"Spiritual Disconnect: How Evangelical Churches Neglect Addiction Recovery"

[My experiences with both evangelical and secular recovery circles plus everything in-between]

Before all my evangelicals out there call their Congressman, launch a Senate Judiciary Committee, start a round-the-clock prayer drive for my heathen-ass and proceed to crucify me for being the devil-worshiping gentile that I am, just hear me out- I only worship Satan on Saturdays. Kidding, lighten up folks. I am a God-fearing, Christ follower. I believe in the Bible. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe in the Trinity. I believe that Jesus, despite Hallmarks insistence, was not a 6'5 blonde haired blue-eyed European who somehow spoke English and majestically floated around on fluffy Lambs everywhere he went. Cool? Now that we've gotten that out of the way, I ALSO believe that we, yes WE(that means me too Karen), despite our noble intentions, have been approaching addiction recovery the wrong way. Obviously I am not speaking for every single church or every single church recovery group ever known to man, simply my experience(s). If you have yet to douse your tablet, computer or mobile device with Holy Water while chanting, "The power of Christ compels you," please continue reading.

[Belief Systems] of evangelical and secular addiction recovery circles.

Growing up, I was raised in a Christian home and regularly attended a non-denominational church. Between you and I, I still think "Non-Denominational" is code for "Baptist-in-disguise" but that's neither here nor there. Point being, thanks to my Mom and Dad, my sister and I became very familiar with the idea of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, as well as scripture. We both can quote the Bible nearly backwards and forwards and have a fundamental understanding of what God is all about. We learned that God honors integrity, he loves his children, don't bang your girlfriend before marriage, you know, stuff like that. We were taught that 1+1=2, i.e., pray, tithe, tell the truth, do the right thing, show up to Church every Sunday and God will bless you with Eternal life, Maseratis, name-brand shoes as well as straight-cash-homie. Okay, not in so many words, but the underlying implication was that if we walk this narrow path of "Godliness", everything is going to work out beautifully, no problems. Just God and I, conquering the world, saving the day, reaping the fruit of our Labor, Strawberries-n-cream type shit. Anyone see where I'm going with this?

Name the last time you went to Church and the pastor dedicated his entire sermon to the book of Job? Don't worry I'll wait. Remember in the book of Job how Job was "blameless in the Lord's eyes" and because of that nothing bad happened to him ever, certainly nothing unjust, unfair or downright evil? Yeah I didn't read that either. However, ain't nobody tryna' talk about that on Sunday Morning(Madea voice). Hell no because that would pretty much annihilate every single narrative we have created. You see, what happens when the Johnson's 7 year old son gets cancer and dies? Or when the Smith's son falls into drugs and nearly kills himself a hundred times over? These are the same people who went to church every week, tithed, served on the worship team, walked a life of honor, grace and dignity, as they were taught from the pulpit. What's the answer we give them? Did they not follow the same doctrine as everyone else? Invariably, the answer always comes back to "oh, well, um, YOU ALL MUST NOT HAVE PRAYED HARD ENOUGH!" Or, "YOU MUST HAVE HIDDEN SIN IN YOUR LIFE! We wonder why most people despise Church so much.

[Dr. Ben Carson] famous Doctor and former Presidential Candidate offers a unique, albeit unpopular, approach to the inevitable question of "Why God lets bad things happen."

You see no one ever mentions that follow-up verse where Job, rightly so in my mortal opinion, is asking God, "What the hell man!? Why are you letting this happen?" We all leave that part out. Truth be told, preaching, "Because I am God and I can do what I want," isn't sexy, isn't politically correct and certainly doesn't align with our man-made doctrines. Consequently the Johnson's, Otto's and far too many well-meaning, devout followers are left in limbo- defeated, dejected and worst of all, ostracized. Although I have never met a pastor or church-goer who intends on "losing" someone, whether by word-thought-or deed, those delicate souls who are in a limbo that we unintentionally created, are being lost nonetheless.

