Considering Addictions

With my current gig as pulpit supply meaning I have to prepare a new sermon, currently on Nehemiah, each week my reading has dropped off significantly.  Addictions: A Banquet in the Grace- Finding Hope in the Power of the Gospel by Edward Welch has been in process for well over a year.  I started reading it some time ago and other matters would distract me.  I have finally finished it.  The fact that it took me well over a year to read it should not reflect poorly on the book.  In fact, I found it quite helpful.

If you read books on addictions you tend to get the medical model (addiction as disease).  As a result, the gospel seems less helpful.  Welch’s position is much like my own- it has physiological aspect and spiritual aspects.  As embodied spirits, our idolatry affects our bodies as well.

Within this framework, you begin to see how addictions operate as functional saviors, and therefore as idols.  We seek life from our object of addiction, but it can only give us fleeting pleasure that results in death.

Welch is also helpful in reminding us that we cannot make sobriety the new idol.  As Thomas Chalmers says, the human heart “must have something to lay ahold of.”  We cannot and will not extinquish our desire unless we replace them with a greater affection to cast them out.  We must worship Christ instead of the object of our addiction.  We must love Him, focusing on His work for us as the ground for His work in us.  As we meditate on His work for us, we will grow in our affection for Him thereby loosening the bonds of our addictions.  We begin to choose Jesus instead of sex, alcohol, food, or whatever our heart worships.

He also picks up on something I’ve been thinking about for some time- our identity.  Most addiction groups, though well-meaning, continue to place one’s identity in their addiction rather than in Christ.  Their addiction, rather than Christ, continues to be the defining characteristic of their lives whether they partake or are sober.  Those who are addicted need how they think about themselves transformed by our new identity in Christ.  We are God’s adopted children, a holy nation and royal priesthood, and God treasured possession.  This helps us break the cycle of shame that is such an important part of addiction.

Edward Welch says many positive things about groups like AA.  He’s not one of those “shock and awe” neuthetic guys who has nothing positive to say about alternative views.  He just doesn’t think they are sufficient for the task.  They come up short in addressing the problem in as much as they neglect the power of the gospel.  He brings biblical concepts like the fear of the Lord, truth-telling vs. lives of deceit, and the mortification of sin to bear on the issue.  Not only that, but he affirms the role of the Body of Christ in assisting people to change rather than expelling them from the Body.

Each chapter has questions at the end.  The first set are for those dealing with their own addictions.  The second set is for those helping others dealing with their addictions.  It is meant to be used to work through these issues with people.  As a result, it is not merely theoretical but also practical.

In addition the book, there is a DVD seminar, an audio book and a discussion guide available.  I think Edward Welch does a great job of thinking theologically & biblically about addictions.  Our hope is to be found in Christ as He is presented to us in the Gospel.  One way He is presented to us is One who sets captives free as our Ransom and a victorious Warrior against sin in our hearts.  We need the Prophet, Priest and King to expose us, bind our wounds and subdue our flesh.