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Recognize something about addiction, folks. It is first and foremost a SPIRITUAL BATTLE. Don’t let a society that doesn’t believe in God tell you different. The medical and psychological labeling of addiction is just that: a medical and psychological term used to describe a fundamentally spiritual issue. It may become medical, it may become psychological—and medical and psychological remedies may help in the short-term…but it starts spiritual—and spiritual remedies are the only thing in my mind that help in the long-term.
Transcript
00:00:00 Speaker 1
Well greetings friends, and welcome to this special episode of the Chaplains Chair. This episode, separate from my weekly podcast topics special episodes, are meant to address pressing relevant in the now issues like this one, and I've avoided this topic for a long time and it's a serious issue too, because it affects nearly everyone and every community and in more ways.
00:00:20 Speaker 1
Then you may realize, and I'm talking about the demon of addiction. And that's right. I called it a demon. And I'm going to get into that later.
00:00:28 Speaker 1
But I had a conversation recently with someone who shared the tragic death of her son of me.
00:00:33 Speaker 1
And this conversation was on the heels of a couple of others I've had in the last six months in this podcast has been building in my head for a long time, but I felt now was a good time to to move on it. Maybe it's a God thing, I don't know. But I could tell she was heartbroken. I suspect survivors of loved ones.
00:00:49 Speaker 1
Who died from addiction live with shame, guilt that never ending. I should have been able to do something. The pain that they did, all that they could and it it did no good as well as the pain of loss that will never go away.
00:01:02 Speaker 1
It seems no one wants to discuss the spiritual elements about this epidemic. You know, this stuff is everywhere and spreading like a Bush fire in high winds. And it's so rampant it becomes necessary, I think, to ask certain questions about why doesn't it?
00:01:20 Speaker 1
Why is something so destructive with warnings seemingly all around us about the danger? Why is it still so rampant? You know, I'm a big Lord of the Rings fans, and for those of you that will know what I'm talking about here, this is seen in the Lord of the Rings, the two towers.
00:01:36 Speaker 1
Where Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are pursuing the Irakli across the plains of Orhan. Because they've taken two of their friends, the Hobbits Mary and Pippin, they've taken them hostage and they're having difficulty catching up to them, even though they're running day and night an hour ago, and says in frustration, something gives speed to these creatures, sets its will against us.
00:01:56 Speaker 1
No matter how hard.
00:01:58 Speaker 1
Or fast they ran and how long the party just couldn't seem to catch them.
00:02:03 Speaker 1
And Eragon recognized that he was up against something more powerful than him, something perhaps supernatural.
00:02:10 Speaker 1
So I want to focus on the individual addict for just a second, and I often hear, and you've probably heard this or said this yourself. It's the addicts fault. He's addicted all the repercussions that come from that are on the addict, homelessness, mental illness, overdoses, the whole lot of consequences. It's not my responsibility to clean them up, let them die in the streets or.
00:02:30 Speaker 1
Something similar to that sentiment meant to isolate and limit drug addiction to a character, issue a moral failing, or just the culmination of a reckless and risky life path that finally led to their tragic life circumstances.
00:02:43 Speaker 1
Now I know from experience just facing the honor, the honest truth of some of what I just said, that some of this is true when reviewed from certain perspectives. It is the addicts fault they started using drugs. There are consequences for using drugs. It's not my responsibility to clean them up. And they indeed made find their lives in tragic circumstances of being homeless.
00:03:05 Speaker 1
Dying of an overdose and rendering themselves helpless by the physical and mental health problems that may stem.
00:03:12 Speaker 1
From it.
00:03:13 Speaker 1
I have to admit, when I first get into criminal justice and corrections, I was callous and subscribe to some.
00:03:18 Speaker 1
Of that thinking.
00:03:19 Speaker 1
In a very narrow minded way. Now, why do I say that? Now minded? Because I only looked at the crimes committed to support drug habits. And yes, that's a valid concern and discussion for another day. Not what I'm going to address today, but it's a valid question and.
00:03:35 Speaker 1
But many of the other socio economic effects that led to addiction, the emotional influences, the mental health influences well, I chose not to look at it or ignore them, but I certainly didn't fairly factor in their impact. If I can be honest.
00:03:53 Speaker 1
And after nearly 30 years of prospective, now you know, dealing with addicts. Repeat addicts death.
00:04:00 Speaker 1
Turmoil, broken families, heartbroken parents, good people becoming addicts, etcetera.
00:04:07 Speaker 1
From a ministerial and criminal justice perspective, I want to add I just realized that that is just a way too simplistic way.
00:04:17 Speaker 1
To approach it.
00:04:18 Speaker 1
And why do I say that? Because there are many tiles. I think in the broad mosaic of addiction, and I think each helps to create the picture that we now see and focusing on only one tile.
