Struggles with Addiction

Luke 8:26-33…

26 Then they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes,[a] which is opposite Galilee. 27 When he got out on land, a demon-possessed man from the town met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes and did not stay in a house but in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him, and said in a loud voice, “What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torment me!” 29 For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was guarded, bound by chains and shackles, he would snap the restraints and be driven by the demon into deserted places.

30 “What is your name?” Jesus asked him.

“Legion,” he said, because many demons had entered him. 31 And they begged him not to banish them to the abyss.

32 A large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. The demons begged him to permit them to enter the pigs, and he gave them permission. 33 The demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.

What I want us to see is the power that Jesus has to set us free from any sin that would enslave us. Much like the demons controlling and enslaving this man here in Luke chapter 8, there are evil things, temptations, sins, and maybe even demons in our lives that have the potential to control us and enslave us. All I have to do is ask this one question, and you’ll know what I'm talking about: What is that one sin in your life or that one temptation in your life that you struggle with day in and day out? You know what I'm talking about. And I'll say it this way. This sin in your life, my life, whatever it is, it's an addiction. Whether we want to admit it or not, it is an addiction. An addiction is nothing more than sin out of control.

If you've ever had an addiction to a substance or anything else like that, you know how it can dominate your thoughts and actions. You're looking for that next hit, that next drink, that next whatever. This is what sin does in our lives. Fortunately, Jesus is a friend of the addicted, and he wants to help us conquer our addictions so that we can live life to the full in him.

So, I want to talk about a few addictions - we might call these the top three addictions. But we don't talk a whole lot about these in the church. But I think these are important, so that we understand where we're at and are on the same page.

1. Alcoholism

The Bible has a lot to say about alcohol. On the one hand, it encourages us to use a little bit of wine and to have beer on certain occasions. But more often than not, the Bible greatly warns us against alcohol and its uses. Throughout the Bible, alcohol got people into trouble. It destroyed relationships. It was bad news for people.

So, if you consider yourself a social drinker, or maybe you're a young person who is starting to taste some of its pleasures, what I want to do is help you kind of understand the dangers of alcohol. I'm not saying don't drink, but I'm saying let's understand how dangerous it can be. So, let me give you a few verses from the Bible.

Proverbs 20:1…

1 Wine is a mocker, beer is a brawler; whoever goes astray because of them is not wise.

And some of you know this. You grew up in a home with alcohol abuse. Maybe your dad or mom or somebody was an alcoholic. And you saw how they got into fights and things like that.

Proverbs 21:17…

17 …whoever loves wine and oil will not get rich.

And maybe you saw this as well. Maybe your family didn't have money because dad was blowing it all on beer.

Proverbs 23:29-30…

29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has conflicts? Who has complaints? Who has wounds for no reason? Who has red eyes? 30 Those who linger over wine; those who go looking for mixed wine.

Alcohol is a dangerous substance. We've got to be careful.

There was a beer commercial a few years ago that depicted some guys sitting at a table in a bar. They’re all drinking beer, except for one guy who's drinking water because he's the designated driver. All his buddies are making fun of him, and they're kind of feeling sorry for him because he can't drink with them. But then, all of a sudden, three beautiful women enter the bar, and one of them says, “Hey, our car broke down. Can one of you give us a ride?” The designated driver turns to his buddies and says, “I'll be seeing you guys later,” and walks out of the bar with the women and gives them a ride home. The moral of the story is that if you want to get the beautiful woman, don't drink. Even alcohol companies realize the dangers of alcohol, don't they? They know it's serious business.

The Apostle Paul warns us about how alcohol may damage relationships.

Romans 14:21…

21 It is a good thing not to eat meat, or drink wine, or do anything that makes your brother or sister stumble.

We’ve got to be careful, don't we?

If you struggle with alcohol, maybe this next verse is one to memorize to keep at the top of your mind.

