Self-Medication

Self-medication (Alcohol, Drugs, Pornography, etc…)

1. What is self-medicating?

National Institutes of Health define self-medicating as the attempt to deal with depression, pain (physical or emotional), or intense emotions with the help of drugs (prescription or otherwise), alcohol, and other substances, and without the guidance of a doctor. You don't have to be diagnosed with a medical condition to self-medicate (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6175215/).

2. Is this really an issue in the church?

a. Pornography

68% of church-going men and over 50% of pastors view porn on a regular basis.

Of young Christian adults 18-24 years old, 76% actively search for porn.

59% of pastors said that married men seek their help for porn use.

57% of pastors say porn addiction is the most damaging issue in their congregation.

69% say porn has adversely impacted the church.

b. Alcohol Addiction

54% of Evangelical Christians indicated that alcohol had been a source of trouble in their families.

c. Drug Addiction

50% of people over the age of 12 have used illicit drugs at least once.

Over 103,000 people die of overdoses each year.

The annual U.S. budget for drug control in 2020 was 35 billion dollars.

3. Why should we avoid those things?

a. Pornography

i. There are some people that would say, “You can look but don’t touch.”

ii. That is not what Jesus says.

iii. Matt. 5:27-28 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

iv. Science tells us, pornography rewires the mind.

1. Dopamine is released.

2. Your body with crave the dopamine.

a. But your body becomes used to it.

b. It will need more stimulus to reach the same amount of dopamine.

c. Many high-profile serial killers, including Bundy, Dahmer, Richard Ramirez, and John Wayne Gacy professed to porn addiction

d. From a neuroscience perspective, according to www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, pornography consumption is directly linked to “aggressiveness, poor judgment of future consequences, [and] inability to inhibit inappropriate responses that are similar to those observed in substance abusers.”

v. Pornography is intrinsically tied to human trafficking.

vi. Resources

1. XXXChurch.com

2. MoralRevolution.com (top recommendation)

3. FightTheNewDrug.com

4. Books

a. Samson and the Pirate Monks by Nate Larkin

b. The Pursuit of Porneaby Dave Scriven

c. Every Man’s Battleby Stephen Arterburn

vii. How do I get free from it?

1. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

2. James 5:16 - Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

3. Find out what triggers your desire for it.

4. Lock down devices.

a. Covenant Eyes

b. Get a “dumb” phone.

5. Don’t stop fighting.

a. When you stop fighting, that is when the enemy has won!

b. Alcohol

i. What does the Bible say about alcohol?

1. Is alcohol evil?

a. Jesus drank wine 🫢. In fact, he made it in John 2.

b. Jesus told us we will drink wine at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb – Matthew 26:26-29, Rev. 19:6-14

c. Ephesians 5:22 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

2. What do I do?

a. Do not cause others to stumble - Romans 14:13-23

b. Don’t get drunk!

3. Use wisdom.

4. 1 Timothy 3:1-13 The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

c. Drugs

i. What do I do with Genesis 2:15?

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the LordGod commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden…”

ii. Deuteronomy 18:9-14 “When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God, for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do this.

d. Septuagint – LXX

i. History of Septuagint

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ii. φαρμακεύω - pharmakeus use enchantments; administer a drug.

Three Greek – English Lexicons:

1. BDAG practice magic

2. LSJ administer a drug, medicine.

3. LXLXXLEX use enchantments; administer a drug.

e. Let me be clear.

i. Taking medication is not evil.

1. Abuse of medication is not the will of God.

4. Self-medication all boils down to this:

a. You are finding comfort in something other than The Comforter – the Holy Spirit.

b. Instead of seeking strength, wisdom, peace, etc… from the Lord, we seek a man-made “comfort.”