Alcoholism: Quitting Tomorrow Part 1

Drunk drivers, every day they kill more of our kids. Alcohol, it's the tolerated drug. Alcohol abuse is costing our society billions in lost productivity, lost relationships, and lost lives. And all too many Christians misuse what they feel is their freedom to drink by drinking one too many. Today, the unvarnished truth about alcoholism.

From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, is the best advice to never take that first drink? Well Dave, that's my personal conviction, but I recognize that I'm not necessarily speaking for everyone. Perhaps we can't have a hard and fast rule, but I'll tell you this, alcoholism is a terrible addiction.

I could list many families, many people that I know who have been ensnared by this terrible, terrible addiction. And I preach this message today with a great deal of conviction and sadness, because I think of the impact of what is happening in our society. You know, these messages actually have been written up in a book. I've written a book entitled Seven Snares of the Enemy.

The subtitle is Breaking Free from the Devil's Grip. So if you want to read these messages with some additional material, here's what you do. Go to rtwoffer.com or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. Ask for the book Seven Snares of the Enemy. It can be yours for a gift of any amount.

rtwoffer.com or 1-888-218-9337. Now as you listen to this message, even if it doesn't directly apply to you, I hope that many who are listening will benefit from it and see the dangers of alcoholism. There is a story about a man who would enter into the bar and always buy four drinks. In fact, he did it ritualistically. A bartender asked him why and he said the reason is because I have three brothers in Europe and we agreed that whenever we go into the bar, we would drink one glass of beer for one another. So this went on some time and then the man came into the bar one day and ordered only three drinks and the bartender, being very sensitive, assumed of course that one of the brothers had died. So he went over to ask the man about his family and asked whether one of his brothers had passed away.

The man said no. He said, I've just decided to order three drinks because I've quit drinking. Now we smile at the story, but if you know anything about alcoholism, you know that there is nothing really to smile about, is there? Everyone who is listening to this message knows people whose lives have been totally destroyed by that curse, the curse of alcoholism.

I do not have to detail for you, do I, the effect that it has had on people, the number of lives that have been lost, the crimes that have been committed, the traffic accidents that have taken place and the number of families that have been smashed because of alcoholism. What I'd like to do is to begin by giving you some myths that need to be exploded about alcoholism. First of all, first myth that addiction is limited only to some kinds of people. On the news there are from time to time studies being done to show that alcoholism is genetically communicated.

There is a disposition toward alcohol if you have parents that have been alcoholics or perhaps because of the genes that have been passed on to you. There could be some truth to that. For example, it's been noticed that twins, if they are adopted in families where their biological parents are alcoholics, but perhaps even adopted from birth and put into other families where there is no drinking, still have a propensity to alcohol. So that could be part of the story.

But that's only a part of the story. The other part is that if you were brought up in a home where there was abuse and where there was a lot of shame and where there was a code of silence regarding the chaos that existed in that home, you would have a greater tendency to resort to alcoholism or drugs or some kind of substance in order to cover the pain and in order to cope with life as you saw it in all of that chaos. But there's still another part of the story and that is simply that any one of us, even those of us who grew up with good homes, even those of us who do not have the genetic disposition to addiction, we could become addicts too. If we are social drinkers, it could well be that we might get to love alcohol much more than we should. In fact, there are people who for years have lived without any kind of addiction but they have had casual social drinking and in the end when difficulties come have ended up as alcoholics because anyone can be an alcoholic. And that's why my first myth is simply this, that it happens to other people and could never happen to us. Yes, it could happen to you and it could happen to me. That's why abstinence is usually the best policy. And there's no room for self-righteousness here, there's no room for condemnation or for looking down on others because when we see their troubles and their addictions we can say indeed that could be me.

It could be me. Let me give you a second myth. The second myth is that alcoholics, those people who are addicts, they end up on Skid Row.

They are the people who stop us on the street and ask for a quarter or for a cup of coffee hoping that we'll give them some money that they can use for drink. Actually, the fact is that maybe only three or four percent of all those who are alcoholics actually end up homeless somewhere on State Street or in some of the other parts of the city of Chicago. Fact is that there are doctors who are alcoholics, attorneys, bankers, ministers, all walks of life and many of these people get up in the morning, they do a day's work and no one even knows their secret addiction and they're able to function in society quite well. Many years ago I was preaching somewhere and the children of a rather well-known Christian leader came to me and said, you know, dad is an alcoholic.

Now here's a man who teaches the Word of God and counsels people and helps them and even leads people to Christ. But he would come home, the children said, and every evening after dinner he would have to have his drink and he would basically get drunk, sleep it off, go to work the next day, come back and do the very same thing and no one except this family knew and he was terrified that anyone else would find out lest his reputation be ruined. I've talked to students at our universities and they say that although they may be sober during the week, they not only get drunk on weekends but maybe on weekends in addition to that they may actually take drugs and so they might be on this high on the weekend and oh how long it seems before the weekend comes. But they're managing, they're even passing, they're getting through somehow, maybe muddling through but they're doing it. So don't ever think that the alcoholics are some people who are out there. They are here. They are among us. They are a part of our homes, a part of our society, a part of our churches.

