ADDICTION

Ernest A Becker V

Lincoln Christian University

        The subject of addiction is often misunderstood; the goal of this analysis is to generate a better understanding of it. Addiction or idolatry can be a person, place or thing; it is what enslaves us to a thing that controls us. Once under the control of the thing, our lives are subject to devastation; like a hurricane or tornado. The aftermath can be horrific; if lucky enough to survive, the cleanup can be grueling.

        We will expound on a few definitions illuminating the subject of addiction increasing your understanding of this subject and look at it from a Christian perspective. Let’s take a look at the definition of addiction: “A strong and harmful need to regularly have something or do something, an unusually great interest in something, a need to do or have something, or compulsive need for and use of something” (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 2014). When someone becomes addicted to something they become a slave to it, to the point that it controls them. Look at the definition of slave: “A person who is strongly influenced and controlled by something or one that is completely subservient to a dominating influence” (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 2014) .

        Supposedly, the first account for the word addiction was coined by Shakespeare (World Wide Words, 2014). If we look prior to Shakespeare’s time, you will see that the word idol was used before the word addiction came into existence. Take a look at the definition of idolatry: “The worship of a physical object as a god or immoderate attachment or devotion to something” (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 2014).

        An addiction can take on many different forms: anger, food, people, validation, fear, intensity, control, power, people pleasing, victimization, material objects, image, substance, isolation, exercise, religion, work, perfection, success, etc. We could increase this list ad infinitum, hopefully you get the point. Addiction starts with a desire planted within a human being, it leads us down a path of isolation and destruction.

         In one recovery book it mentions our dysfunctional behaviors as being character defects; our character has no moral guidance. “When [selfish desires] drive us blindly…we depart from the degree of perfection that God wishes for us here on earth. That is the measure of our character defects, or, if you wish, of our sins” (Alchoholics Anonymous Word Services, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, 2005 Pg.65). Merely having these desires is not sin; however, acting on these desires is sin. Once we indulge in our sins we are separated from our relationship with God and others. Many people may not have indulged in their sin as deep as others but all of us can suffer the consequences. In Counterfeit God Tim Keller describes an Idol as follows:

A counterfeit god is anything so central and essential to your life that, should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living. An idol has such a controlling position in your heart that you can spend most of your passion and energy, your emotional and financial resources, on it without a second thought. (Keller, 2009 Pg. IIXX) The definition that Keller gives us aligns with the definition mentioned from Webster.

        When our attention is directed to an idol we lose focus and fall into sin.

        If an addiction is something we are a slave to, and an idol is something we are a slave to then this scripture would tie the two together: “So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin” (Romans 7:14 New Living Translation). Paul writes in this verse that no matter what he does he is human and a slave to sin. This communicates to us that we all are human and that we all are a slave to sin, so each of us has a slave master. The slave master is the sin.

         Further, if we are saying that an addiction is an idol, then it is the idol that takes our focus off of God and into our sin. Sin is different for each person because the sin comes from our own selfish desires of the heart. Let’s look at an example of someone that has an addiction. Johnny is a man that struggles with an addiction to anger. Johnny is having a wonderful day at work but then all of the sudden something does not go as planned, so he begins to lash out to his assistant with curse words. He begins to belittle her for forgetting to complete a portion of her work that caused his plans to be interrupted. An hour later he apologizes to her for his outburst of anger. His anger took him into sin by judging and belittling her. The next day Johnny witnesses a colleague of his getting angry and throwing an object at his assistant. He says to the colleague “What the heck are you doing? I would never do that.” Johnny has justified his own sin as not being as bad.

        We have to be careful to not land ourselves into pride by comparing our sins “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Pride in the biblical sense is selfishness lacking humility; it is elevating us above God and others. Pride discredits our character. “[P]ride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom” (Proverbs 11:2). Death is referred to as spiritual death and total separation from God. Any sin results in death, so taking a stance that one sin is less harmful than another is prideful, placing us in a better than position. Comparing ourselves to others may place may elevate or diminish ourselves. These are both forms of pride where one might say I am better and the other says I am lesser. In Gods eyes we are all equal to one another.

        Addiction can land people in a wide array of circumstances, inevitably ending in a loss. The first thing that the loss affects is our relationship with God. There have been story after story in the media representing a list of different types of losses: death, relationships, spirituality, material, financial, trust, integrity, courage, etc. It’s evident from the above circumstances that everyone struggles with an addiction. The severity of the addiction can vary as different ones can progress towards destruction at a greater pace.

        Another story of a person struggling with addiction is Jack. Jack was the popular kid in school, loved sports, received academic awards and loved spending time with his family. His peers introduced him to marijuana and alcohol when in his teens. On the weekends he would go out with his friends and consume these recreationally. This went on for months until one night at a party he was introduced to cocaine. Once he started using the combination of alcohol, marijuana and cocaine on a regular basis he started feeling shame, so he would lie about his use. He continued to use and over time it became a daily thing. Once Jack graduated, he moved out on his own and would party every night. Eventually his behaviors landed him in jail; this was a wakeup call for Jack. Once he was released from jail, he enrolled into a recovery program at church and developed a relationship with God. He began to help others in their recovery and, over time, he was back to the loving and outgoing person he once was.

        Selfishness is pride, it keeps us separated from God but Love is humility which keeps us in a loving relationship with God. “Selfishness/self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles…Neither could we reduce our self-centeredness much by wishing or trying on our own power. We had to have God’s help. This is the how and why of it. First of all, we had to quit playing God”. (Alchoholics Anonymous Word Services, Alchoholics Anonymous, 2001 Pg. 62) The selfishness that keeps us locked into the sinful desires is what brings us separation from God and others.

        Addiction ultimately separates us from God, bringing us to the absence of God. In the absence of God, we experience Spiritual death that can take us to physical death. We humble ourselves to a level playing field, when replacing the word addiction with idol. Being in a humble place can allow each of us to free ourselves form our own addictions. So dependence on God and having humility is the answer to stepping out of addiction. “’ [T]he way up is to go down; the way down is to go up’” (Keller, 2009, p. 125, A preacher once said).

        There are several steps you can take in Identifying if someone has an addiction and idol. Watch their behaviors and if they have become harmful or obsessive, this may be a sign. Other signs are lying, inconsistency, breaking commitments, denial, irresponsibility, etc. Once the addiction and Idol are identified in someone, then you can confront the person. If the person is in a place where they are ready to acknowledge and make a change, then they can begin to move away from the addiction and Idol. Many have to experience a great deal of pain before they will make an acknowledgment and change. The resources noted in this analysis, as well as contacting a recovery center, are great tools to learn more.

References

Alchoholics Anonymous Word Services, I. (2001). Alchoholics Anonymous. New York City: Alchoholics Anonymous Word Services, INC.

Alchoholics Anonymous Word Services, I. (2005). Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. New York: Alchoholics Anonymous Word Services, INC.

Keller, T. (2009). Counterfeit Gods. New York: Penguin Group.

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. (2014, May 3). http://www.merriam-webster.com/. Retrieved May 3, 2014, from Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary: http://www.merriam-webster.com/ World Wide Words. (2014, May 10).

World Wide Words. Retrieved May 10, 2014, from World Wide Words: http://www.worldwidewords.org/topicalwords/tw-add1.htm