FrontLine: The Self-Deception of Substance Abuse
FrontLine | Volume 35, Number 2
One of the saddest stories I have ever heard was from a man who told me about his adult son who was a drunkard. Why had he started drinking? As a teenager, he had gotten a girl pregnant, so he wanted to marry her and take on his responsibilities as a father. She refused and insisted that he take her to an abortion clinic. But the entire time that the procedure was going on, the young man said that it was as if he could hear his baby in the womb screaming, “Help me, Daddy, help me!” To try to silence his screaming conscience and forget those memories, he had been hitting the bottle for decades.
Why are we devoting this issue of FrontLine to the issue of substance abuse? It is an enormous problem worldwide. As people try to escape their problems, their hearts mislead them into believing that substance abuse will help them endure harsh realities. But the idols of their hearts are only deceiving them, according to Ezekiel 14. Their self-deception, described in passages such as Jeremiah 17:9–10 and James 1:22, is only amplified and aggravated by substance abuse. And it’s important to remember that we are all fellow strugglers.
I was reminded of this as I picked up an acquaintance in a nearby town. His wife had asked me to pick him up (again) after yet another cocaine binge. As we drove home, he said, “I’ll bet you really look down on me because I use cocaine,” he said.
“No, I don’t,” I replied.
“How can you not look down on me?,” he inquired.
“Because I’m tempted to do the same thing with peanut butter and cracker that you do with cocaine,” I responded.
He blurted out, “Peanut butter and cracker! That’s not illegal!”
“That’s not the issue,” I said. “I’m tempted to use peanut butter and cracker to get a sense of satisfaction and take the edge off problems and harsh realities. I’ll grant you that it is not illegal, nor is it highly addictive like cocaine. But food can nevertheless become an idol of my heart and that’s wrong.”
Over the next few months, he repeated that back to me many times. I was trying to assure him that we are all fellow strugglers and that we can find biblical principles to apply together. We do so in the midst of a culture which is eager to deceive and defile us with substance abuse (Hab. 2:15).
In this issue of FrontLine, we will attempt to share biblical answers with fellow strugglers. Jim Berg will show us God’s way to overcome addictions. Ben Hicks will help us see how some people insist on Christian liberty in a way that leads to substance abuse. David Shumate’s article alerts us to the dangers of using marijuana. Mike Harding tackles the issue of using beverage alcohol, explaining why believers should abstain. As you ponder the issue of substance abuse, Robert Condict’s review of Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave by Edward Welch is worthy of your careful consideration. Our prayer is that this edition of FrontLine will equip you with the information you need to turn to the Lord from substance abuse and to help others turn as well.
Gordon Dickson, Associate Editor
FEATURES:
GOD’S WAY TO OVERCOME YOUR ADDICTIONS
Jim Berg
You must know your basic makeup as a human being if you are to apply the right remedies to your addiction problems.
WHY MARIJUANA IS (STILL) WRONG
David Shumate
Marijuana is becoming mainstream. How should Christians respond?
IS TODAY’S WINE THE WINE OF THE BIBLE?
Michael Harding
Arm yourself with historical and scriptural resources to respond to the dangers of beverage alcohol.
ALCOHOL AS A BEVERAGE: WHAT DOES THE SCIENCE SAY?
Gordon Dickson
Does alcohol cause cancer? Results of new scientific studies have prompted a warning from the Surgeon General.
CHRISTIAN LIBERTY, DRUGS, AND ALCOHOL
Ben Hicks
When we talk about Christian liberty we need to start with the question, “What are we free from?”
ADDICTIONS: A BANQUET IN THE GRAVE
Book Review by Robert Condict
Addictive sin is usually accompanied by and encouraged through deception.
SOUND WORDS: INSPIRATION FOR THE PASTOR’S STUDY
I: First Partaker
A Lifting Up in the Case of Great Sins
Mark Minnick
II: Bring … the Books
More Books for a Deserted Island
Stephen King
III: Straight Cuts
1 Corinthians 12:13— Who Baptized You?
Layton Talbert
IV: Windows
Forgiveness: The Oil of Life
Matt Fagan
DEPARTMENTS
NEWS FROM ALL OVER
ON THE HOME FRONT
BEST OF PROCLAIM & DEFEND
REGIONAL REPORT
HEART TO HEART: From a Daughter’s Heart: An Excerpt from This Side of Heaven
Susan Elliott Hughes and Janet Clark Shay
AT A GLANCE: The Preservation of Scripture (Part 2)
Layton Talbert
WITH THE WORD TO THE WORLD: How to Prepare for Ministry
Jim Tillotson
STEWARDSHIP MATTERS: Financial Stewardship by the Christian Family: Taxes and Debt
Corey Pfaffe
CHAPLAIN’S REPORT: Meet the Newest FBFI Chaplains
(Originally published in FrontLine • March/April 2025. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.)