So let's open our eyes and be realistic about this. Some of you know that this happens to be a series of messages titled the Seven Secret Snares and today we do talk about alcoholism. Next week it's pornography.

We discussed gambling the last time. What are those snares that we can fall into where we can really become hooked? Snares that can so cripple our lives and not only ruin our lives but ruin the lives of those who have to live with us. Well today we're talking about alcoholism. Addiction according to John Bradshaw is a pathological relationship to any mood-altering experience that has life-damaging consequences. I gave you a different definition last time but here's another as I mentioned, a pathological relationship to a mood-altering experience and you need it to get through.

I'm going to spend a few moments this morning before we do get to the Word of God and we shall because we shall end up with hope I can assure you. But before we do that I want to point out that addiction is something that is possible for all of us simply because it is a way that people have found to number one receive some pleasure in life and to avoid pain. But also I'd like to take a few moments to give you what we could call the path of addiction. I've labeled it five steps but actually these are not steps in the sense that they take place sequentially. They could happen in random order or they could happen basically all the same time but here they are because the better we understand addiction, the better you understand your father or your relative or your friends who may have a problem with alcoholism, the better it will be to be able to see what the cure really is.

So that's our agenda. First of all there is what we could call the experimentation of substance, that experimentation that brings that mood change that we talked about last week. That sense of euphoria, the belief that a whole new world has been created because of drugs and alcohol. And you're in this world which is kind of detached from reality but it is a world with pleasurable sensations, a world in which you feel much better. And when you create that world, your goal is to go between that world and the real world in such a way that nobody even knows that you're going from one to the other. And oftentimes those who create these worlds, they remember exactly the first time they had that first drink that sent them into that high or had that first crack cocaine which gave them that lift and that zest and that feeling of euphoria and almost a trance.

They remember it exactly because it had such a great impression upon their lives. As a matter of fact, those who find these addictions so attractive discover that the hours that you have to live until you enter into that world again sometimes go along so slowly. If you do it on the weekends, Monday seems like an eternity away from Friday and Monday goes so slow and Tuesday goes so slow and Wednesday goes so slow that you can hardly stand it but thank God the weekend will come but your being is fixed upon that time when you will be able to change your mood again and enter into that private world. Let me give you a second way to describe it, a second step. There is transference then of faith to the substance.

Now let's just get into the mind of an addict here for a moment. People have disappointed him. His family has disappointed him. His employer has disappointed him. And God has disappointed him. Where is God in the midst of all this? I cried to him.

I asked him for help and nothing happened. But I found something that I can depend upon, something and that is that precious bottle. It will be there when I need it. The drugs will be there when I need them. In fact, I'm going to make sure that they're going to be there and that's why you begin to figure out how to get the money because now you have finally something that you can depend on. You'll be able to escape, get out of your reality with all of its difficulties and you'll be able to go into that private world whenever you like.

Oh, your family doesn't want you to but since when have they helped you anyway? Now, I remember on television a young woman was interviewed who said that she got drunk every weekend and had a sexual relationship with a man, a different man every weekend, sometimes even not knowing his name but then she said this. She said, because I am so wasted when I wake up, I say to myself it really doesn't matter because I can't be responsible for it because I was drunk, she said. Now, where else can you find something that will do that for you? A way to be immoral without even feeling guilty. Now, God can't do that for you. God never would do that for you. So, what happens is there is that transfer now, that incredible transfer of trust to that substance that's going to be there for you, to do for you what no person or God has ever done. Now, keep in mind you're breaking the first commandment. Thou shall have no other gods before you and now suddenly this substance becomes your God and is it therefore not surprising that along with that kind of trance and euphoria also come evil spirits who are going to want to take thee and make the very, very best of the situation and try to exploit your weakness because you are putting the substance in the place of God and they will come there to make sure that they are a part of the process. But here's the problem.

You already know what the problem is. You put all of the faith that you have into these substances but the substances break their promises. They can only give you that euphoria for a little time and then afterwards there's depression and there's despair and there's guilt and there's shame and that shame begins to build and to build and to build and all of the promises are illusionary and you know that that world is a world of delusion. It is not a world of reality and now the question is what is it that you are going to do. There's only one thing to do and that is to turn to your substance again to deaden the pain of the shame and the loneliness and the emptiness. So what do people do?

They drink in order to solve the problems that drink has created and on and on it goes. That's number two. Number three. There's the development of the protective shell, the protective shell. Now let's just enter that world for a moment. Here you are with your own private little experience of euphoria and it is the one that allows you to escape and the people around you don't like what is happening.

They don't like it at all. So what do you do? You begin to cut out other people and you become antisocial for one reason.