00:04:32 Speaker 1
Is really not a fair way to look at it. I I think it allows too many people to ignore it. Too many to surrender to the reality of it. If you will accept it with a shrug and they that won't happen to me attitude and it it allows too many people to blame, too few things that may lead to.
00:04:49 Speaker 1
It and to ignore the other tiles that make up.
00:04:52 Speaker 1
The whole picture, but I think it does something else. I think it ignores the story behind the addict and everyone has a story, their own tile in that mosaic, and it's often much more complicated than the attic just being a person of poor character with a weak disposition.
00:05:09 Speaker 1
And it's an individual story, I think that should determine how we deal with it, how we try to understand it, how we live with it, how we can find a way to heal from it. And I think more importantly, how we stand against it and oppose it.
00:05:22 Speaker 1
1st we can't depersonalize it, though we've labeled addiction bad and rightfully so. We've labeled the crime associated with it bad, and rightfully so. We look at addiction as a thing to be hated and criminalized, and rightfully so, but I think we've done something else. We've melted the people into the thing.
00:05:44 Speaker 1
And we hate them too.
00:05:46 Speaker 1
Now I want to be clear very clear. I am not going to be defending drug use in this podcast.
00:05:53 Speaker 1
What I hope to do?
00:05:55 Speaker 1
Is understand it recognize its origin from different sources and recognize its spiritual foundation, emphasizing that word spiritual foundation. It's not a battle that will be won without God.
00:06:08 Speaker 1
'S help on any.
00:06:10 Speaker 1
Individual or societal level, but I want to back up a little and lay the foundation of the discussion.
00:06:15 Speaker 1
How I arrived at the content for this podcast?
00:06:19 Speaker 1
The first addiction takes many forms. Opiates, alcohol, various other drugs, just too numerous to list.
00:06:25 Speaker 1
Now I'm going to be honest here. As I said, I spent nearly 30 years working in the criminal justice system, mostly in corrections. I saw addiction up close and in person. I saw the damage it does. I saw the families and people that destroyed the communities. It completely changed, saw that pain and misery of drug withdrawals.
00:06:45 Speaker 1
Saw the unthinkable things people will do to get the money for the next fix. Violently mugged the helpless and the elderly raise their kids piggy bag.
00:06:54 Speaker 1
College funds savings accounts.
00:06:57 Speaker 1
Prostitute themselves and even their children.
00:07:00 Speaker 1
Lie, cheat, steal from their own family members, their employers.
00:07:04 Speaker 1
And I also saw the strain on the street level, people who deal with the fallout of all of it, emergency dispatches, who who take the first call from the hysterical caller about their son and daughter or or other loved one who's unresponsive with the needle still in their arm or white powder in their nostrils. I I took some of these calls. The law enforcement personnel who get there first.
00:07:25 Speaker 1
And they start CPR until the paramedics get there. The paramedics and the firefighters, you perform CPR sometimes up to an hour.
00:07:32 Speaker 1
Trying to save this perfect stranger's young life with so much unrealized potential doctors, nurses, social workers, and drug counselors, it takes a real toll on all of.
00:07:42 Speaker 1
Them and you know.
00:07:44 Speaker 1
My shoulders got tired from shrugging it all off.
00:07:47 Speaker 1
It's an evil, really that truly cannot accurately be described, and in the words of Aragon from the Lord of the Rings, something gives speed to addiction, sets its will against us. Now I've never been an addict, but I've known and loved people who were.
00:08:02 Speaker 1
I've known and loved people who lost a family member or close friend to addiction, so it goes beyond. It won't happen to me.
00:08:09 Speaker 1
They all said that a lot of people have died who said it won't happen to me.
00:08:14 Speaker 1
Two years ago, I lost a lifelong friend to an overdose. He was a great kid growing up. He was a good student. I went to college. He was a good athlete and he was from a good family.
00:08:24 Speaker 1
Five years ago, I lost a close friend to an overdose. He was a cop.
00:08:29 Speaker 1
15 years ago I lost another lifelong friend to alcohol abuse. He literally drank himself to death and a couple of years ago I attended the funeral of a former classmate who died from the long term effects of alcohol and drug use. She was a medical professional who at one time.
00:08:43 Speaker 1
Had an impeccable.
00:08:44 Speaker 1
Mutation. I tried numerous times when she was in my jail to to help her shake the demon, but drugs and alcohol destroyed her and while I was working in the criminal justice system, I probably heard about someone I knew from the system dying from an overdose on a weekly basis.
00:09:01 Speaker 1
In some, I have to admit we're not what we would consider.
