Addicts are idolaters.
Idolatry is sin.
Sin demands repentance.
Understanding this is a matter of life and death.
I will explain but first some definitions. Addiction is an attachment that becomes a destructive preoccupation and obsession. Addictions can range from unhealthy attachments to things intrinsically harmful (e.g., fentanyl, tobacco, pornography, violence, etc.) to good things which become bad things (e.g., work, fitness, coffee, children, etc.). Idolatry is whatever our heart clings to for ultimate security and satisfaction. It is a religious term indicating a misplaced or inordinate love and loyalty to anything/one over God. This is sin—a transgression, a violation of our obligations as creatures before our Creator.
These terms are useful and needed categories in which to understand drug and alcohol problems provided they remain together and are equally affirmed. Addiction encapsulates the psychological dimension of substance abuse, the awful plight of those trapped in the never-ending cycle of “I can’t stop!” Idolatry is a theological term which addresses the horrific evil we have committed against God. We must not abandon either of these terms if we are to take chemical dependencies and behavioral compulsions seriously.
Repentance is a person’s turning away from sin as a response to God’s prevenient (i.e., preceding) grace. It is a relational term capturing a sinner’s personal offense toward the One who made them. Repentance is the humble acknowledgment of disobedience and wrongdoing (not just mistake, defect, failure, or misstep), sorrow over one’s rebellion, and a reorientation of one’s life toward God with a resulting change in behavior.
Now let me unpack the statements at the very beginning. Two things upset God—when we disrespect him and when we destroy ourselves. Idolatry encompasses both of these actions. By desiring other things above God, we dishonor him and make him appear less glorious than what he is. Failure to properly revere and esteem the One who is absolutely perfect and deserving of all praise is disrespectful and utterly reprehensible. For God not to be angered over this would be for him to suggest that his glory is of little or no value (which would be unrighteous and literally, profane, on his part).
More, to revere and adore anything or anyone above God is to profoundly harm ourselves. It makes us less human, less the image of God in which we have been made. We become what we idolize and cherish. Therefore, to pay homage to that which in itself is nothing is to consequently become nothing. This, too, rightly pains God because God’s single and resolute intention is for us to flourish and prosper. Because of his holy and jealous love for us, he cannot feel otherwise when we subject ourselves to ruin and disfigurement.
This is incredibly good news! God matters, and we matter.
In today’s society, seldom if ever do we think of addiction as idolatry (the very notion sounds outrageously insensitive and judgmental). In fact, as moderns, the idea that we could be idolaters is moronic. We are more sophisticated. Idolatry is for ancient, prescientific people who saw the world through a superstitious, religious lens. Additionally, living in a culture where personal autonomy and authenticity are king, we do not readily secede to anyone meddling with our personal freedoms. We boast accountability to no one and claim the inalienable right to decide for ourselves what we can and cannot do. To suggest we might be idolaters is blasphemous.
But there is more. There are power brokers who want to keep addiction exclusively in the medical and clinical realms. Call it neurosis, dysfunction, disease, maladjustment, deficiency, . . . addiction, but God forbid we hint of any morality in the matter. Why? Money—billions (yes, billions)!—is at stake, both private and public funding for addiction-recovery related services. Additionally, no one voluntarily (in this case, the medical establishment) relinquishes authority (unless you are Jesus). To be in the privileged position of defining the terms of engagement and determining policy is a coveted chair that will not be turned over without an all-out war.
Sadly, this comes at an immense price. In denying, ignoring, or minimizing the relationship between addiction and idolatry, we are shortchanging ourselves. Yes, addiction is many things—disease, disorder, habit, environment. It is influenced by a myriad of things—age, race, gender, economics, personality, geography, etc. Each of these factors comes in varying doses, unique to each addict. Effective treatment is predicated upon correct analysis and diagnosis.
