We Are All Addicts
So I’ve been listening to the CCEF podcast recently and heard Elliot Greene from Redeemer Theological Seminary speak. One thing he said specifically made me think. He said we’re all addicts. That confused me at first but then I thought about it. Some are addicted to drugs, alcohol, or other physical substances. Others are addicted to getting their way, pleasing others, or pleasing themselves. Still others are addicted to controlling every situation around them, holiday traditions, or even sitting down when they get home from work. I would go so far as to say that addictions are universal. You know why? We were created for addiction. However, it was to be addicted to the Creator. That was the design. All that fell apart in Genesis 3 when man chose to disobey God and therefore sin. What can we learn from all this? Instead of the addiction I mentioned about (or feel free to insert your own), our addiction should be for our Creator. That cannot happen without a heart that has been regenerated and brought back to life by God. Otherwise we’re all just dead in our addictions.
You are confusing the issue, there are physcial and mental addictions, affecting the body, mind or both. In some cases, drugs affect both, or only one- and things like video games and gambling affect only mental function. When a behavior becomes disruptive to normal functioning, or interferes with normal day to day activities, or becomes a threat to welfare, you have crossed the line between hobby and addiction. A hobby is something you do for pleasure, it should not induce a stress reaction if you can’t do it. It also should not prevent you from being able to pay the bills on time, or risk the family home- as gambling can certainly do. Video games that keep you from interacting meaningfully with other people, or limit your conversational ability to gaming subjects also cross the line. You are not physcially addicted in the sense that the body function will suffer if you withdraw the thing, but you are mentally addicted because it is interfering with your ability to function otherwise. Mental addictions are also the hardest to break. The body itself can remove most of the chemicals itself, if you aren’t putting more in- it can’t exactly purge the brain cells though. Either way- when something interferes with your ability to function normally, then you have a problem. It may have started as a hobby, like the odd dropping of coins in a bandit out of boredom, or the toke of a joint at a party. But when it becomes the center of your existance, and you don’t function without it- you have an addiction, physcial or mental as the case may be.
Thanks for your comment, Sairene! I understand your points and agree that addictions can affect the body, mind, or both. My post is purely from a Christian perspective – where the inner person is regenerated by God is there able to live as God designed. Without regeneration, people are dead in their sin (Romans 3:23) but when regenerated (made alive in Christ) they are able to worship their Creator as originally designed. In my original post, you could replace the concept of addiction with worship. Someone without Christ would only be able to worship themselves, their designs, their passions, and their physical and chemical crutches. Someone with Christ is given the ability and desire to worship God. A biblical passage that describes this is Colossians 3:1-17: