Wednesday, April 3, 2013

God and Rehab

Yesterday, I had an interesting talk with a friend about God's role in drug rehab and behavior change. Conventional Christian wisdom seems to be that one cannot truly kick a habit without God's help or without becoming a Christian. This is the philosophy of several faith-based rehab and restoration programs with which I am personally acquainted. The theory is that once a behavior devolves to the level of an addiction, it takes God to overcome it. These programs support this claim pointing to the number of addicts that they have seen come to faith, kick the habit and then live productive and meaningful lives. 

But I have two main issues with this philosophy. First, many AA and NA programs have success stories while not requiring their members to become Christians. While they do promote faith as being necessary for successful rehab, they don't specify in which deity one needs to place her faith to be successful. They simply require you to place your faith in something (i.e. a higher power). But this view contradicts the conventional view because on the conventional view, not all deities are capable one producing change. The only deity that can produce actual change in a person is the God of the Bible. It's like trying to get water out of a disconnected water hose. Only water hoses connected to the water supplies produce water. On the AA model it doesn't matter where the hose is connected. It just has to be connected to something.

Second, there is evidence that many people quit drugs and alcohol without attending any programs or without any specific faith commitments at all. Gene Heyman has been providing this research for years. According to Heyman, addiction is not a disease, but is a choice. Though the choice is hard, people can  choose to stop whatever destructive behavior to which they are addicted. Heyman's research shows that the choice to change is usually preceded by a calculation of the pros and cons associated with the addictive behavior. As the addict really begins to realize that a life without this behavior is better than a life with it, she can begin to change her behavior. Behavior change, then comes from within the individual and does not necessarily come from some external source (i.e. God, medicine, etc.) Again, Heyman does not argue that behavior change is easy. He merely says that it's possible.

So what does that mean for faith-based or explicitly Christian programs? Is there no place for them in the world of rehab and restorative programing? I think there is still space. I think the role of a Christian program is not to show the client that God is needed to overcome addiction or to change a destructive behavior. Instead, the role of the program is to show the client that God is needed to have a complete and full life. According to the Christian worldview, just as a seed needs nutrient-rich soil, fresh water and oxygen in order to flourish, human beings need healthy relationships, proper nutrients and a relationship with the God of the Scriptures in order to flourish. Christian programs, especially long-term programs, should aim at helping their clients develop Christian world-views while at the same time helping them walk through the stages of behavior change

This does not mean that God isn't interested in helping the client with behavior change. I would argue that He wants to help and has promised that His Spirit is here to help us change those behaviors that are contrary to the flourishing life.

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