00:09:05 Speaker 1
People, they were criminals, most of their lives and seemingly were responsible for nothing in life but pain. Even the personal relationships they had seemed to be for manipulative purposes, sociopathic, really. And foundation meant only to feed their selfish desires, whatever they happen to be, and using drugs for them was was part of the thrill, part of the chasing, their their head missing.
00:09:25 Speaker 1
Or or or narcissistic impulses.
00:09:28 Speaker 1
Many of the crimes they committed had nothing to do, really, with satisfying a drug fix, and they were driven by something different. They would just, you know, down in their court, evil people, and they took pleasure in evil things. And you.
00:09:39 Speaker 1
Know what I?
00:09:39 Speaker 1
Mean. What was their story? I don't know. I have to leave that with God. I I think he knows it and will judge all righteously. But I.
00:09:46 Speaker 1
Digress for just a second.
00:09:48 Speaker 1
Now, I personally administered Narcan to at least four people in the jail where I worked.
00:09:53 Speaker 1
I want some people do some time in jail, get clean while they're there, and promise never ever to use again, only to find out that they overdosed and died within hours of getting out.
00:10:03 Speaker 1
And what causes someone who's not used drugs in months to run to it when they get their first chance?
00:10:10 Speaker 1
No, it isn't simply a character issue. There has to be something more, something much more powerful, and it's here that I want to base the discussion and and the material in this podcast. I want to start off with a basic presupposition.
00:10:27 Speaker 1
And it's this. There is evil in the world and I don't know a single person who doesn't believe that.
00:10:34 Speaker 1
And I want to add to that a second basic presupposition. There is also good in this world. I don't know anyone that doesn't believe.
00:10:43 Speaker 1
But I want to remind you of something evil intends to ensnare good people, and sometimes it doesn't let go.
00:10:52 Speaker 1
It doesn't want to let go.
00:10:54 Speaker 1
And I want to illuminate some spiritual principles.
00:10:56 Speaker 1
From the word of God.
00:10:58 Speaker 1
And I'm going to give you a few verses to start with. As always, I'm reading from the King James version and it comes from first Peter, Chapter 5, verse 8, and he writes, be sober, be vigilant because your adversary, the devil as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may.
00:11:15 Speaker 1
Of hour. Now the first lesson here is that there is a devil.
00:11:20 Speaker 1
Jesus speaks of them. Israel. The apostles do. The Old Testament prophets do. And you know, by golly, we intuitively believe that, don't we? He's God's enemy. He's your enemy. He stalks, hides and approaches you like a hungry lion and waits for the opportunity to pounce. When you, on the most vulnerable and exposed.
00:11:40 Speaker 1
His entire mission is to devour you.
00:11:45 Speaker 1
There is a couple more Bible verses that from the book of Ephesians, Chapter 6, verses 11 and 12. It says the apostle Paul writing here, put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the Wiles of the devil.
00:12:01 Speaker 1
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Second lesson here, there is a powerful spiritual wickedness that is beyond this world, supernatural and superhuman, and beyond our capability.
00:12:22 Speaker 1
To take on by herself.
00:12:24 Speaker 1
And there's a third lesson here.
00:12:26 Speaker 1
There is a strategy to confront such spiritual wickedness.
00:12:32 Speaker 1
Armor of God has been given to us spiritual armor, but armor and nonetheless, and we're going to get into that a little bit later.
00:12:40 Speaker 1
I want you to recognize something about addiction, folks. It is first and foremost a spiritual battle. Don't let a society that doesn't believe in God tell you different.
00:12:52 Speaker 1
The medical and psychological labeling of addiction is just that.
00:12:57 Speaker 1
A medical and psychological term used to describe a fundamentally spiritual issue. It may become medical. It may become psychological and medical and psychological remedies may help in the short term, but it starts spiritual in spiritual remedies are the only thing in my mind that will help in the long term.
00:13:18 Speaker 1
Now I want to look at some New Testament teachings on the subject, and I'm going to start by looking at some Greek words and then we'll get into where we find them and what they mean.
00:13:28 Speaker 1
And the first word I'm going to give you is pharma, Kaya, and I'm going to spell it PHARMAAKEIA.
00:13:37 Speaker 1
The next word is pharmacies.
00:13:40 Speaker 1
PHARMAKEUS the next one is pharmacon PAHARNAKON.
00:13:50 Speaker 1
The last one is Pharma, Kos, pH ARM, AKA OS.
00:13:56 Speaker 1
Now, though, sounds somewhat familiar, don't they? And they should now look at the root word of these. These Greek words, PHARMA. That's where we get the English word pharmaceutical.
00:14:10 Speaker 1
Let's take our word face value, shall we? What are some of the other words we use for pharmaceutical?
