yeah...I'm an addict

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” John 6: 26-29


It is oh so easy for us to look out from our lofty perches sometimes and see a thing...a defect...a shortcoming...a sin... in someone else that we are blinded to in ourselves. Some perhaps would call it judging others...I would simply call it misjudging ourselves. I find it incredibly both arrogant and naive that we could point an accusing finger at someone and not realize that but for the grace of God we are spared so much misery. I am thinking specifically about our tremendously addicted culture that we live in and how we ourselves become enablers and users. We are constantly comparing and judging ourselves against others in nomenclature and scale of addictions. By doing that we can rationalize our behavior and assign a degree of what is acceptable and what is not. That's how we can say that drinking 5-6 cups of coffee and 3-4 energy drinks is ok...but shooting heroin is bad...really bad. Or even...looking at a little porn...Is there even such a thing as a “little" porn? It is so easy for us to normalize our many addictions as we have incorporated them into the fabric of our daily lives. We often say...” well, this isn't really hurting anyone”...Really? The reality is we have given our biggest addiction that most of us suffer from an entirely different name so that it doesn't sound too bad...it's called consumerism and consumption. We are addicted to stuff...getting stuff...buying stuff..holding on to stuff. We are all about stuff...Jesus addresses that here in this passage from the gospel of John. When the disciples and the people came looking for Jesus he told them they in essence came looking for what Jesus could give them. They weren't seeking more signs...they were looking for freebies and something to fill their stomachs again. They were looking for stuff...We are no different. We often times approach Jesus in prayer seeking a thing as opposed to seeking His presence. Even when we get that one desired thing it just never seems to be enough as the endless hunger of addictions continues to ravage our lives. We are always looking...for the next best thing...the newest thing...the coolest thing... thinking this will ease this gnawing craving we feel in the depths of our soul. We chase after stuff with the idea that it will satisfy us once and for all. It won't...it's a mirage. It's a clever and cruel trick of Satan. It is only a very temporary fix...no different than the handful of pills we take to self medicate and numb our psychic pain. It has been described by many as a “hole in the heart” and we...sadly...believe we can fill that hole with stuff. So...we chase the dream with wild abandon and constantly work to get stuff and amass dubious treasure while here on earth. In Matthew 6: 19-21 it says,

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

The fact is that pursuing that false hope of riches comes at a great cost to us both individually and as a culture. Jesus reminds us in the passage from John to not to work for food that spoils...that perishes. He is trying to tell us that the sense of fullness and satisfaction we desperately seek is not found anywhere or in anything outside of Him. He is trying to tell us that this easily spoiled food makes us sick...addicted. The cost of chasing and living this so called American dream is entirely charged to us and what we can do in our power and with self reliance. On the other hand...the cost of pursuing a life of following Christ is solely charged to Him and He paid the price for us on the cross. How refreshing and stress relieving it is to know that I can be freed from the grips of an addiction that only seeks to destroy me and everything I touch. Entangled within the snare of a works based system of belief...it slowly becomes apparent that there is never enough I can do or be to measure up to the unrealistic expectation in my mind of who I should be and what I should have. We are unwitting pawns in a cruel game that we will never be able to win. The good news...there is a solution. As Jesus said in the passage from John...the only work we need to be concerned with is the one that God requires...and that is simply to believe in the one He has sent...that's where the freedom from this addiction begins...there is this amazing light at the end of the tunnel... and as the song says...” Into marvelous light I'm running, out of darkness...out of shame...”