“The problem that we need to correct,” say the authors, “is our view of the addict, so that we can minister to them as the Lord Jesus would have us to. We must see the addict as the Lord Jesus sees the addict–as a soul made in the image of God, broken by sin and in need of the word of life.”

Of all the pastoral issues a church can face, I think one of the trickiest may be addiction. In theory, churches are eager to provide a safe and welcoming environment for current or recovering addicts. Yet in reality, churches often feel ignorant and poorly equipped to deal with the reality of addicts and addictions and all the challenges and complexities that may come with them.

I have on many occasions had the privilege of worshipping at Niddrie Community Church in Edinburgh, Scotland, and have marvelled at the way this church ministers so faithfully to people caught in serious addictions to drugs or alcohol. Over many years, they have served as a kind of light in a dark environment and have seen many addicts become former addicts and, even better, become functioning, fruitful members of a local church.

Addiction and the Local Church is written by Andy Constable, who currently pastors Niddrie Community Church, and Mez McConnell, who formerly pastored it. Together, they have written a kind of guide for churches that wish to minister more faithfully to those who are addicted to substances. In the early pages, they admit the challenge:

Addiction is widespread and on the rise. It’s important, therefore, for us to understand what addiction is and how we can care for the addicted person. The problem is that addictions are often misunderstood in Christian circles. Like me (Andy), many Christians have no clue about the addict’s world. We’ve been brought up in places where drug and alcohol addictions are either hidden behind a veil of respectability or considered to be the problem of the poor, with whom we’d never engage. We stay in our safe middle-class neighbourhoods where our kids go to comfortable schools, where we have nice houses, and we drive past the rough areas to get to our respectable, middle-class churches. For many of us, the addicted person is someone to be avoided at all costs because they are just so different to us. As a result, many Christians neither reach the addicted nor know how to care for them.

Read More