00:14:18 Speaker 1
And this is really a rhetorical question, because I think we all know the answer, but I'm going to give you just a few.
00:14:23 Speaker 1
Straight from the Merriam Webster thesaurus drug.
00:14:27 Speaker 1
Medication. Medicine.
00:14:30 Speaker 1
Potion that's going to be an interesting one for later. You know, sometimes evil hides in plain sight. So let me build a bridge here to our discussion, again using the common phrases that we're all used to.
00:14:41 Speaker 1
Drug Abuse, drug overdose.
00:14:44 Speaker 1
Medication or medicine? Self medicating. Abusing prescription medication. Now these sound familiar too, don't they? Well, we hear them all the time. All terms we use to speak of drug use and addiction. Is it a coincidence that they match biblical teaching?
00:14:59 Speaker 1
It's interesting, isn't it?
00:15:01 Speaker 1
And when the King James version, these words are translated as sorcery sorceries and sorcerer and sorcerers.
00:15:09 Speaker 1
And I want to look at why I'm going to start with the Greek words and then look at their English counterparts and the four Greek words that we've just given are the words used in the Book of Revelation. As I've said, and are translated sorcery sorcerer sorcery. So I want to look at some of those. We're going to start with pharma. Kaya.
00:15:26 Speaker 1
And it's a noun which comes from the word pharmachoice, which comes from the word pharmacon. The Pharmakeia is the thing itself, the drug.
00:15:35 Speaker 1
Pharmacies and pharmacon refer to the act of making it, and who makes it? Are these two words together? Medication is referred to by extension as magic sorcery or witchcraft. Also a drug, a spell giving potion. I'm going to look at those word here a little bit. A pharmacode is when we get the word.
00:15:56 Speaker 1
Pharmacist, or druggist, it also, coincidentally enough, means poisoner, magician or sorcerer, and that becomes relevant.
00:16:04 Speaker 1
That later the sorcerer performed his arts as a way to look at it. I think a modern application would be one who concocts a drug or offers and gives the drug the pharmakeia to someone who uses it. Pharma cost comes from the pharmacode and means sorcerers, and these verses it's a plural noun.
00:16:22 Speaker 1
OK, so I want to look at the English counterparts and really open this up. Let's look at the English word sorcerer.
00:16:28 Speaker 1
What is it defined as? It's a conjurer, an enchanter, A magician, and the enchant and the magician piece will be the relevant part of our of this definition. For our study, let's look at enchantment. OK, the the the noun form. The act of producing certain wonderful effects by the invocation or aid of demons.
00:16:49 Speaker 1
Or the agency of certain supposed spirits, the use of magic arts spells or charms and incantation.
00:16:56 Speaker 1
It mentions the Egyptians in the Egyptian magicians in Exodus Chapter 7, and it's an irresistible influence and overpowering influence of light. These words are important of the warmth of fancy which holds the heart of a reader under the strongest enchantment, and so I want to add the word, art and magic.
00:17:17 Speaker 1
Because enchantments are the use of magic arts. Well, how do we define magic? The art or science of putting into action the power of spirits?
00:17:27 Speaker 1
Or the science of producing wonderful effects by the aid of superhuman beings, or of departed spirits, sorcery, enchantment.
00:17:36 Speaker 1
Now, did you catch that? The power of spirits?
00:17:39 Speaker 1
Aid of superhuman beings. Sorcery.
00:17:43 Speaker 1
Definition of the word art, the disposition or modification of things by human skill to answer the purpose intended in this sense.
00:17:52 Speaker 1
Art stands opposed to nature.
00:17:56 Speaker 1
OK, art goes against nature. Did you catch that? Opposed to nature? It's a perversion. It's a manipulation of nature and what's natural.
00:18:06 Speaker 1
And let's, for the sake of deepening the discussion a little bit, check out the definition of perversion and put that into our basis of understanding this issue.
00:18:14 Speaker 1
The act of perverting or turning from truth or propriety.
00:18:19 Speaker 1
A diverting from the true intent or object changed to something worse.
00:18:23 Speaker 1
When we speak of perversion of the laws, when they're misinterpreted and misapplied, perversion of reason when it's miss employed, a perversion of scripture when it's willfully misinterpreted or misapplied. All right, so I want to tie all of these definitions together. Sorcery is the thing done.
00:18:41 Speaker 1
Sorcerer is the one who does.
00:18:44 Speaker 1
Source of these are the things or the acts of sorcery, plural done by the sorcerer. Perversion is the intent. Conjuring magic and artful skill is how it is done.
00:18:57 Speaker 1
Enchantment and Deception is the method of distribution.
00:19:01 Speaker 1
Death, destruction and spiritual alienation is the result of acceptance.
00:19:06 Speaker 1
Subjugation and control is the result by incantation or secret influence incantation. The act of enchanting enchantment, the act of using certain formulas.
00:19:17 Speaker 1
Of words and ceremonies for the purpose of raising spirits, and we see the spiritual emphasis here. It's a deliberate, calculated practice, perfected and it's late to the power of spirits, superhuman elements. And I'm going to refer you back to Ephesians Chapter 6, verses 11 and 12, which I already read. And these things produce an.
00:19:37 Speaker 1
Irresistible, wonderful and overwhelming influence of delight, I'll put delight in air quotes.
00:19:43 Speaker 1
Now the Bible is full of wisdom. If we only read it and look for it. Now that we know how they're defined, let's look at where we find these words in the Bible, and I'm going to read these four together. Right. Revelation 921. Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries.
00:20:00 Speaker 1
More of their fornication, nor of their thefts. Revelation 1823 and the light of the candle shall shine no more at all in thee, in the voice of the bridegroom, and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee, for thy merchants were the great men of the earth, for by thy sorceries were all nations.
00:20:22 Speaker 1
Revelation 21, verse 8. But the fearful 1, unbelieving, and the abominable and murderous and homogeneous, and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
00:20:36 Speaker 1
Revelation 22, verse 25, and near the very end of the Bible. It says for without our dogs and sorcerers and hormones and murderers and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. So I want to sum this up in a sentence. It's a long sentence to stick with me.
00:20:56 Speaker 1
Sorceress. That's drug dealers, drug pushers, the unethical pharmacist, Dr. or chemist, the pharma. Come by definition, they produce manufacture, cell and prescribe drugs. That's the pharmakeia. Legally or illegally, legitimately and illegitimately. I'm not going to be addressing legitimate pharmaceutical use. And I believe there is such a thing. But the illegitimate.
00:21:16 Speaker 1
Use the corruption of it, the exploitation of it, the use of it to deceive and grip people is what I'm referring to. This is all of the spiritual realm.
00:21:25 Speaker 1
Planning out its part in the physical realm using physical objects and real people and this will be a prevalent characteristic of what the Bible calls the last days.
00:21:37 Speaker 1
Now the big question now is why?
00:21:40 Speaker 1
Why do they do this thing called sorcery, which we have shown as drugs or drug related activity? And I think we can fairly say it includes both legal and illegal practices. As an aside, legal doesn't mean God approves of its use.
00:21:55 Speaker 1
Then we get a hint in the Book of Revelation for thy merchants were the great men of the earth, for by thy sorceries were all nations deceive.
00:22:05 Speaker 1
Now we know what a merchant is. It's a buyer and seller of goods, and this verse they are great men of the Earth, men of power and influence.
00:22:14 Speaker 1
But we all know that a buyer or a seller of the goods needs a market.
00:22:18 Speaker 1
And a marketing plan. Create a market you need to create and need. So how do we create a need? Well, the purpose of creating that need is to aid in deceiving nations, people, populations is what it means. So they could be subjugated and destroyed.
00:22:34 Speaker 1
Now the Bible says merchants.
00:22:35 Speaker 1
Were great men of the earth.
00:22:38 Speaker 1
So great men of the earth created in need for the sorceries, IE drugs. And it's an old satanic technique I'm going to invite you to read Genesis chapter 3 verses one through 7. This is the temptation of EVE by Satan in the garden. I'm going to kind of summarize what happens here, but I do ask you to go back and read it.
00:22:59 Speaker 1
Satan tempted Eve with a promise to meet her desire.
00:23:03 Speaker 1
And the Bible tells us what it was that you desired.
00:23:08 Speaker 1
And Satan tempted her, and people in general with the promise to meet that desire.
00:23:14 Speaker 1
With the real.
00:23:14 Speaker 1
Physical things that we can see and feel.
00:23:17 Speaker 1
Now, like Satan tempted Eve with a promise to meet her desire, Satan tempts people with a promise to meet the desire of whatever led someone to 1st use a drug.
00:23:27 Speaker 1
To ease pain, whatever its source.
00:23:30 Speaker 1
Here's the question. I don't think we're asking what is causing people to turn to drugs.
00:23:36 Speaker 1
I'm going to offer an answer. The relief it promises.
00:23:38 Speaker 1
Well, relief from what?
00:23:40 Speaker 1
Relief from whatever Satan has convinced them they need to fill whatever void they have now for the sake of this podcast, I'm going to limit it to one need to get relief from pain. Whether it's emotional, physical or spiritual. That's a very broad definition, I know, but it's also much different than people chasing drugs for the thrill. And that's not what I want to.
