For a Failed Life

The plight of the alcoholic and the addicted

Many times a person ignores God, forsakes the church and lives a life of sin. That person usually has no thoughts of how these sins are impacting his life unless and until the tragedy strikes. The alcoholic, the sexually perverted, the addict, and the unfaithful spouse sooner or later finds that his lifestyle leads to a failed marriage or a life of calamity that becomes more than he can endure. Some of these people turn to the church for relief and assistance in turning their life around. This is the right thing to do. If there is any relief and if there is any assistance with their troubles it will be by turning to God and trying to live a redeemed and Godly life.

            But Christian results happen by living a lifetime of Christian living. It is not very likely that you will find sudden comfort and help for a marriage break up because of a life devoted to cheating on a spouse or the failed health of a life of alcohol abuse just because you suddenly decide to go to church. The help to hold marriages together comes with a lifetime of living the Christian life to prevent these problems from happening to begin with. Many times people in grieving situations come to the church to look for a solution to the problems they are facing in their lives. This is the right place to start and there can be comfort in being surrounded with people who care. And the beginning of a long journey must start with the first step. There can be no help without a beginning at some point, but considering the stage where your life has evolved will determine the time it will take for recovery. And sometimes recovery is not completely possible. You may not be able to undo a failed marriage or deteriorated health.

            If you encounter a person who comes into the church in these situations, they need to understand that the church fixes their everlasting life and gives comfort to those struggling with the problems of this life, but the results of accumulated sin and poor health do not usually have a quick fix. The Gospel is not a “social Gospel” that has as its purpose, to “fix” the problems and the struggles of this life. As much as we would like for God to fix the problems we have in this life, even Christians have their struggles too. In so many cases I have seen this type person get started trying to begin a Christian life only to fall away in a very short time. What they thought would happen just did not materialize as they thought it should. My question is, how can we help these people not to fall away?

            We do know that the “type of ground” these people are will determine how they receive the Gospel and how long they will likely continue to try to hold on to what they hear. We learn that from “the parable of the sower”. (See Luke 8:5) We also know that the devil will try to discourage new converts from being able to “hold on”. It is not possible to “force” a person to be a faithful Christian. How they accept and receive the Gospel will depend on how their own “programs” are “wired into their hearts”. Everyone has their own “biological computer formats” wired deep into their own sub-conscious personality. This program, or this world view, will determine how a person reacts to receiving the Gospel and to how he handles life in general. This is “the ground” referred to in the parable of the sower. This pre-programmed format of a person’s subconscious personality is created by several things working within a person’s life. Environment plays a part and so does personal experience. There is also a genuine influence in a person’s behavior from a biological genetic affect that may or may not be classified as a “disorder” of sorts. Some disorders are real and genuine and some disorders are self induced.

            And let’s not forget that people are enticed into “the pleasures of sin”. This is the way the Bible describes sin. Look at how the Bible describes what happened to Moses when he was in Egypt.

Hebrews 11:25 (KJV)

25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures     of sin    for a season; 

            Many times sinful behavior starts out as a personal choice to engage in what seems to deliver great rewards to a person’s emotions. The devil uses these emotions to defile you and capture your life. There will likely come a time when a “threshold” is crossed and the escape from a life of sinful behavior becomes harder and harder to do. But sooner or later these choices can deliver the difficulties in a person’s life that causes a desperate need for a change. Let me warn you. It may not be easy. There are so many things that are addictive and hard to escape. Gambling is like that and so is alcohol and drugs. Pornography, sex, and homosexuality are sins with tentacles wired deep into the personality and the brain and the devil uses these to control people just about like he did with the poor man called legion that Jesus healed from an unclean spirit.

Mark 5:1-3 (KJV)

1 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.

2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with    an unclean spirit,

3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: 

            Now we don’t expect to find people today with unclean spirits as was in Jesus’ day but let’s not minimize the effect the devil still has on the people of this world. Drugs, alcohol, and addictions in the life of a person who may be dealing with a mental or personality disorder has the same effect as what was described in Mark 5:1-3. Unfortunately there is no one to correct this with a wave of the hand or a spoken word as Jesus did for legion.

            If you are involved in any of these sins that I have described, even if it is “only in a limited way”, please escape while you can. There will come a day when there will be a “reckoning” and the devil will have his tentacles wrapped around your life in such a way that there may be no escape for you and proper happiness could elude you the rest of your life. Not everyone who smokes gets cancer, and not everyone who drinks alcohol becomes addicted and every person who is addicted to pornography does not have a failed marriage. But trust me friend, the odds that disaster and unhappiness can come on these lives is almost guaranteed. Don’t live your life with a sword over you hanging by a small thread. That is the frailty you have when you have alcohol and these other sins in your life.

Carl O. Cooper