“No one pours new wine into old wineskins.
No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.”
(Mark 2:22)

We are in danger. The threat of drift looms large.

The world has changed. We live in a post-Christian, post-church age. The social-cultural-political environment in which we are situated is not merely indifferent to Christian faith; it is hostile toward any claim of absolute truth, especially when associated with Jesus of Nazareth.

But all is not lost. These massive changes are bringing new opportunities, new possibilities of being the church, calling for new expressions of bearing witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. May we be open to what the Spirit of God is doing and how we are being directed as his people to participate with God in his healing mission.

New opportunities come with new challenges. What may have worked in the past is no longer effective today. The path forward is unclear. This brings uncertainty which can put us at greater risk for going astray. The desire for success can blind us to the way of Christ. Our heart is deceptive. Our propensity as humans is always to trust in ourselves and in our own devices. The lust for power, money, and acclaim is always present. We may be unaware of these sinful inclinations. We must not doubt for one second that the devil is always lurking at our door.

We are in danger. And what is true organizationally is true personally. The Apostle Paul reminded the church of Corinth, “Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (10:11).

This is how I opened our first staff gathering this year. Not the kind of “state of the union” one might expect at the beginning of a new year and season of ministry. While these words may seem too somber, I believe they are true for not only Life Challenge but for each one of us whatever our station in life.

I am deeply concerned about the dangers ahead. At the same time, I am excited about the new things God is up to in this hour. As a ministry, we are launching some new strategies that will position us to reach more people more effectively. To that end, we are pursuing two things: (1) an expanded state license allowing us to provide more clinical services; and (2) a higher level of independent clinical certification and accreditation which will, among other things, put us on many more referral lists with mental health agencies, rehabilitation centers, and legal departments. I want to assure you—by God’s grace—that we will move forward without compromise to our mission or core faith values.

Christ’s love compels us to provide the best possible care in pursuit of the best possible outcomes for those afflicted with drug and alcohol problems. Christ’s commandment guides us: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Mt. 28:19-20).

As one of the safeguards in remaining true to both our mission and Christ’s commission, we are corporately rededicating ourselves to four core faith commitments. This list is not exhaustive but, we believe, of particular relevance to our existing time and place in ministry.

1. We take Jesus seriously.

We believe that Jesus is the Christ. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created . . . through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (Col 1:15-19).

All Scripture points to and is fulfilled by him (Lk. 24:27; Jn. 5:39, 46). Jesus is the way and the truth and the life, the Word made flesh, full of grace and truth (Jn. 14:6; 1:14). He is the “chosen and precious cornerstone” (1 Pet. 2:6). He is the one mediator between God and humans (1 Tim. 2:5). Salvation is in no other name (Acts 4:12). He is the “King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God” (1 Tim. 1:17). At the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Phil. 2:10-11).

Our earnest prayer is that men and women come to know and love Jesus. We believe there is no real recovery without conversion to Christ. There is an infinite difference between being sober vs. being saved; being clean vs. being cleansed; being rehabilitated vs. being regenerated. Our goal in all we do is single and straightforward—to lead people to Jesus. To bear witness of Jesus Christ’s lordship for the purpose of leading others into the kingdom of God. We want those estranged from the Father to receive the reconciliation and liberation offered through Jesus that we ourselves have graciously experienced.

2. We take sin seriously.

The Christian doctrine of the Fall and Original Sin is not only folly but utterly offensive to humankind. It is an insult to our pride and ultimately threatens human autonomy. Yet, as theologian Bernard Ramm argues, “If not granted nothing can be explained; if granted all can be explained.” Addiction is complex. There are psychological, sociological, and bio-neuro-chemical explanations for addiction, but we believe that there is another element involved in every decision, disease, disorder, and dysfunction. It is the X-factor—sin—apart from which addiction cannot be properly understood and accordingly, “treated.”

Sin affects the whole person and separates us from God. In Romans 3:13-18, St. Paul shows at length how deeply sin penetrates every aspect of our being (throat, tongue, lips, mouth, feet). Our “mission control center” is set in a wrong direction. At the very core of our being we resist God’s authority and resent his intrusion. Indwelling sin makes it impossible for human-beings outside of divine intervention to be free, whole, and justified before God.

Medicine, psychology, and sociology have made significant advances in helping us understand addiction. At the same time, there is a strong bent in these fields to limit and reduce addiction to these domains to the exclusion of the spiritual. To dismiss or downplay this “X-factor” can be fatal—both in this life and the next. Addiction is not only sickness, it is sin. Sickness requires medication and therapy; sin requires repentance and reconciliation. We dare not over medicalize problems and, at the same time, over spiritualize them if we are to faithfully help those afflicted into the fullness of the recovery and salvation God so richly provides.

