NO MORE STUFF

THE SCENARIO: Stuff used to love to rock and rap and party “till the cows come home,” but something excellent happened to Stuff—Jesus Christ short-collared them, and Stuff submitted. Now Stuff has a new name, a name that Jesus gave them, and we shall refer to them by that blessed new name henceforth: Stuff's new name is Christian. Christian still struggles with temptations that come creeping out of their past, but with Jesus' abiding help, Christian is “makin' it happen.”

In the outworking of this scenario please consider the following:

1. Christian says that to this day the music they hear can be one of the great sources of temptation that entices them to revert back to their old ways. They do not actively seek out the old tunes they used to listen to because they realize the danger of being thus exposed, but sometimes, quite innocently, they will happen to hear this sort of thing and the temptation to revert is quite great then, as the old party-lust memories come flooding into their mind. Christian says that it is at such times that they really need the help of their pastor and church family. Please discus how music can be like a “narcotic” in this context. If you were a pastor, how would you help Christian to face their temptations at such times (manifestly, spiritually)? How about if you were one of their church family, how would you help Christian?

2 When Jesus short-collared Stuff, He showed them that He was a Power that was greater than the powers resident in Stuff that were actively destroying them. And Stuff had to believe that; had to step out in faith that Jesus could and would deliver them; had to believe that Jesus has the power and will to do this. Looking back, Christian says that step was a seemingly futile one because they were hooked so badly, but that it was in fact crucial to their recovery—their entire recovery grew on the back of that “little” faith step says Christian—please explain why from a biblical perspective.

3. Christian says that they had to look deep within themselves and come to the point of willful repentance before concrete recovery could take place. This involved first a serious acknowledgment and disdain of their miserable plight, which made them cry out all the more for the Power discussed in point two just above. They say this repentance involved a heartfelt confession of Sin, and not just the sin of substance abuse, but peripheral Sin of all manner, Sin which they discovered more and more as they began to openly look deep within themselves in their misery. Christian would say that sundry misery has a way of fostering repentant “yieldedness” to Jehovah God, and thus is a blessing in the end. Please discuss Luk 15:11-32 and Hbr 12:5-11 in this context.

4. Christian had to find new friends. Please cite and discuss in this context at least two other verses of Scripture that convey the influence of friends, whether positive or negative (Eph 5:6-8). More generally for a moment, would you agree that what we look for in friends speaks volumes about our spiritual disposition, and aims in life generally? Please explain from a biblical perspective.

5. Christian knows that it is Jesus who helped them to see beyond their cravings and lusts, to the pleasing and loving of God, and to the needs and well-being of others. And embracing this re-focus from self, to God and others, was a vital healing step in their recovery, for it helped them to overcome the self-gratification urgings that duped them ultimately into addiction. Please discuss Galatians 6:7-10 in this regard.

6. We suppose that human addictions, whatever their stripe, are the (rotten) fruit of trusting Satan's lies. And how often these addictions end in death, surely more often than not both physical and spiritual death. This would be consistent with Satan's motivation and modus operandi: A murderer that lies (Jhn 8:44). There can be little doubt that he lies so he can kill; kill human beings, whom he intensely hates being created in the image of God (whom he also hates intensely), and of whom (human beings) he is intensely jealous (of our exalted position around the throne of God owing to Salvation; of course, he is intensely jealous of God as well)—and that is what we see happening to addicts in no uncertain terms, for such have bought into a lie, a lie that typically ends in some manner of death. How do you understand these things?

7. Dear Christian friend, we have in our personal family one like unto Stuff, who has become a Christian, but not without great loss and much misery first; nonetheless, thanks be to our great savior God for their Salvation and renewed joy in living. Please pray for them, as we in turn shall pray for you. Thank you, and Christ bless you Christian friend.

WORKS CITED AND REFERENCES

The Life Recovery Bible: The Bible For People In 12 Step Recovery.

David Stoop and Stephen Arterburn ed.

Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers Inc., 1998, 0-8423-3341-x.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE LEGEND

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