And yes, recovery from drug and alcohol addictions may require medications, therapy, anger management classes, vocational training and job placement, special living arrangements, strategic partnerships, support groups, mentorships, etc. Each person has distinct challenges which must be properly identified and addressed. What is important in one individual’s recovery will vary from person to person. There is no one-size-fits-all template. That said, according to the Christian tradition, every addicted person must repent. Addiction as idolatry puts the problem in the spiritual frame, in a moral category, thereby insisting upon admittance of giving affection to false gods along with a subsequent turning from these idols to the living God.
To that end, along with everything else stated above, addiction is sin. It is treason against our Creator, giving our heart and devotion to those things which are no gods. Any form of idolatry is insulting, a belittling of God’s infinite worth.
Although I have personally never abused drugs or alcohol, I have my own vices for which I am in recovery, my own idols that I have had (and continue) to dethrone. You are no different. We all find ourselves in this state of affairs. As the late psychiatrist, Gerald May, wrote, “To be alive is to be addicted.” We all have our go-to attachments, albeit some of these “loves” are more harmful than others, and some are more societally acceptable than others.
Idolatry has its reasons. As a fellow human, I am most sympathetic.
For starters, we are born with a sin nature. St. Paul calls this the “flesh.” We have an innate aversion towards God that inclines us to bow down and pay homage to false gods. The famed pastor and theologian of the Protestant Reformation, John Calvin (1509-1564), said that “the human heart is a perpetual idol factory.” In other words, we have a predisposition to creating and worshiping things other than God. Adding only fuel to this default within us are the troubles and trials of life. A sports related injury, death or divorce, trauma from childhood coupled with our own temperament, personality, season of life, and many other variables can make us especially vulnerable to bowing down to the many idols wooing us on every side.
On top of this, both our current and past micro/macro environments can be sure setups for idolatry. Our family of origin and neighborhood in which we grew up has a profound impact on where we turn for strength and peace—whether money, pornography, gossip and negativity, health, academic achievement, alcohol, masturbation, religion, a relationship, cars, food, status, gambling, the internet, ad infinitum. Nor can we overlook the shaping influences of the larger culture in which we find ourselves immersed—from the media to the educational system, the entertainment industry to government and political powers. All of these seek to lure us into believing in and wanting certain things, . . . to value, hope for, and invest in pleasures and comforts that are often completely at odds with the worship of the King of Kings. John the Apostle identifies these temptations as the “world” (1 Jn. 2:15-17).
Last but not least, there are Satanic forces on the loose, seeking to steal, kill, and destroy. The tempters are ever suggesting that God cannot be trusted and that there are much more satisfying gods to serve. These Powers deceive and seduce the unwary to find relief anywhere outside of God’s rule. Jesus, knowing the alluring, destructive power of the enemy, closed the prayer he taught his disciples with this petition, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
All these factors are not excuses for our addictions—i.e., idolatries—but explanations. We need to understand more fully our conditions along with the limitations and propensities of our humanity. For sure, we are more aware of some of these forces working against us than others as well as have more control over some of these influences than others. That said, we cannot deny that our risks of bowing down to graven images are at an all-time high in the affluent, Digital Age of the West. None of us will get out alive baring God’s merciful intervention.
To sum, we are all addicts and, therefore, idolaters. . . sinners. None of us is off the hook. This is the bad news. The good news is that God has provided a way out. That step is repentance.
To repent is to reckon that one has insulted God and, consequently, brought great injury to both God and self. It is to own one’s treason and dramatically alter one’s course. It is the result of God’s redemptive unmasking of our sin and his moving of our heart towards him. All other recovery efforts (however necessary and valid) are superficial and will be short-lived unless supported and grounded in true repentance to God. Repentance gets to the root of our ills. Repentance enables real, lasting recovery. Repentance is the pathway to experiencing God whose presence alone brings fulness of joy (Ps. 16:11). Repentance is both discipline and grace and something in which we must become well-versed as a lifelong process.
But please understand: Repentance cannot restore us to God as if any work on our part could ever mitigate our sin and guilt. The efficacy of repentance is not based on our sincerity, level of contrition, thoroughness of confession, or change of behavior. Its healing power is solely founded upon Christ’s bloody sacrifice on the cross. Therefore, let him be praised alone.
“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15)