3. We take holiness seriously.

“Holiness” is one of those dying words that has gotten a bad rap. To many, the word brings reactions of boring, hard, and negative (i.e., can’t do this, can’t do that) and conjures images of stiff, uptight, self-righteous, religious prigs. Gospel-centered holiness, however, is not primarily about rule-keeping but relationship. It is separation from sin for the purpose of separation to God. 

Holiness is a big deal in the Bible. The word “holy” in its various forms occurs over six hundred times in Scripture with one entire book devoted to the subject (Leviticus). The Apostle Peter charges his congregation to “be holy in all you do” (1 Pet. 1:14). The writer of Hebrews implores his readers to “make every effort (lit., to persecute, run after, seek after eagerly) to live in peace with all men and to be holy” and then warns, “without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). Holiness is not optional, or something reserved for a special class of individuals. It is every man and woman’s obligation before their holy Creator to diligently pursue a life reflecting dedication and submission to Christ in every facet of life including our speech, what we look at and listen to, how we treat others, our sexuality, etc.

We must not confuse recovery with righteousness, wholeness for holiness, abstinence with sanctification, or recovery maintenance with obedience. These are very different categories. The second word in each pair is oriented toward God while the first is self-centered. Of course, none of the first words in each pair is undesirable. We want people to experience recovery, wholeness, abstinence, and recovery maintenance. But, for what end? We believe for the sake of righteousness, holiness, sanctification, and obedience, respectively.

4. We take the Scriptures seriously.

Christian recovery is for the purpose of Christian formation and discipleship, being made conformable into the image of Jesus Christ, or as Paul puts it in Romans 13:14, “putting on Christ.” We believe that this goal and command can only be realized by letting the Word of Christ dwell in us richly (Col. 3:16). It is through the written Word of God that faith is born and we are made alive (Rom. 10:17; Ja. 1:18; Jn. 6:63). By this same living Word of God we are cleansed and sanctified (Jn. 15:3; 17:17), enabled to grow up into our salvation (1 Pet. 2:1-3).

We believe the God-breathed Scriptures are God’s ordained means whereby we are trained in righteousness and equipped for every good word (2 Tim. 3:16-17). To become like Christ and bear fruit, we must abide in Christ and let his words abide in us (see Jn. 15:1 ff.). Pastor and author John Piper puts it bluntly, “I have never met a mature, fruitful, strong, spiritually discerning Christian who is not full of Scripture, devoted to regular mediation on Scripture, and given to storing it in the heart through Biblical memorization—and that’s not a coincidence.”

We value counseling and medically assisted treatment where necessary. But full and lasting recovery can only occur through regular, consistent intake of the holy Scriptures. The abundant life Jesus promises is predicated upon reading the Word, studying the Word, memorizing the Word, praying the Word, hearing the Word preached and taught, singing the Word, . . . ever lingering in it and warming our hearts in its fires.

WRAPPING IT UP
Danger is always imminent. To proceed forward into new terrain always presents risks, but to hold steady and remain in the same place is equally dangerous. Quite frankly, there is no safe place. Strangely, the God who leads us into safe pastures also directs us into valleys of the shadow of death (see Ps. 23). We must fight hard to keep faith but always recognize that all our efforts towards faithfulness will fall short barring God’s protecting, keeping hand. For this reason, in all my fears about holding fast to the faith both personally and organizationally, I stand on this promise from Psalm 121:7-8, “The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore” (see also 1 Cor. 1:8-9; 1 Thess. 5:23-24).

Friends, God is at work. He has not abandoned his creation. He is intent on reconciling all things in heaven and on earth to himself (Col. 1:20). His determination was decisively, once and for all, made clear in the sending of his Son 2,000 ago. Jesus Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and ascension is the guarantee that the God who is liberating creation from “its bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of the children of God” will succeed (Rom. 8:18-25).

There have always been and always will be dangers (this side of heaven). While some of our existing dangers may be unique, none are beyond our ability to navigate. We are not here in this present time and space by accident. The God who determined the set times and exact places where we should live will equip us with all that is necessary for the tasks at hand and enable us to walk in a manner worthy of our calling (Acts 17:26).

“A church which pitches its tents
without constantly looking out for new horizons,
which does not continually strike camp,
is being untrue to its calling. . .
(We must) play down our longing for certainty, accept what is risky,
and live by improvisation and experiment.”
(Hans Küng, 1928-2021)