I have been to in-patient rehab 7 times. 6 of them I completed, 1 I left the same day. 4 of the 7 were faith based, the others were secular. I consider this a blessing because I have been indoctrinated by "both sides of the aisle" which has equipped me with a unique set of tools for my own recovery, something most recovering addicts aren't exposed to. I have found that most recovering or recovered addicts are of the either-or variety. Either they went straight faith-based, or straight-secular. I have found that its common for both groups to think the other are a bunch of looney-tunes, calling into question their methods, doctrine and why "they" are the actual enlightened bunch(because that's what we should be spending our time and energy arguing about). In faith-based recovery groups, in my experience, the majority mindset is that addiction is not a mental health problem, its a morality problem and anything other than that mindset is Witchcraft. Why would we need to seek therapy, cognitive help, or follow a daily regiment of recovery tools when Jesus tells us to "Pick up our mat and walk." Just start walking bro! My personal favorite is when their argument against secular ideologies inevitably turns to, "He who the Son sets free is free indeed," so why would we need man-made therapy or professional help if we are "free indeed?" This connotation implies that we should be able to just wake up the day after being saved, free from all our addictions and never have any problems ever again, AND(WAIT FOR IT), if you do have problem afterwards or if you relapse or if you start feeling suicidal- YOU MUST NOT BE SAVED. There it is. I've learned on my journey that what this really means is, "I don't know how to explain why God allows certain things, because it challenges my small box of faith that I put God in, which terrifies me, I cant control this situation or conversation, so i'm going to blame you(the lost soul). My only question is what about King David? Homeboy was an accomplice to murder in order to shag another mans wife, yet he was "A Man after Gods own heart, " who ironically just happened to be in the direct lineage of Jesus himself. What about Simon Peter? He straight up told the Romans he didn't know who that Joker Jesus was, 3 times, then proceeded to run of like a little girl, yet Peter was the "foundation for Jesus church." I don't know about ya'll but that's about as akin to an epic relapse as it gets. Then there's Rahab, my favorite. Homegirl walked them streets at night talking bout, "Hey Daddy you tryna' party?(hell yeah)." She was quite literally a Biblical whore who did not even begin to have her figurative house in order, akin to that deplorable drug-addict who cant get his shit together, yet somehow Jesus had enough favor on her to put her in his direct lineage as well? Come on man, you cant make this stuff up.

[American Medial Association] disease of addiction brain model which shows the parts of the brain responsible for relapse, further perpetuating the endless cycle of addiction.

Our evangelical recovery mindset of, "Don't call me after you relapse," is asinine, irresponsible and downright wrong. We think we are doing the right thing, playing tough love, but what were really doing is sending a message that once you mess up, there's no more love for you here. Because that's really what Jesus meant when he told all those pharisees to "Cast the first stone" right? Did you know the American Medical Association says Addiction is a chronic, progressive DISEASE that if left untreated is absolutely fatal? Did you know that insurance companies pay billions of dollars a year for people to seek professional help for their drug and or alcohol addictions? Insurance companies people. The same companies that will fight tooth-and-nail to deny claims to anyone they sense wont fight back? That should tell you something. What would happen if a Doctor told a newly relapsed cancer patient, "Hey should of called me when you were in remission, sorry bro." That Doctor would be absolutely scorched-earth crucified. So why do we do this with addicts?

[Insurance Pay-outs] in my opinion are one of the biggest pieces of evidence that addiction is indeed a medical, mental health disease. If it were a matter of praying harder or trying harder, insurance companies wouldn't put 1 cent towards "treatment".

At the end of the day, in my humble opinion, it all depends on what our goal is. Do we want to be part of the solution, or do we want to be right? Sometimes the solution is something we are uncomfortable with, scared of and or is completely foreign to us(AND THAT'S OK!) Or do we want to be right, drawing that medieval line in the sand, dividing ourselves even further, for the sake of our own selfish pride. Can we lay down our swords and quit being part of the problem? Sadly, as were sitting here arguing about semantics, logistics, why we are right and why they are wrong, people are still dying, more than ever, souls are still being lost- and I for one don't want that on my conscience, nor do I want to answer to God one day about why I was more concerned with myself than helping those in need, whom I could have helped if I had gotten out of my own way. Preach.