fbpx
Articles

10 ways to help an addicted friend

/
March 20, 2015

Substance abuse takes many forms. Whether a person is struggling with prescription drugs, illicit drugs, alcohol or tobacco, the toll on the user and those around him or her is clear and often devastating.

Millions of people tell of the total loss of control of their lives they experienced through substance abuse. Around 20 percent of the U.S. population has abused prescription drugs. The sense many have that these are safe because they are legal has led millions to ruin. Prescription drug abuse has become the nation’s fastest growing drug abuse problem, killing more people annually than cocaine and heroin combined. Illicit drug abuse destroys users even more quickly.

The downward spiral into addiction and all its personal and social costs has destroyed millions of lives. Eight percent of the U.S. population 12 years of age or older have used illicit drugs in the past 30 days. While most people are aware of the devastation of such drugs as cocaine and heroin, they are woefully misguided about the dangers of marijuana. Each year, more teens enter addiction treatment with a primary diagnosis of marijuana dependence than all other illegal drugs combined. Illicit drugs are stealing the lives of our youth before they even have a chance to get started.

Then there are the more socially acceptable drugs, alcohol and tobacco. Alcohol is a brutal killer and life destroyer. More than half of all adults have a family history of alcoholism or problem drinking, and more than 7 million children live in a household where at least one parent is dependent or has abused alcohol. Eighty-eight thousand deaths are attributed every year to excessive alcohol use. It is the third leading lifestyle cause of death in the U.S.

Meanwhile, the truly silent killer among us is tobacco. Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of death and disease in the United States. Cigarette smoking kills more than 480,000 Americans each year, with more than 41,000 of these deaths from exposure to secondhand smoke.

The Bible is clear in its counsel regarding substance abuse. The Apostle Paul declared, “I will not be mastered by anything” (1 Cor. 6:12). Substance abuse interferes with every aspect of our lives. It renders us incapable of giving ourselves fully in service to God and others. We must rid ourselves of these spiritual shackles, and we must look for ways to help those we love as well. Do you know someone struggling with substance abuse? Here are some suggested ways to help.

  1. Pray for your friend. God is more powerful than any addiction and can break through the severest addiction.
  2. Share God’s love with your friend. Many people turn to addictive substances to mask emotional or spiritual pain. The knowledge of God’s love, acceptance and forgiveness in Christ can help your friend gain healing in these areas and break one of the driving factors in addiction.
  3. Share your concern with your friend. Tell him you’ve noticed that he hasn’t been the same lately and ask if he is struggling with something in his life. This is a less confrontational approach that might prevent your friend from going immediately on the defensive. If this fails, you may need a more direct approach. If so, consider including family, friends, pastors and professionals in an intervention plan to confront your friend with the truth of his need. Make sure the intervention has recovery in mind and not merely confrontation and accusation.
  4. Don’t facilitate your friend’s addiction. Your friend may ask you for money or other means to support his addiction. You must share in love that you cannot help him destroy himself.
  5. Encourage your friend to seek professional help. Addiction is often a very complex illness, requiring doctors, counselors and support groups. There are many Christian services and support groups that specialize in helping people overcome addictions of all kinds. Offer to go with your friend. There are also online resources, including help with quitting smoking.
  6. Help your friend find alternative activities.  These can help him break away from friends or places that reinforce his addiction.
  7. Join a support group for yourself. Addiction can be a difficult thing for someone to overcome. There will be many setbacks. You will need the support of others to help you stay encouraged.
  8. Keep yourself spiritually strong. Walking with someone through an addiction can be extremely demanding. You need to make sure you spend enough time with God and godly Christian friends so you have the spiritual and emotional strength to work with your friend through the long process of recovery.
  9. Be prepared to release your friend. You are not ultimately responsible for your friend’s recovery. The cravings of addiction can be overwhelming. The person struggling with it must want to be freed from it and willing to work with you. At some point, you may have to tell your friend you have exhausted all your means of help and you cannot continue. Make sure you point him back to God and other sources of help, and offer to come back alongside your friend if he decides he really wants to be freed from his addiction.
  10. Never stop praying for your friend, regardless of how your efforts turn out.

Jesus told us that “with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26). Whether you are struggling with substance abuse or someone you know is, God is greater. With his help, freedom from substance abuse is possible. You may be the best chance your friend has to be set free from something destroying his or her life and hurting many others, including you. May you find, in God and the gospel, the source of healing and help for yourself or those you love.


