Of all the pastoral issues a church can face, I think one of the trickiest may be addiction. In theory, churches are eager to provide a safe and welcoming environment for current or recovering addicts. Yet in reality, churches often feel ignorant and poorly equipped to deal with the reality of addicts and addictions and all the challenges and complexities that may come with them.
I have on many occasions had the privilege of worshipping at Niddrie Community Church in Edinburgh, Scotland, and have marvelled at the way this church ministers so faithfully to people caught in serious addictions to drugs or alcohol. Over many years, they have served as a kind of light in a dark environment and have seen many addicts become former addicts and, even better, become functioning, fruitful members of a local church.
Addiction and the Local Church is written by Andy Constable, who currently pastors Niddrie Community Church, and Mez McConnell, who formerly pastored it. Together, they have written a kind of guide for churches that wish to minister more faithfully to those who are addicted to substances. In the early pages, they admit the challenge:
Addiction is widespread and on the rise. It’s important, therefore, for us to understand what addiction is and how we can care for the addicted person. The problem is that addictions are often misunderstood in Christian circles. Like me (Andy), many Christians have no clue about the addict’s world. We’ve been brought up in places where drug and alcohol addictions are either hidden behind a veil of respectability or considered to be the problem of the poor, with whom we’d never engage. We stay in our safe middle-class neighbourhoods where our kids go to comfortable schools, where we have nice houses, and we drive past the rough areas to get to our respectable, middle-class churches. For many of us, the addicted person is someone to be avoided at all costs because they are just so different to us. As a result, many Christians neither reach the addicted nor know how to care for them.
And that is exactly why they have written the book. Having ministered together for 17 years in a particularly challenging environment, they have studied Scripture and walked with people to learn how best to serve those with addictions. “This book is the fruit of our labour over decades of ministry among the addicted. We hope it will help readers think through what addiction is from a biblical standpoint and understand how to care with compassion and wisdom for those who struggle with addictions.”
The book follows a straightforward two-part format. In the first part, the authors think through what addiction is and what causes it. Society tends to see it as a choice or a disease, while scientists and psychologists tend to understand it as the result of emotional suffering or turmoil. They are convinced, though, that none of these options encapsulates a biblical view that accounts for the sheer complexity of humans as a unique combination of body, mind, and soul. Hence, addictions are often driven by sinful desires (which account for the soul), ingrained by sinful habits (which account for the mind), and perpetuated by pain, stress, and other factors (which account for the body). Ministering to the addicted requires accounting for the complexity of human beings.
The book’s second part offers wisdom on caring for those who are addicted to substances. It offers the gospel as the only source and hope of true freedom and explains that the major challenge when it comes to those who struggle with addictions is not evangelism as much as discipleship and long-term caregiving. “The addicted people who come into our building know instinctively that they need help. They readily acknowledge that they are sick and in need of a doctor – they’ll listen and accept the good news of Jesus Christ with little persuasion. But giving up an addiction is often slow and painful.” It is often slow and painful and involves successes and failures, steps forward and steps backward. Several chapters offer pointers on reaching the addict, keeping the addict, training the addict, and persevering with the addict.
Whether you are experienced in ministering to those who struggle with addictions or you are hoping to begin such ministry, this book will prove helpful. It will show how the gospel is the power of salvation for everyone who believes, not merely those who struggle with sins we regard as more acceptable than addiction. “The problem that we need to correct,” say the authors, “is our view of the addict, so that we can minister to them as the Lord Jesus would have us to. We must see the addict as the Lord Jesus sees the addict–as a soul made in the image of God, broken by sin and in need of the word of life. We can all take part in this mission to care for the addict in our midst.” I trust that through this book, many will, indeed, take up their part in this mission.