Number one. You do not want the shame revealed because that is very painful. That is more painful than physical disability to have all of that hurt come out and so that has to be confidently stuffed into your soul and protected.

That's a part of it but there's another part of it as well and that is that you do not want people to come inside so that you can go and retreat into your own little world and be there. And you say to yourself, people say, well, you know, look at this alcoholic. Doesn't he care about his kids?

The answer is no, he doesn't care about his kids because all that he can think about is that escape into that euphoric experience and there is nothing else to think about and after all, when were his kids ever good anyway? Let me give you a fourth and that is the development of the addictive personality. Some of you who live with addicts, you know what this is about because remember now your whole world is going to revolve around this question of how do you be able to sustain, how can you sustain the trance? So what happens is you become very manipulative, incredibly manipulative, cunning. You begin to be able to get money. You begin to tell lies. The lies do not bother you because soon they are going to be drowned out in the experience anyway. You begin to use people. You lie and you expect your family to lie and you hope that your friends will lie. When they don't, all that they are is people who need to be blamed because they are standing in the way of the only thing that is going to get you away from your pain, you think, and give you just a little bit of pleasure that you deserve and so on and on it goes and if you're rich enough to sustain the habit so that you don't have to resort to theft, what you will do is begin to lie even when you don't have to lie. It simply erodes your character to such an extent that no matter what you do, it's okay now because everything has to be poured through the bent lens of the way in which you see the world and it may permanently alter the way in which you see reality.

What a tragedy. The addictive personality. The narcissism is unbelievable. Where every remark, every event is filtered through this experience as to how it relates to you. There can be no genuine caring for other people because your whole life revolves around yourself. Finally, there is what we could call a cycle develops because in the midst of this, the protective shell sometimes is broken. Those who are on drugs or alcohol, they wake up some morning and they are so sick and tired of what they've done and losing their families and losing their jobs that they say, this is the last time.

I'm never going to touch another drop. And sometimes they don't for several months. And they begin to say to themselves, see, I'm not an addict. I just proved it.

I did without a drink for 12 weeks. That proves I am master. I can quit whenever I want. And so what do they do? Well, you know what they do. They take another drink and the fire, the fire of desire is twice as hot as it once was. And the whole cycle begins over again. How accurate the scriptures are when they say in Proverbs chapter five, the evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him.

That's why we called it the seven snares that we're talking about. The cords of his sin hold him fast. He will die for lack of discipline, but astray by his own great folly.

What a tragedy. Well, the answer of course is what does the Bible say about this? Now, you know what the Bible says, though I'm going to read some passages to you, but I need to underline something. First of all, the Bible gives incredible warnings, incredible warnings about alcoholism and drunkenness. As a matter of fact, these warnings are very clearly given and sometimes they are even spoken of as judgments.

But I need to say to those of you who are struggling with substance abuse, whether alcoholism or drugs, listen to me carefully. I'm not reading these passages to condemn you because you already feel that deep sense of shame and condemnation. I'm reading these passages for the many people who have not begun these pathways, to warn them, to plead with them, stay away from that which debilitates and ruins. And that's why I'm reading them. For you who are struggling in a few moments, I'm going to give you some scriptural encouragement and show you the path out.

But for now, the warnings. Listen to this found, for example, in Isaiah chapter five. Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine. They have harps and liars at their banquets, tambourines and flutes and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord, no respect for the work of his hands. Therefore, my people will go into exile for lack of understanding. Their men of rank will die of hunger and their masses will be parched with thirst.

Wow. What about the book of Jeremiah? Listen to this judgment that God pronounces. This is what the Lord says, I am going to fill with drunkenness all who live in this land, including the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests and the prophets and those living in Jerusalem.

I will smash them one against the other. Fathers and sons alike declares the Lord, I will allow no pity or mercy or compassion to keep me from destroying them. God says, I want you to understand that when I fill people with drunkenness, it is a sign of my judgment.

This is Pastor Lutzer. I certainly wish that this message would continue to be widely listened to. You know, it is because of alcoholism that so many families have been destroyed. There's abuse.

I hope that you get on the phone and tell your friends about this series of messages because I think it is very relevant. You know, just this past week, I read that during this COVID crisis, more people are listening to radio than ever. And so we thank God that radio is not confined to one special area.

It goes into homes and offices and cars. Would you stand with us as we continue to share the word of God through radio? Would you consider becoming an endurance partner?

Endurance partners are people who stand with us regularly with their prayers and their gifts. Here's what you do. Go to RTWOffer.com. That's RTWOffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. If you've been blessed as a result of running to win, it is because of the investment of many friends just like you. 1-888-218-9337.

You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60614. Like quicksand, alcohol draws in its victims until they can no longer free themselves. Alcohol is not condemned in the Bible, but alcohol abuse is. The temptation to drink is best handled by never taking that first sip. Next time on Running to Win, why it's almost impossible to say, I'm quitting tomorrow, and why drunkenness can be a sign of God's judgment. Thanks for listening. For Dr. Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.