00:23:58 Speaker 1
Address. Why? Why does someone need relief from pain in the 1st place? Well, because they hurt. Why do they hurt? And that's the spiritual question that we need to answer. That's the story. Their story, the attic story. The story, we don't know. But I do know this. If you don't try to find the story.
00:24:18 Speaker 1
And offer a better solution than you're not trying.
00:24:21 Speaker 1
And drugs are offering the individual addict a lot more than you are than we are than society is might be a deception, might be wrong, might be destructive, but what's the alternative?
00:24:32 Speaker 1
Will drugs promise and provide things?
00:24:35 Speaker 1
Well, the first one is freedom from pain. Whether it's emotional, physical or mental, I invite you to get online and I look up the lyrics to Pink Floyd's comfortably numb and read those lyrics.
00:24:45 Speaker 1
It provides you euphoria.
00:24:48 Speaker 1
To feel good if their whole life, they only felt depressed.
00:24:53 Speaker 1
The first feeling of euphoria is powerful.
00:24:56 Speaker 1
It might be false in fleeting relief, but it's a powerful, powerful feeling.
00:25:02 Speaker 1
That is very, very difficult to compete with without an alternative.
00:25:07 Speaker 1
Drugs promise peace in their spirit if their whole life or even.
00:25:10 Speaker 1
Just a period.
00:25:11 Speaker 1
Of it, their spirit has been troubled for whatever reason, that feeling of peace is powerful. It might be false and fleeting. It might be a false and fleeting truth in their soul, but it's peace that hasn't come any other way.
00:25:26 Speaker 1
And so we're back to the question, what's the story, what's the source or instigator?
00:25:30 Speaker 1
Of the paint.
00:25:32
Do you know?
00:25:32 Speaker 1
The pain that is experienced by the family of addicts because they don't know.
00:25:35 Speaker 1
The answer to.
00:25:36 Speaker 1
That calling their addicted loved 1A Punk a loser, good for nothing rebellious, or some other negative label doesn't offer much comfort. I don't think, does it? Not when you don't know the story.
00:25:50 Speaker 1
And I'm gonna qualify that by saying even if that person lives in your house.
00:25:55 Speaker 1
You may not know the story.
00:25:59 Speaker 1
And I'm not promising a total answer in this podcast, or even the promise that you'll find one. I'm hoping to point you to the source of the solution.
00:26:08 Speaker 1
Not who is Jesus Christ?
00:26:10 Speaker 1
Now, like Satan tempted Eve with a promise to meet her desire, Satan tempts people with the promise to meet the desire of whatever led someone to 1st use the drug. As I mentioned, to ease the pain of abuse.
00:26:20 Speaker 1
It's meant to deceive, and we're going to look at that word in the scriptures. It comes from the Greek word planel to Rome, from safety, truth or virtue, cause to go astray, deceive, seduce, wander, be out of the way. You know, if you haven't noticed how many drug addicts are knocked right off their feet and can no longer function in organized society.
00:26:42 Speaker 1
Once they get addicted.
00:26:44 Speaker 1
It seems their mind and judgment stops working.
00:26:47 Speaker 1
Ever wondered why that is?
00:26:49 Speaker 1
Because the intention is to deceive, I'm going to read the definition again to cause to go astray, to seduce.
00:26:56 Speaker 1
To wander.
00:26:59 Speaker 1
I want you to turn to Romans Chapter 7 and verse 11, and then verses 23 and 24.
00:27:05 Speaker 1
I'm going to read those sections for you here, but I want you to look at it yourself when you get a chance. It says in Romans, Chapter 7, verse 11. This is the apostle Paul 4 sin.
00:27:14 Speaker 1
Taking occasion by the commandment deceived me.
00:27:19 Speaker 1
And buy it slew me.
00:27:22 Speaker 1
But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my Members, O wretched man, that I am, who shall deliver me.
00:27:36 Speaker 1
From the body of this death, let me tell you something, friend. That's the apostle Paul talking. And he was talking about the strength and the deceptive ability of sin and how it could overtake his body.
00:27:49 Speaker 1
Now there's the spiritual battle we all wage every day in our own selves. Your battle may be cursing, gluttony, lustful thoughts. Take your pick.
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For others, the battle is addiction.
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Paul said he fought his flesh all the time and his flesh won a lot.
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But Paul knew where victory lap.
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In Jesus Christ and he says in Romans Chapter 7, verse 25. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. Yeah, I've got some examples of people I've known over the years that became addicted. And what the story was. One guy was a.
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High school athlete.
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And blew his knee out. Needed surgery was prescribed painkillers, got addicted. Spent the next year. Excuse me. The next 15 years battle and that addiction did some time in prison because of what it led him to do.
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I had a student who had been combat wounded.
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Overseas War on Terror?
