Not Addicted
“All things are lawful for me; but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any” (1 Cor. 6:12).
This passage teaches that among those things that are lawful, some things are not helpful or appropriate. It also teaches that we should not be “brought under the power,” addicted, or enslaved to anything. We should use things as servants, and not become servants to things. When one becomes a slave to things (even things that are good within themselves), he has violated the principle taught in this passage.
When we think of people who have lost control and become addicts, we readily think about drugs. President Bush said, “The number one issue across America is drugs and the violent crime they spawn.” People will lie, steal and kill for drugs. Some who have been disciples of Christ became hooked on drugs and lost all control. One young man stole his mother’s wedding ring and sold it for drugs. Mothers have sold their children and their own bodies to get their fix on drugs.
All of us know that such addiction is contrary to the teaching of God’s word, but what about other forms of addiction? The passage says, “I will not be brought under the power of any.” What about food? Is it all right to be addicted to food? Paul wrote Titus that one of the Jewish prophets had said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons” (Titus 1:12). Many people have dug their graves with a spoon and fork! The addiction could be to a certain food or simply to the am amount consumed. God said that “foods are for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them…” (1 Cor. 6:13).
What about the common use of nicotine? Some say that it is more difficult to escape this addiction than addiction to illegal drugs. There are brethren who can hardly sit through two hours of worship to God without craving their nicotine. Here are some facts that were published by Ann Landers: “The number of people who die from cigarette smoking every day in this country is equivalent to two full jumbo jets crashing with no survivors. The cigarette industry needs to recruit 1,000 new smokers each day to replace the 1,000 who die from smoking each day. The cigarette industry spends $7 million in advertising per day. 2,400 non-smokers die in the United States each year from involuntary smoke. There are more deaths from smoking each year in the United States than there are from AIDS, heroin, crack, cocaine, alcohol, fire, murders and car accidents combined.”
She warned the seventeen year olds that “Those ads are a lot of baloney. But the people who sell cigarettes don’t care about you. You’re hooked and they love it. Their sexy ads tell you to ’C’mon.’ But don’t be fooled, Seventeen, it’s not a bandwagon you’ll be hopping on. It’s a hearse.” She said that a true ad would be
a person coughing his head off, gargling away a rotten taste that keeps returning, spending money he cannot afford in order to suck on a little white pacifier!
If the citrus industry put, “This may cause lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema and may complicate pregnancy” on their products, how many oranges, and grapefruit would they sell? But people continue to buy a product that has no dietary benefit that has such a warning on every pack!
Christians should be in control, rather than under the control of, things that God has given for our use. Young people should follow the example of Daniel who “purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself” (Dan. 1:8). Daniel was better off, and God was pleased with his choice.
This passage teaches that among those things that are lawful, some things are not helpful or appropriate. It also teaches that we should not be “brought under the power,” addicted, or enslaved to anything. We should use things as servants, and not become servants to things. When one becomes a slave to things (even things that are good within themselves), he has violated the principle taught in this passage.
When we think of people who have lost control and become addicts, we readily think about drugs. President Bush said, “The number one issue across America is drugs and the violent crime they spawn.” People will lie, steal and kill for drugs. Some who have been disciples of Christ became hooked on drugs and lost all control. One young man stole his mother’s wedding ring and sold it for drugs. Mothers have sold their children and their own bodies to get their fix on drugs.
All of us know that such addiction is contrary to the teaching of God’s word, but what about other forms of addiction? The passage says, “I will not be brought under the power of any.” What about food? Is it all right to be addicted to food? Paul wrote Titus that one of the Jewish prophets had said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons” (Titus 1:12). Many people have dug their graves with a spoon and fork! The addiction could be to a certain food or simply to the am amount consumed. God said that “foods are for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them…” (1 Cor. 6:13).
What about the common use of nicotine? Some say that it is more difficult to escape this addiction than addiction to illegal drugs. There are brethren who can hardly sit through two hours of worship to God without craving their nicotine. Here are some facts that were published by Ann Landers: “The number of people who die from cigarette smoking every day in this country is equivalent to two full jumbo jets crashing with no survivors. The cigarette industry needs to recruit 1,000 new smokers each day to replace the 1,000 who die from smoking each day. The cigarette industry spends $7 million in advertising per day. 2,400 non-smokers die in the United States each year from involuntary smoke. There are more deaths from smoking each year in the United States than there are from AIDS, heroin, crack, cocaine, alcohol, fire, murders and car accidents combined.”
She warned the seventeen year olds that “Those ads are a lot of baloney. But the people who sell cigarettes don’t care about you. You’re hooked and they love it. Their sexy ads tell you to ’C’mon.’ But don’t be fooled, Seventeen, it’s not a bandwagon you’ll be hopping on. It’s a hearse.” She said that a true ad would be
a person coughing his head off, gargling away a rotten taste that keeps returning, spending money he cannot afford in order to suck on a little white pacifier!
If the citrus industry put, “This may cause lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema and may complicate pregnancy” on their products, how many oranges, and grapefruit would they sell? But people continue to buy a product that has no dietary benefit that has such a warning on every pack!
Christians should be in control, rather than under the control of, things that God has given for our use. Young people should follow the example of Daniel who “purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself” (Dan. 1:8). Daniel was better off, and God was pleased with his choice.