Proverbs 23:22-35
“They struck me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt;
Proverbs 23:35
they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
I must have another drink.”
What a tragic scene! One that has played out countless times down through the ages — the grip of addiction. It is clear from this passage that the author understood something of the nature of addiction/alcoholism. The author recognizes the alluring nature of addiction (and temptation in general), how deceptively pleasant it appears at the beginning, but that the end result is not so pretty. (Pr. 23:31-32) The author also recognizes that the addict — once hooked — is powerless to deliver himself. Though it is clear that his life is a mess, the alcoholic’s only interest is to have another drink.
And so it is for all of us. We are all born already addicted — to sin. And we are utterly powerless to deliver ourselves from its grip. That doesn’t mean we don’t try. There are books galore offering self-help advice, seminars promising a better life if you just do X, and whole systems of religion to help us “ascend”. But the truth is that there is no deliverance apart from Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately, most Christians (myself included) live as if the deliverance we have in Jesus is simply one of deliverance from the consequences of sin, rather than from sin itself. And so we accept a certain level of ever-present sin as normal or even inevitable and end up being somewhat nonchalant in the battle against sin, just looking forward to the point of death when we will finally really begin to experience freedom. But I am sure that is not the Gospel. That would be like telling the alcoholic to go ahead and have another drink because it is unavoidable anyway.
Christ calls us to something better, to true deliverance. We should not be content with an undercurrent of ongoing sin. We must put to death our old self and put on the new, living by the Spirit of Christ. (See Eph. 4:17-24, Col. 2:20-3:17, and Romans 8.)
So, what will it be? True deliverance in Jesus? Or I must have another drink?
Adding on to what John has said… Our Freedom Road group at St. Andrew’s offers a good understanding of the nature of addiction – not just an alcoholic or drug addiction, but an addiction to anything that consumes our mind or our bodies or our time at some excessive level. Freedom Road takes the AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) message a step further, recognizing that the AA “Higher Power” is Jesus. And therein lies John’s closing offer – Jesus or another drink!
I’m very glad you brought up Freedom Road, but I have one bone to pick with your description: the word “excessive”. The truth is that any level of sin is excessive, and hence Freedom Road is for everyone who isn’t already canonized as a Saint, not just those who think they have some certifiable “addiction”. Like I said, we shouldn’t tolerate an undercurrent (i.e., some “non-excessive” or “acceptable” level) of sin. So I expect everybody who can possibly fit it in their schedule to show up at Freedom Road this week!
I think you misunderstood what I was trying to say. Yes, any level of sin is excessive, but not “any” level of “everything”. When I mentioned “…an addiction to anything that consumes our mind or our bodies or our time at some excessive level”, I was not considering sinful activities. I was thinking of good things, like work, fitness, movies/TV/sports/entertainment. When any of those good things get “excessive” they can take our mind too far afield from the Lord. They can become addictive, even though they are not in themselves wrong or evil. Fundamentally, Freedom Road is for everything and everyone, not just what some might think of as “hard-core addiction”.
Well said, John. This passage really is a pathetic picture of us all. I see myself in your comments—all too ready to accept less than I have been given through Jesus Christ. This omission on my part is why I embrace the Confession we say every Sunday: “…in what I have done and in what I have left undone…” Every week it makes me pause and realize I have not loved God with my whole heart, and I never can.
Never say never!
In recovery circles there’s a phrase that is mentioned from time-to-time, “Progress not perfection”. In other words, keep trying, keep striving, never stop your pursuit of what is good and pure and worthwhile, i.e., Jesus, our Lord and Savior. No I can’t achieve perfection, but I’ve found this journey of progress worth it as new and different depths of God’s love is revealed to me.
What great commentary and thoughts about addiction and sin. Thank you all! I am blessed!