Unique Addiction

Where is addiction? Is it hidden in the recesses of the mind? Does addiction flow through the blood streams, inherited from our genealogy like a generational curse? Is it a learned behavior that has become imbedded with our character because of years of practice? Is it a defense mechanism we’ve developed to medicate our emotional sicknesses? Addiction is not reserved for the under privileged, uneducated, or minority. It crosses all social-economic and cultural demographics. From the penitentiary to the penthouse, from nightclubs to rotary clubs, from poppy fields of the Middle East to football fields of Middle America, addiction is no respecter of persons. Lets consider the drug addict for a moment. This bruised and battered shell of a person who has been fighting a losing battle with addiction for the better part of their life. They tell themselves “Enough is enough, I will not give in to this demon again”. They experience a brief period of freedom but before they can give a sober sigh of relief they feel the rumble of temptation rising up within them again. The all to familiar battle takes formation. “Don’t do it,” they tell themselves. “Its not worth it”. They run through all the pre-rehearsed rebuttals that are supposed to rationalize them back into reality. But like a house of cards their efforts cave to a brief moment of ecstasy. “Why did I do this? I hate myself. Why am I this way?” Does this sound familiar? It might, because what I have just described is not only the internal war of a drug addict. I’ve also described someone who is viewing pornography, gambling, compulsive shopping, committing adultery, over-eating, cutting themselves or lying. The problem is not with the addictive nature of drugs. True, crack-cocaine is addictive, very addictive. But the real answer lies within the addictive nature of man. We humans are interesting creatures. We posses within us the fundamental flaw of addiction. The truth of the matter is that one addiction is not less sinful than another. There are some sins however, that are more socially acceptable than others (in man’s eyes). A drug addict has a unique addiction. Because of his sin, he has given extensive authority and power to his body. His mind becomes a slave of the passions lust and cravings of his addicted body. He is a prisoner of his cravings. This condition borders insanity. I have known drug addicts who risk failing their urine analysis test during a regularly schedules visit to their probation officer just because they felt like smoking a joint. Knowing full well, that drug use is a violation of their probation and a failed test would result in them returning to prison and yet they still use. Insanity! The nature of addiction craves more and is never satisfied. The addict can become so totally consumed with their desire to get high that they abandon responsibilities, hopes, dreams, relationships and even family. Society is quick to point their finger at the drug addict and with a voice resounding of self-righteousness say “They need help”. One day I was driving a man to my recovery center in Houston, TX. He sat next to me with his weather beaten clothes, shabby hair and torn shoes. He smelt the way any homeless man would sitting on the plush seats of a new car. He spoke in a low tone and with a very defeated voice he said, “I don’t know how I ever got this low, how did I come to such a place?” What I said to him next caught him completely by surprise. It made him lift his head, turn, and look me straight in the eye. I told him, “You have never been at a better place in life than you are right now.” I could tell from his gaze that he wanted an explanation and I had better give it to him quick. “Some people will never look up until they fall into a ditch,” I said. Your ditch may be addiction but if it causes you to look to Jesus then that is the best place that you can be. There is something special about a drug addict who has exhausted all his resources, burned all his bridges and has no where left to turn. You don’t have to convince him that he needs help. You don’t have to remind him of his sinfulness. You need only to love him with a Christ-like love and be willing to present the gospel to a ready heart. I am convinced that if Jesus were alive today walking the earth in the flesh, His ministry would be to the homeless and drug addicts. We would find Jesus under bridges, visiting prisons, and in drug and crime infested neighborhoods. How desperately we need Jesus walking among us today. If only there were a group of people that He could live His life through like a special class or race of men who had His very life within them. Christians posses the hope that every addict needs. This hope is not found in politics, government, education, or even religion. It is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ.