Now that marijuana is legal in Minnesota, Christians are provided an opportunity to deal honestly with the issues related to marijuana use and to think more comprehensively on the topic…This brief post will attempt to help the reader consider relevant questions about recreational marijuana use in relation to God’s Word.

The glory of Christ expels temptation. As we see Him more clearly and our hearts are satisfied, temptation loses its allure.

Idols and addictions are deceptive. The idol that gave instant gratification also changed them…“they went after worthlessness and became worthless.”

Like all of us, addicts in recovery struggle with living one day at a time. What if one of the reasons for that struggle is because we don’t think of eternity enough? What would it look like in our daily fight for sobriety and freedom from idolatry if we thought about eternity more? Here are a few thoughts on how an eternal perspective can help Christians in recovery.

Some may be tempted to revert back to addictions or use this time to escape and indulge in the flesh.  But we have a God who is an ever present help in times of trouble.

Logic, worship and obedience are God given means of grace that help us fight anxiety well. 

As biblical counselors, we aren’t here to fix a person, we are care-takers who are to provide counsel from God’s Word as we love people in the midst of their struggle. Think of these questions more as categories to help you know a person so that you can care for them.

As we attempt to “bear one another’s burdens” (Gal. 6:2), it is tempting to want to be the messiah figure in our loved one’s life. We can help them carry some of their burdens but the ultimate burden of sin is one that only Jesus can carry. We must engage them in a way that reflects Jesus and points them to Jesus, not us, for their ultimate refuge.

Relapse is an unfortunate reality of recovery ministry.  When a loved one relapses it crushes us.  We wonder if they will have the willingness to seek help and sometimes even doubt they will ever be free. Like any sin, falling back into addiction is rooted in the heart and there are often noticeable patterns of behavior…my prayer in providing these is that we would notice the warning signs in our loved ones before they return to their addiction so that we would move toward them in love and wisdom.

The exile experience is seen in counseling when we meet with Christians who struggle to follow God in a fallen world.  Being an exile has two primary effects…

Our Interventions are therefore meant to reflect the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ and are thus determined successful not based upon whether or not someone listens to us, but rather in how much our interventions reflect the cross of Jesus Christ.

I think James recognized the profound glory of intervening in someone’s life when he said this, “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:16). What an opportunity! We can participate in saving someone’s soul from death and displaying an amazing truth contained in the gospel: There is enough grace to cover a multitude of sins!

If addiction is essentially a worship disorder, then cross addiction is not only right, it is the addict’s only hope of overcoming addiction. Not the kind of cross addiction where the sinful desires don’t change, but the cross addiction that’s possible through the cross.

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!  Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.”

I remember standing on a street corner in the rain talking to my dad on a payphone.  He said “son, your mother has been so worried about you that she’s neglecting me. I’ve had this infection in my nose for over a year.  It was misdiagnosed by my doctor and I just found out that its cancer.  He said… son, you’re killing me.”  That was a moment of clarity.  I began to cry.  I was 31 years old and for the first time in my life, I realized that my behavior was affecting other people.  That was it.  I had to get sober but I still refused to repent.  I was going to do it my way.  The drugs were the problem, and if I could just stop using, it would all be ok.