Ephesians 5:18…

18 And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit:

So, followers of Jesus, let's be careful how we consume alcohol. Let's really focus on how I can be more filled with the Holy Spirit instead.

2. Drug Abuse

We know the dangers of illegal drugs like meth and heroin and how they can enslave people. Many of us have family members who are struggling through these issues even as we speak here right now, today. And it breaks our hearts. It’s sad, it's heartbreaking, and they just can't give it up.

But we also know that it's not just illegal drugs that are enslaving people in this area of addiction. Many of us know people who have become addicted to over-the-counter pills or even prescription medicines, and they can't control it.

Now, I’ve got to say that the Bible doesn't come out and explicitly say, “Don't do drugs.” But in a way it does. I'm going to share with you one verse, but there are a lot of verses just like this one that may help.

1 Peter 5:8…

8 Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.

So this word, sober-minded, comes from a Greek word that means to be free from the influence of intoxicants. Well, wow, it doesn't get any clearer than that, does it? Basically, it's saying, “Don't do drugs.” Peter is saying we should not let anything alter our minds; that we ought to keep a clear head in every situation so that our relationship with God and our work for God is not hindered. And Peter takes it a step further. He says, “Oh, by the way, you want to keep a clear head because Satan is on the prowl and he's waiting to devour you.” And we know that Satan attacks in our weakest moments. How weak are we when we are influenced by drugs, alcohol, and things like that? We've got to be careful.

3. Sexual Addiction

I think this one is really taking over. You can't hardly watch television anymore without seeing images and things like that. But coveting, lust, and pornography have the power to enslave people. In particular, with pornography, people begin with still pictures, move onto movies, then to live entertainment, and then eventually to acting out what they've seen all their lives. And so they hunger and feast, and then they hide and feel shameful. Then they hunger and feast again. And then they go into more hiding and more shame. And it's just a debilitating thing.

In Proverbs, chapter 6, King Solomon addresses these four areas: Coveting, lust, prostitution, and adultery. And he tells us the danger of participating in these sexual desires.

Proverbs 6:27-28…

27 Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned? 28 Can a man walk on burning coals without scorching his feet?

In other words, there are consequences to acting out our lustful desires. And if we're messing around with anything sexual outside the bonds of marriage, we're playing with fire and we're going to get burned. Be very, very careful.

So, those are probably the top three addictions that we hardly ever address in church. But I thought it'd be important to address them today. These have the potential to enslave us.

I don't have time to talk about other sins that can become addictions. The Bible talks greatly about gluttony, lying, stealing, gossiping, greed, and gambling. The Bible has a lot to say about all of this stuff. And we've got to be careful because here's what I want us to understand: Just about every sin, and probably every sin, if left unchecked, has the potential to enslave us like that demon enslaved that man in Luke chapter 8. They all can become addictive because of how they can sneak in and take over our lives and take over. It's not like we wake up one day and say, “Oh, I'm gonna just do this sin,” right? No. It kind of sneaks in, doesn't it?

George Lefkoe, former commissioner of the Los Angeles Regional Planning Commission, said it this way. He said: My first Christmas on the job as commissioner, I received a honey-baked ham from Forest Lawn Cemetery. I didn't think it was ethical to keep it. So, I tried to take it back, but nobody at Forest Lawn seemed authorized to take it back. And no politician had ever tried to return it before. The second Christmas, I received another ham, and I gave it to a worthy charity. The next year, some friends were having a party, so I gave it to them. The next year, I had a party and we enjoyed the ham. In the fifth year, about the 10th of December, I began wondering, Where's my ham? It was then that I thought it was time to retire. Although it took me two more hams and three years to retire.

This is how sin works. it kind of wedges in there like a little tiny seed. And it seems tiny, it seems harmless, like a harmless little thread. But woven around us in the course of time, it becomes a straitjacket that restricts and enslaves us. This is what sin does.

But there's hope. Jesus is a friend of the addicted because he has the power to liberate us from the entrapment of sin and addiction.