There’s a lot of misinformation about what the Church and individual Christians believe about drugs – both the legal and illegal ones, so I thought that maybe it would be a good idea to shed some light on the subject.
Remember the whole deal with God and Sex? Sex is good inside the boundaries that God has set for it. Outside those boundaries it falls short of the goodness that God intended for it. If you want God’s best for your life, stick within the boundaries that He has established.
That’s the basic message that goes with drugs as well. But what are the boundaries for drugs?
It’s actually pretty simple. The Bible talks about 4 things that we should keep in mind:
1. People should obey the laws of the land
(Romans 13:1-7)
Simply put: if something is illegal, don’t do it! If a substance is illegal or should not be supplied to a certain age group or consumed in certain environments then that’s what we should stick by. Laws are there for a reason, and just because you might not agree with them doesn’t give you the right to break them. If everybody did that, what sort of society would we have?
2. People should be “self-controlled”
(eg: Titus 2:2,5; Galatians 5:23 and lots more!)
In other words, we should be in a fit state to govern our own behaviour. There are all sorts of substances which change our brain chemistry to produce sensations that might seem pleasurable, but they are also dangerous. They take away our ability to make wise decisions about our behaviour. Sometimes this produces “Dutch courage” where people have the nerve to do things they usually talk themselves out of, but usually the result is that people do things that they normally are smart enough not to do! For example in one study “two-thirds of partner abuse victims (those abused by a current or former spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend) reported that alcohol had been a factor; for spouse abuse victims, the offender was drinking in three out of four cases.” (Greenfeld, 1998). There are many other statistics which relate to sexual crime, irresponsible sexual conduct, irresponsible driving and so on which demonstrate the danger of a loss of self-control. Staggeringly, it is something that we don’t take as seriously as we should in our society.
The Bible does not condemn the consumption of alcohol, in fact it is praised on a number of occasions! However it does condemn the overuse of alcohol (or anything else) to the point where a person’s good judgement and self-control are adversely affected. Lack of self control leads to people harming themselves and others, which God does not approve of.
3. People should respect their bodies.
Our bodies are a gift from God, and should be treated with respect. Some substances are harmful to our bodies, and to knowingly harm your own body is both a little silly and a bit of an insult to the One who gave it to you. Many substances are fine in moderation – what is needed is a healthy balance. Be wise in what you consume! Don’t pay the price later for poor decisions and lifestyles now.
4. People should look out for others.
(eg: Romans 15:2)
The Bible says that if what you do causes problems for others, don’t do it! For example, many Christians over the centuries have given up drinking alcohol out of sensitivity to others who might struggle with alcohol addiction or other issues. Think about how what you do affects those around you, and determine to be a good influence rather than a problem to others.
Well, that’s it in a nutshell – I hope that you agree that it’s pretty good advice from God to us!
For more information and helpful advice visit:
www.adf.org.au – Australian Drug Foundation
www.adin.com.au – Australian Drug Information Network
www.lifeline.org.au or call 13 11 14 – Lifeline
Mike Birch
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