my 21st birthday.

I ended up drinking two days early, and that set off a [decade-long] journey that eventually brought me to a point where I feared living more than dying. What had started as [a] nightly ritual of a few beers turned into, by the end, straight maintenance drinking, waking up to several shots of whiskey in my coffee, drinking beer all [day,] and ending with more hard alcohol and marijuana at night. All day, every day. I discovered gambling along the [way,] which undoubtedly sped my decline, as I eventually began embezzling money from my employer in order to get what I needed �" my fix.

 

What was the turning point for you?

I had lost it all �" there was no money left of my own and barely any left to take. I couldn’t stop drinking, and I couldn’t get enough booze in me to kill the pain anymore. My life had become one big lie, as I’d been hiding the extent of my problems from everyone close to me. I spent four days lying, saying I had the [flu when, in fact,] I was on a bender. I couldn’t stop. The terror was something I only wish nobody ever had to go through.

On my final day, I had to confess to my then-wife that everything was gone, and I sat at the airport waiting for a flight east to my family. I just wanted to run away, and I had no idea what awaited me on the other end of it all. I never thought it was possible to reach that bottom…but alcoholism and compulsive gambling brought me down to my [knees,] and finally, staring at all the wreckage, there were only two choices �" let myself go for [good] or ask for help.

 

What was your initial treatment?

At around five days sober, I checked into a [28-day] inpatient treatment program at Lakeside Milam in Kirkland, Washington. That program saved my life. I needed to get away from the wreckage (I had confessed to an associate of my embezzlement, and on my third day of rehab, I read the front page [newspaper] story saying that I was under investigation). Treatment forced me to see one thing crystal clear �" my recovery had to be the most important thing in my life. They say whatever you put ahead of your recovery will be the second thing you lose. I learned that I had to get [sober, not for other people] or to look good in the face of my wreckage �" that I had to get sober for myself. Most importantly, I had to learn that I was worth it.

 

Do you do anything [differently] today?

I try to remain as vigilant [as] possible in the fellowship of recovery. Talking to other people who have faced similar things to me and hearing how they’ve moved through and handled the many challenges life presents sober is critical for me. I also do what I can for the newcomer.

When I found recovery, I can’t even summarize how significant it was for me to talk to people, tell them what I’d [done, and then be told to] “keep coming back” and that “this too shall pass.” I owe that same warm heart to every new person who is seeking [long-term] recovery. I try to remain physically active and in good shape, being mindful of my dietary [choices and to giving] myself the rest I need. In short, I try to avoid being hungry, angry, lonely and tired, as these four things can trigger an emotional spiral.

 

What is your life [like] now, living in recovery?

With my career in the political arena at least temporarily done as a result of my actions, I went to work at a restaurant thanks to the kindness of an old and true friend who wanted to help me get back up on my feet. Going from a political player to bussing tables in a restaurant was humbling but so gratifying �" both due to the physical exercise of the job as well as the warmth and kindness of the many new friends I made.

     I had long pondered how I might take my experience as a political organizer and merge it with my newfound passion for recovery. The brilliant documentary “The Anonymous People” was precisely the motivation I needed, and after reaching out to several key figures in the making of the film, I applied for and was then offered a position as an Organizer for UNITE to Face Addiction [aka FacingAddiction.org], a grassroots advocacy effort bringing individuals, [communities,] and organizations together to stand up for recovery on the National Mall in Washington DC on October 4, 2015. This will be a landmark event in the history of the recovery advocacy movement in America, and I’m honored to play a part in it.

    

Do you have anything you’d like to share with someone currently struggling with a substance abuse problem or an addiction?

You’re worth it, plain and simple. There is a solution to your problem, and millions of people out there �" 23 million in America, in fact �" have found it. You [can,] too.

 

How about anything you’d like to share with their family or friends?

They aren’t bad people who need to get [good;] they are sick people who need to get well. Be there for them, let them know that they are loved no matter [what] and that there is a path of recovery that you’re willing to travel with them.

 

What is the best part about your recovery?

[Today,] my life is honest and true. I don’t have nearly the material things I once did �" but what I have today is a reflection in the mirror that I can look at and feel good about it. The greatest job of recovery is the ability I now have to feel good about the things I [do] and the person that I am. I had never felt that before in my life. I get to spend time with my children and be emotionally invested. I get to care for others and be a good friend and a good son. And it’s all genuine and true. I owe all of that to recovery.⁸⁹

The second avenue in recovery from an addiction is a spiritual one. Here are some of the divine prescriptions available for the believer in Christ.

 

Galatians 5:24-25

24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

What God supplies us with to counteract the sinful nature with its affections (disposition - natural mental and emotional outlook⁹⁰) and lusts (desires) is that we’d walk in the Spirit.

25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

To walk in the Spirit is predicated only on those who live in the Spirit. The word live means that wherein we are continually alive though sometimes inactive.⁹¹ Alive because of the new divine life resident in [our] beings⁹²). A person can receive this new nature through a response to the gospel of Christ. At this time, God the Holy Spirit will come and indwell their spirit, providing them with an abundance of inner riches, this being one of them.

The second aspect of this new life is to walk in the Spirit. The word walk means to conduct themselves under the guidance, impulses, and energy of that life.⁹³ This is called progressive sanctification, which is the process by which the Holy Spirit eliminates sin from the experience of the believer and produces His fruit, gradually conforming him into the image of the Lord Jesus.⁹⁴

Do we have a part to play in this? Absolutely. We need to find a Spirit-filled assembly that teaches the foundational truths of the faith and how to put on the new person they’ve become and put off the former one. We have discussed this process earlier in this book.

Another way we could describe this advance is to call it spiritual growth. This doesn’t mean that the thoughts and feelings about an addiction will go away. It means that we’ll be able to recognize such and address them in a spiritual manner.

And finally, here’s the third approach. Combine the natural and spiritual approaches. Some churches might consider traditional institutions inadequate because their recommendations for successful interventions aren’t based on the Word of God. If we need medicine, do we go to a doctor? I’m not saying that this should preclude prayer. If we receive no spiritual guidance, should we wait until it might be too late or use the medical expertise that’s available to us? As believers, if we find ourselves operating in an uncontrollable behavior, we should follow the guidelines set forth.

Here are some verses that will help us in the midst of addictive tendencies. 

Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Romans 13:14 But put ye on (assume the interests of another - to enter into his views, to imitate him, and be wholly on his side⁹⁵) the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Ephesians 4:22-24 That ye put off (like the metaphor of taking off clothes) the former conversation (manner of life) the old man (the person who we used to be), whose former habits were the result of being dominated by the totally depraved nature, the lusts of which were excited by deceit, i.e., by deceitful influences seducing to sin, and instead choose to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, i.e., to be spiritually transformed, to take on a new mind.

What should we do if a fellow believer commits a minor civil offense against us? Take them to court or address the matter within the church? Let’s find out in the next chapter.