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Painkillers from his war wounds. Addicted spent three years trying to shake it in and out of rehab.
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How about those guys with PTSD?
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That that have done combat, have seen violent images. We can't even think of combat wounds, etc.
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How about sex abuse victims? You know, sometimes drugs chase these memories out of their head.
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Memories that are not easy to deal with, easier to cope with mental and physical abuse victims.
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And drugs, given that euphoria, that peace in their soul I spoke about, chased those thoughts out of their head, victims of of pain.
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And drugs chased the pain, ran out of their body.
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Abandonment issues. Drugs become their friend.
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How about how about children that we conditioned it to to take drugs? Since they're four and five years old and we tell them medication is always the answer.
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You know the serial drug user? Yeah, we have him. He's the one chasing the next thrill. He's got the character flaw. He's been chasing the next big kick for years and finally heroin is something else. Got a hold of him. I'd. I'd call this the law of sowing and reaping the same way immoral sexual behavior leads to venereal disease or living a hard, fast, reckless lifestyle that leads to.
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A tragic death.
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And I think of the actor James Dean and and Paul Walker.
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And my experiences with drug dealers, most don't use drugs themselves or they sell them. It's a business. They need their heads clear. They're moving money, they're keeping track of inventory and they move this stuff through. This street proxies, mostly addicts that they have deceived to take it. And these addicts are.
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Going to sell?
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The product in exchange for discount or maybe some free stuff.
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And they're going to take the fall for trafficking drugs. If they get caught. Now it's lucrative too.
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So a lot of money in drug dealer, we all know that. So the consequences of getting caught for.
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These dealers are.
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Are are simply considered the cost of of doing business?
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I want to speak and insert the word potion here, which means a a liquid medicine or or a dose is really what I'm I'm looking at the the drug the pharmakeia it over. It overpowers people, it fills them with a false relief.
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That we've already covered false promises, false hope if you only have me, you'll be fine, it says.
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Now I'm going to ask you to recall some of the songs from the past.
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Where drugs actually are said to talk to people, addicts will tell you it will call you. It will call you by name. And I believe that they hear that. And I believe that there's a spiritual origin for that calling. You know, the book of the end times is revelation and it speaks of drug manufacturing and drug pushing as being a prevalent part of the end times.
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Is that a coincidence? Really. Do we think that now I can't answer every possible perspective because I don't know.
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I don't know all the perspectives. Every listener will have their own. Every addict will have their own. Every victim will have their own perspective, their own story.
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You're going to have to color your perspective with the word of God. That's what I'm going to tell everybody who has a different perspective. You need to color your perspective with the word of God. It's something that's going to take prayer. It's going.
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To take forgiveness.
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It's going to take upholding A moral standard. It will take understanding the hold and sway of sin, which is of the devil. Now, that's a truth. Whether you believe it or not.
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So I want.
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To I want to wrap this up with some thoughts with an exhortation to you to take this to guide yourself. He knows your situation well. How do we fight it? Why we fight it person to person, pray to pray of 1 addict at a time. And here are your tools found right in Ephesians Chapter 6, which is described as the whole armor of God.
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And the first one is truth. Well, truth is what holds all of your armor together and in place. Well, whose truth?
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Well, John 14-6, Jesus said. I am the way, the truth. The truth is Jesus.
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The next one is righteousness, which protects the heart.
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You know who makes you righteous?
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It's in Romans chapter 5. It's Jesus.
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The Gospel of Peace, which helps you keep your footing.
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The one who gives you the Gospel of peace, it only gives you peace. And John chapter 16. It says Jesus.
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The next one is faith in God in Christ that protects you from attack.
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You know who gives you that? And John, 16 and 17. It says Jesus.
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Salvation, which is that relationship in Jesus Christ that protects your head, your mind, and your thoughts.
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Well, who gives you that?
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This says in John chapter six that it's Jesus.
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And the word of God is another one. It is written, Jesus said in response to Satan's temptations of him.
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We know who the will of God is.
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And John chapter one, it says the will of God.
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Is Jesus.
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For every one of these tools is an example of Jesus and points to Jesus. And Jesus lets sinners know that he was available. He lets sinners be around him, to come to him in their weakness, in the helplessness, in their need.
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Now it's OK to expect an addict to be responsible for the things done to support the habit. If they commit crimes of victimized people, they need to be held accountable, and it's OK to expect them to be responsible and held accountable. It's OK to lock the attic up so they won't continue to victimize people. It's OK to be angry at the dealers who provided the drugs that took your loved ones or got them hooked.
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And it's OK to be angry that your loved one fell victim to it.
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And so it it it, it's OK to be.
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Angry at them.
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But I want you to think about something too. I don't want you to think of it instead of. I want you to think of it alongside.
