Monday Morning Music Ministry

1-12-26

A late friend of mine, a prominent science-fiction writer, taught me a lesson, or rather two lessons at least, about addiction and such personal challenges and crises. He was not a Christian, despite my puny efforts to witness the Truth to him. I was not particularly discouraged, however, because as Christians our main job in such situations is to share the Gospel; the Holy Spirit was sent among us to minister to peoples’ souls – to “close the deal, so to speak.” We plant; He cultivates; the Lord harvests.

The first life-challenge he shared was about his wife. Throughout his entire marriage he endured her unfaithfulness. She was a serial adulterer, and he knew it because she left countless evidences. His two sons were not his. At different times she was an alcoholic, a chain smoker, consumer of various drugs, anorexic (she looked like a concentration-camp survivor), and, contrarily, a binge foodie. Usually these addictions slightly overlapped – she bounced from one self-destructive addiction to another, sometimes returning to a former disorder seemingly at will.

My friend sought counseling for her, or them together, and the usual result was futility, or his wife having an affair with the therapist. I finally asked him why he didn’t leave his wife, and his answer startled me: “Well, I love her.”

Yes, a lesson in love and commitment, and forbearance and patience and faith of some sort. The putative convert taught the missionary a lesson.

The other perspective I gained was about addiction itself. I don’t know whether there have been volumes written on his view of addiction, or if it were his own battle story, or method of coping. No matter: it made sense to me. He told me that he grew to recognize that people are not so much addicted to alcohol or nicotine or a type of drug or the pleasures of sex or the thrill of escaping discovery; or the flavors or particular sensations. He theorized that most of these people – and that includes most of us – are rather addicted to addiction itself.

Putting aside whether addictions are a disease (which argument many people regard as an “out” of personal responsibility or decisions to sin) the perspective is persuasive. The Bible preaches that there is Original Sin. The core of Christianity is that Jesus, the Incarnate God-Made-Flesh, lived and died and rose in order that we may be forgiven and saved of our sins. “None is holy, no not one.”

Sinning is an addiction. We all commit transgressions against God and against each other, more often than a drunk hits the bottle, or a druggie snorts. We are addicted to sin, though we fight it to varying degrees and inconsistency. It is, literally, the bane of our existence: self-destructive; malignant; in fact deadly.

But. There is a silver lining to this situation.

As addicts seek counseling, we all have a spiritual therapist. Yes, Christian friends, clergy… and the Lord Himself, by immersing ourselves in the Word and through earnest prayer.

As my friend’s wife proved, albeit through myriad backslides, we are capable of switching addictions. We can therefore commit to become addicted to doing good. Rejecting evil and harmful tendencies. Being kind and forgiving. Putting God first in all we do. Are we doomed to fail? – yes, of course: no one is perfect among us. But even drug addicts routinely try to “swear off”; adulterers occasionally repent. The road to reform is always before us. We can do the same. Switch addictions; change habits.

I am seeking to counsel a prominent addict-of-sorts right now. One of the hats I wear is in the cartooning world, as a former cartoonist and editor and historian. Scott Adams (the Dilbert comic strip creator) is a confirmed atheist behind his persona as a clever cartoonist and a brilliant political commentator. He is enduring a diagnosis of terminal cancer, and recently has stated that he will convert to Christianity as a practical matter, hedging his bets that there is a heaven.

Unfortunately that is the most formulaic – therefore empty and futile – impulse. Jesus invites us to love and believe in Him, to save our souls. Not to manipulate the God of the Universe and wrangle an eternal motel room in Paradise. There is another form of addiction from which we all suffer: self-delusion. We never will be smarter than God.

And if we seek secular help in secular worldly crises, we more easily can approach the Throne of Grace, going before our loving Father who has expressed His yearning for us to reach out to Him. He has proven His love for us, sending to Jesus to sacrifice Himself for our sins, even while we are yet sinners. He has called Himself a “jealous” God – hurting when we don’t seek Him in times of trouble.

And the best part of the Christian’s seeking to break the addiction to sin: we actually do not have to achieve emotional “strength” or other prerequisites. Christians achieve victory not by marching and battling: we win on our knees. Surrendering. We admit our weaknesses and addictions; we don’t explain or justify them. And our Counselor materially helps us. Not advice, but Salvation.

Pat your chest by your heart. Say Hello to your Savior. The Great Physician ministers, but He also heals. Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance (Mark 2:17).

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Click: T. Graham Brown – Wine Into Water (Acoustic) // The Church Sessions