The drug facts cited in this guide are taken from the following sources provided by The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence:

The tobacco facts cited in this guide are provided by the Centers for Disease Control and HHS:

Barrett Duke

Barrett Duke is now the executive director of the Montana Southern Baptist Convention. He is the former vice president for Public Policy and Research at the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. Read More by this Author

Article 12: The Future of AI

We affirm that AI will continue to be developed in ways that we cannot currently imagine or understand, including AI that will far surpass many human abilities. God alone has the power to create life, and no future advancements in AI will usurp Him as the Creator of life. The church has a unique role in proclaiming human dignity for all and calling for the humane use of AI in all aspects of society.

We deny that AI will make us more or less human, or that AI will ever obtain a coequal level of worth, dignity, or value to image-bearers. Future advancements in AI will not ultimately fulfill our longings for a perfect world. While we are not able to comprehend or know the future, we do not fear what is to come because we know that God is omniscient and that nothing we create will be able to thwart His redemptive plan for creation or to supplant humanity as His image-bearers.

Genesis 1; Isaiah 42:8; Romans 1:20-21; 5:2; Ephesians 1:4-6; 2 Timothy 1:7-9; Revelation 5:9-10

Article 11: Public Policy

We affirm that the fundamental purposes of government are to protect human beings from harm, punish those who do evil, uphold civil liberties, and to commend those who do good. The public has a role in shaping and crafting policies concerning the use of AI in society, and these decisions should not be left to those who develop these technologies or to governments to set norms.

We deny that AI should be used by governments, corporations, or any entity to infringe upon God-given human rights. AI, even in a highly advanced state, should never be delegated the governing authority that has been granted by an all-sovereign God to human beings alone. 

Romans 13:1-7; Acts 10:35; 1 Peter 2:13-14

Article 10: War

We affirm that the use of AI in warfare should be governed by love of neighbor and the principles of just war. The use of AI may mitigate the loss of human life, provide greater protection of non-combatants, and inform better policymaking. Any lethal action conducted or substantially enabled by AI must employ 5 human oversight or review. All defense-related AI applications, such as underlying data and decision-making processes, must be subject to continual review by legitimate authorities. When these systems are deployed, human agents bear full moral responsibility for any actions taken by the system.

We deny that human agency or moral culpability in war can be delegated to AI. No nation or group has the right to use AI to carry out genocide, terrorism, torture, or other war crimes.

Genesis 4:10; Isaiah 1:16-17; Psalm 37:28; Matthew 5:44; 22:37-39; Romans 13:4

Article 9: Security

We affirm that AI has legitimate applications in policing, intelligence, surveillance, investigation, and other uses supporting the government’s responsibility to respect human rights, to protect and preserve human life, and to pursue justice in a flourishing society.

We deny that AI should be employed for safety and security applications in ways that seek to dehumanize, depersonalize, or harm our fellow human beings. We condemn the use of AI to suppress free expression or other basic human rights granted by God to all human beings.

Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-14

Article 8: Data & Privacy

We affirm that privacy and personal property are intertwined individual rights and choices that should not be violated by governments, corporations, nation-states, and other groups, even in the pursuit of the common good. While God knows all things, it is neither wise nor obligatory to have every detail of one’s life open to society.

We deny the manipulative and coercive uses of data and AI in ways that are inconsistent with the love of God and love of neighbor. Data collection practices should conform to ethical guidelines that uphold the dignity of all people. We further deny that consent, even informed consent, although requisite, is the only necessary ethical standard for the collection, manipulation, or exploitation of personal data—individually or in the aggregate. AI should not be employed in ways that distort truth through the use of generative applications. Data should not be mishandled, misused, or abused for sinful purposes to reinforce bias, strengthen the powerful, or demean the weak.

Exodus 20:15, Psalm 147:5; Isaiah 40:13-14; Matthew 10:16 Galatians 6:2; Hebrews 4:12-13; 1 John 1:7 

Article 7: Work

We affirm that work is part of God’s plan for human beings participating in the cultivation and stewardship of creation. The divine pattern is one of labor and rest in healthy proportion to each other. Our view of work should not be confined to commercial activity; it must also include the many ways that human beings serve each other through their efforts. AI can be used in ways that aid our work or allow us to make fuller use of our gifts. The church has a Spirit-empowered responsibility to help care for those who lose jobs and to encourage individuals, communities, employers, and governments to find ways to invest in the development of human beings and continue making vocational contributions to our lives together.

We deny that human worth and dignity is reducible to an individual’s economic contributions to society alone. Humanity should not use AI and other technological innovations as a reason to move toward lives of pure leisure even if greater social wealth creates such possibilities.