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Just another prong in the same fork of what I just said. I heard it pass the same to me one time while we were discussing an addict that attended our church. Now I'd retreated into my hardline criminal justice approach because I felt safe there and on Solomon. More on the biblical ground, which I was from my.
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And after he mused for a second on what I had said now he said this in response. And I'm I'm paraphrasing a a little bit. But he said, well, it might not be a smart thing for a fish to bite. The lure that hides the hook. He's just hungry as a need and the food he needs hides the trap.
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But once he's bitten the hook and finds out that he's made a mistake.
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He can't get off that hook until someone helps him.
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Was a revelation.
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For me, I'll admit, and it changed the way I look at addiction.
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We've bit the hook Adam bit the hook. Heck, we've all bit the hook and there we'd be still if Jesus hadn't said. Let me take that hook out of your mouth.
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Now removing your love and support the Safe Harbor from your addict loved one, I think is a mistake.
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Your love and support may be the only hope they have. If they don't have you. If they don't have your faith, they don't have your strength, your strength of conviction to lean on when they're too weak. What do they?
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Addiction renders someone helpless.
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They become somebody completely different. You need to be strong, have expectations, high moral convictions. Don't condone it. Don't excuse it, but by God, don't abandon the person fighting it.
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You know, there was a a story on Facebook that I was a page that I follow and the woman had said that her son was a struggling addict. He'd been in and out of rehab three or four times or or whatnot. And he was he was struggling still and.
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She wanted to invite him to Thanksgiving dinner.
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And the father had said, I don't want him here.
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Because he was struggling with addiction and in my response to that was, you know what?
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He's struggling.
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But Thanksgiving, when we when we gather around the table to thank God.
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For our many blessings.
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We should try to surround that person who's trying with all the love, prayer, communion, and support. Your spiritual strength can muster.
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Whenever they are around you, you let them see Jesus because being stuck in addiction, they don't have any spiritual strength of their own, and sometimes they need to lean on you. And if it isn't there.
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Where are they going to find it?
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You know, I get it. It's a simple, you know, a simple explanation. No, it was a mistake to get into that condition to get addicted, OK.
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But I do have a question for you.
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Do we gloat?
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Over their mistake. Is there some sort of satisfaction in saying, yeah, well, it's your fault.
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And then thump our chests with pride speak, you know, because we're not addicts, you know. Do you let the person who can't swim, who fell into the pool drown while you watch? When you throw in the whispering?
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You dawning the whole armor of God and standing in between your loved ones and Satan's attack is not enabling. It's called spiritual warfare.
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So I'm going to close with this.
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It is the addicts fault they started using drugs. What do you do? You find out? Why help them fill that need with Jesus and walk with them until they're strong enough to stand on their own.
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Yes, there are consequences for using drugs. Try to minimize them. Be honest about them, but try to minimize them. There is the law of sowing and reaping here, and your addict loved one may be reaping the consequences of choosing to take drugs for a long time.
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It's not my responsibility to clean them up. OK. True then just don't stand in their way. If they come home, be there. Your support is not in enabling, not when you're supporting positive efforts that might not always be successful and may take years to finally take root.
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You know what? And they indeed may find themselves in very tragic circumstances. They might be homeless, they might die from an overdose, and they may render themselves helpless by the physical and mental health problems that are going to stem from it, you know, try to understand.
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Because you don't know God's place in the situation.
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Never stop being a safe harbor. Reinforce positive steps as long as they're walking or trying to walk in the right direction. I don't believe this requires you to save them from themselves if they don't seek help or.
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They reject it.
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But I think it requires us to allow them to step back in the right the right direction to leave the porch light on, so to speak, and help them hold that ground when they do.
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You have got a spiritual battle to fight too, unless you're willing to surrender your loved one or your community to Satan.
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The one final analogy.
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Here again from the Lord of the Rings. This is a dirty fight. It's ugly.
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It's not for the weak.
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When King Faisal of Rohan found out that the forces of Sauron had invaded his lands and were murdering and pillaging his people, he was exhorted to go to war.
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In his response, he said I will not bring further death to my people. I will not risk open war.
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And Aragon responded to him. Open war is upon you, whether you would risk it or not.
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But King Fayed had a choice when he was confronted with that reality, and so do we. This fight is here, whether we want it or not.
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Do we surrender?
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Let it run over our families. Our communities. Is that an acceptable scenario to you?
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I didn't think so. It it isn't to me either. Then we fight it on the ground. The Lord controls the spiritual realm and let him fight the battle through us with the tools he has given us.
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This is Chaplain Tim signing off. I want to thank you for listening to this special episode of the Chaplain Share podcast, and I'll see you next time. God bless you.
