I have come to believe that people who struggle with addiction (whether the addiction has to do with gambling, hoarding, porn, sex, food, chemicals, resentment, gender confusion or something else) do not struggle with addiction due to moral weakness. In other words, addicts are not simply people who lack a moral backbone. Due to a number of variables, they are slaves of what gives them pleasure. They don’t have an “off” button.
This is consistent with what Paul describes as the power of sin in Romans 7. You will be doing yourself a favor if you become familiar with this chapter. In it, Paul argues that when a person is under sin’s control, he or she may truly want to avoid doing the bad thing to which he/she is enslaved but not be able to resist. Conversely, he or she may sincerely want to do something noble, but not be able to achieve it. This is because this person is not a rebel who simply refuses to do what is right, but a captive who cannot do good. Paul addresses this further in his second letter to Timothy when he describes people who are “held captive by Satan to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:26).
Some of us object to the use of the word “disease” which people in the recovery community use to describe addiction. We who do not struggle with addiction find that term reprehensible because we assume that it lets addicts off of the hook, as if they have no responsibility for their recovery. Actually, that term doesn’t let them off the hook. I’ll explain why in a moment, but first I want to say that a disease is something that happens to you, not something you give yourself. That said, most diseases are treatable. Addiction is treatable. Therefore the addict is responsible for getting treatment.
It’s called a disease because there is actual science which suggests that some people have a vulnerability to excess, while others do not (there are numerous websites which provide this information). If you do not have such a vulnerability, it can be hard to sympathize with those who do, especially if your life is adversely affected by an addict. The fact is, if you have a loved one who is addicted, it will adversely affect you in many ways.
I’ll continue this discussion next week.