The word "drugs" can be used in various context. The following definition is the kind of Drugs that i will be talking about.
Drugs that are used for personal pleasure (often illegally) are called Recreational Drugs. Traditional RD's include marijuana, alcohol (Yes, it is a drug), MDMA (ecstasy), mushrooms, LSD, methamphetamine, heroin, crack/cocaine. Recreational drugs come under many criticisms, and praise by opponents, and users alike. Some believe the use of RD's to be immoral, and life-threatening, while others believe that new and thoughtful insights can come from drug use (especially psychedelics like mushrooms, and LSD)
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=drugs
I am going to try and not turn this into a lecture of any sort. Recreational drugs don't help you period. It doesn't make problems go away nor does it help you physically get better. Truth be told, I had my share of drugs when I was younger (early teens). It was simply out of curiosity but never ventured deep. That, I need to thank my parents. If it wasn't for all their hard work and sacrifice, I probably would've just run wild and jump off the deep end. By God's grace my stupid mind understood that my parents didn't spend so much money and have to spend half a year apart so i can do drugs. Anyhow, I had a lot of friends who uses recreational drugs o a fairly regular basis. Some out of boredom, some out of fear and frustration in life. I've come to realize that drugs are band-aid solutions that people use to deal with life's disappointment. Thus drugs are chemically and emotionally addictive in nature. It is so appealing when you are facing hardship and something comes along to release you from that feeling.
Once you are chemically or emotionally dependent on a substance, it takes more work to get off it than to get into it. There are many things in this world that offers cheap and temporal hope like drugs. They appear to function like a solution but the consequences are usually fatal. I had a friend who did not find that out until 5 years into it. He developed various physical symptoms and only in his 20's he told me that he could see his body failing him. What damaged him the most was the harsh truth that this chemical only took time away from him to face his problems.
The problem is not drugs but LIFE.
Life throws crap at us daily. I remember taking my first job at the dollar store. My manager told me, "Daniel, you know what this job is about? is about taking crap from people." yikes. I found that to be true. We live in a highly disappointing world filled with exploitation (like the Olympics but I m not gonna talk about that now) abuse, and lies. We dream dreams only to have them crushed by reality. Injustice is everywhere. Funny that in the western society we tried to fool ourselves thinking that we are more enlightened and with more education we are able to live better lives.
The Bible, on the other hand, paints our true nature. Looking at the problems of the peoples back in the day would only reveal to us that we are really no different.
in 740 B.C. God pronounces His judgement on Israel, God's people. In Isaiah 59, God tells them their problem:
7 Their feet rush into sin;
they are swift to shed innocent blood.
They pursue evil schemes;
acts of violence mark their ways.
8 The way of peace they do not know;
there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads;
no one who walks along them will know peace.
9 So justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;
for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
10 Like the blind we grope along the wall,
feeling our way like people without eyes.
At midday we stumble as if it were twilight;
among the strong, we are like the dead.
11 We all growl like bears;
we moan mournfully like doves.
We look for justice, but find none;
for deliverance, but it is far away.
I am not a scholar or an expert on world events but give me 20 minutes on the news and I can point out to you that we are no different from the Israelites back in the 700 B.C.
Going back to my point, I think drugs take us away from facing what is going on in our life and in our heart. We need true rescue and not substance abuse. We need true support from people, each other, instead of support from chemicals. Nor do I think that we should shun those who are dependent on drugs. In fact the opposite, we ought to help them discover what is truly bothering them and point them to true hope. A hope that would not fade.
A lot of people asks this question, if I take drug am I a bad Christian or does that mean I am going to hell? There is always two camps who ask this question. The guilty conservatives and the shameless liberals. Guilty conservatives may operate on a work base salvation system. Do good things go to heaven, and bad things lead you to hell. Well this is obviously false because only by the grace of God that anyone is saved( Ephesians 2:8). Then the shameless liberals jump out and say "HA! that means I can do whatever I want which includes drugs and alcohol."
Here is what God has to say about it through Paul, a first hand witness of Jesus.
"Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything(1 Corinthians 6:12 NIV). The principle here is that why do you want to be a slave to things that can screw you over and bring you back to despair? Put your trust in the real solution in life and God will not fail you. I have faced some hardship, tragedies, and disappointments in life. I definitely, at one point, thought about using chemicals to help me deal with it and have tried. It made things worse, and not the other way around. However, when I decided to surrender my life under new management of Christ, things didn't get better! Yet, I can handle them better. God gives the the courage I need, the support that I don't have within myself, the people around me who love me, and the love and comfort that I need in the situation.
I don't think anyone is beyond hope if they are currently on recreational drugs. But I do think that there is something in their lives that they need to deal with. Yes, even boredom is a symptom that something is wrong. I don't think drinking alcohol is a sin. Jesus drank wine! But I sure don't like the taste of it and the calories that comes with alcohol. I find pop more satisfying which saves me a lot of money. In the case of alcohol, just as long as I am not surrendering my control to a substance and leading others astray from know God then I am ok.
For my gr.3 boys at St.John's Richmond, I am still going to tell them not to do drugs =) Cuz they will benefit from that.