Genesis 1:27; 2:5; 2:15; Isaiah 65:21-24; Romans 12:6-8; Ephesians 4:11-16

Article 6: Sexuality

We affirm the goodness of God’s design for human sexuality which prescribes the sexual union to be an exclusive relationship between a man and a woman in the lifelong covenant of marriage.

We deny that the pursuit of sexual pleasure is a justification for the development or use of AI, and we condemn the objectification of humans that results from employing AI for sexual purposes. AI should not intrude upon or substitute for the biblical expression of sexuality between a husband and wife according to God’s design for human marriage.

Genesis 1:26-29; 2:18-25; Matthew 5:27-30; 1 Thess 4:3-4

Article 5: Bias

We affirm that, as a tool created by humans, AI will be inherently subject to bias and that these biases must be accounted for, minimized, or removed through continual human oversight and discretion. AI should be designed and used in such ways that treat all human beings as having equal worth and dignity. AI should be utilized as a tool to identify and eliminate bias inherent in human decision-making.

We deny that AI should be designed or used in ways that violate the fundamental principle of human dignity for all people. Neither should AI be used in ways that reinforce or further any ideology or agenda, seeking to subjugate human autonomy under the power of the state.

Micah 6:8; John 13:34; Galatians 3:28-29; 5:13-14; Philippians 2:3-4; Romans 12:10

Article 4: Medicine

We affirm that AI-related advances in medical technologies are expressions of God’s common grace through and for people created in His image and that these advances will increase our capacity to provide enhanced medical diagnostics and therapeutic interventions as we seek to care for all people. These advances should be guided by basic principles of medical ethics, including beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, and justice, which are all consistent with the biblical principle of loving our neighbor.

We deny that death and disease—effects of the Fall—can ultimately be eradicated apart from Jesus Christ. Utilitarian applications regarding healthcare distribution should not override the dignity of human life. Fur- 3 thermore, we reject the materialist and consequentialist worldview that understands medical applications of AI as a means of improving, changing, or completing human beings.

Matthew 5:45; John 11:25-26; 1 Corinthians 15:55-57; Galatians 6:2; Philippians 2:4

Article 3: Relationship of AI & Humanity

We affirm the use of AI to inform and aid human reasoning and moral decision-making because it is a tool that excels at processing data and making determinations, which often mimics or exceeds human ability. While AI excels in data-based computation, technology is incapable of possessing the capacity for moral agency or responsibility.

We deny that humans can or should cede our moral accountability or responsibilities to any form of AI that will ever be created. Only humanity will be judged by God on the basis of our actions and that of the tools we create. While technology can be created with a moral use in view, it is not a moral agent. Humans alone bear the responsibility for moral decision making.

Romans 2:6-8; Galatians 5:19-21; 2 Peter 1:5-8; 1 John 2:1

Article 2: AI as Technology

We affirm that the development of AI is a demonstration of the unique creative abilities of human beings. When AI is employed in accordance with God’s moral will, it is an example of man’s obedience to the divine command to steward creation and to honor Him. We believe in innovation for the glory of God, the sake of human flourishing, and the love of neighbor. While we acknowledge the reality of the Fall and its consequences on human nature and human innovation, technology can be used in society to uphold human dignity. As a part of our God-given creative nature, human beings should develop and harness technology in ways that lead to greater flourishing and the alleviation of human suffering.

We deny that the use of AI is morally neutral. It is not worthy of man’s hope, worship, or love. Since the Lord Jesus alone can atone for sin and reconcile humanity to its Creator, technology such as AI cannot fulfill humanity’s ultimate needs. We further deny the goodness and benefit of any application of AI that devalues or degrades the dignity and worth of another human being. 

Genesis 2:25; Exodus 20:3; 31:1-11; Proverbs 16:4; Matthew 22:37-40; Romans 3:23

Article 1: Image of God

We affirm that God created each human being in His image with intrinsic and equal worth, dignity, and moral agency, distinct from all creation, and that humanity’s creativity is intended to reflect God’s creative pattern.

We deny that any part of creation, including any form of technology, should ever be used to usurp or subvert the dominion and stewardship which has been entrusted solely to humanity by God; nor should technology be assigned a level of human identity, worth, dignity, or moral agency.

Genesis 1:26-28; 5:1-2; Isaiah 43:6-7; Jeremiah 1:5; John 13:34; Colossians 1:16; 3:10; Ephesians 4:24