| | I highly recommend, “Addictions: Banquet in the Grave”, by Ed Welch because it deals with the theology underlying addictions. The author states quite bluntly that all addictions are idolatry based, that they are a worship disorder. Idols start out serving us as a means to an end, but cruelly, in the end, we are forced to serve the idol and this slavery is what defines an addiction.
His theology is helpful in the same way Tozer’s is when he says that all sin has the same root, the self-life. Clearly, not all sin leads to addiction though; there must be some interplay of physiological or psychological (or both) responses with sin that differs from person to person due to our individual makeup They become, the sin and the response, irrevocably intertwined, controllable perhaps but not revocable except, of course, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Sins, such as these that are tied to our physical or emotional responses eventually reach the point where they interfere with day-to-day function and have substantial and recognizable consequences; self can no longer keep it hidden away or under control and human judgment results – the idol is now fully in control – and we recognize it as addiction.
I seem drawn to people with addictions or perhaps they are drawn to me. As an exhorter, it is always my desire to help, to turn people towards Christ and the real and practical help He has to offer. But sometimes, I can get in God’s way; my very presence may provide a response similar to the addictive behavior, negating the pressure the Holy Spirit is heaping on, preventing the person from turning to Him. I think of it rather like the pressure regulator on top of a pressure cooker. Relieving too much pressure prevents what’s inside from getting properly cooked; i.e., the Holy Spirit is prevented from doing His work. The surgery or healing or transformation that was intended when the pressure was initiated never results. This make sense to me too in terms of the number of things that people can be addicted to like relationships, shopping, alcohol, food, sex and power because we’re all made up differently and therefore different things relieve the pressure we feel. So, in my mind, anything that relieves the pressure that the Holy Spirit is putting on is, by definition, sin.
More later..... |
| | Posted 11/17/2007 12:41 AM - 55 Views - 4 eProps - 7 comments
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