Why the Drug Addicted are not Beyond the Reach of the Gospel

Since the “liberation” of the 1960s, the United States has battled an epidemic of drug abuse. But in recent years, we have been losing that battle. This is because just one powerful drug has radically changed the dynamic. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Back in 2022, 73,654 people died directly from a fentanyl overdose. And, of course, like other opioids, fentanyl has an overwhelming addiction.

Here is an important word for pastors regarding the drug addicted: Make sure they come through the straight gate (see Luke 13:24). 

Many years ago, I was the director of a drug prevention center (which was, unfortunately, located on “High” Street in our city). I would lecture and counsel parents who were trying to cope with the pain of having an addicted child. 

In my lectures, I emphasized the importance of parents understanding the power of an addiction. I would say that we all have addictions. When we are in a dentist’s chair with foreign fingers in our mouths, we often get an impulse to swallow. If we don’t, the urge becomes all-consuming. That’s what a drug addiction is like. Nothing else matters except satisfying that urge. And so, a drug addict will lie through his teeth and even steal from his grandmother to satisfy it. 

If people with an addiction don’t pass through the straight gate—where they turn from sin rather than turning from their drug problem – in time, you will have problems in your church. 

Many years ago, I swept a giant spiderweb off the front of our house. The next morning, it was back. I couldn’t find the spider, so I swept it off again. Of course, it was back the next morning. So, I took a small stick and tapped the web, vibrating it like a fly was struggling in its sticky grip. At the same time, I very skillfully made the sound of a distressed fly. It worked! Out came the spider from its hiding place, licking its ghastly little lips, and I killed it with fly spray. 

The spiderweb is the drug addiction. The web’s creator is sin. The problem is that sin is hiding in the human heart, and if it isn’t killed through the power of the gospel, your new “convert” will create havoc in your church. 

This is why pastors must utilize the stick of the moral Law to reveal the concealed spider of sin. The Apostle Paul said, “I had not known sin but by the law” (Romans 7:7). And it was the Law that showed him its ugly nature: “By the commandment, sin became exceedingly sinful” (Romans 7:13). 

And when sin is exposed, the gospel has the power to kill it once and for all. Your drug addict then becomes a new person in Christ. Old things are passed away; all things become new (see 2 Corinthians 5:17). When we understand the power of the gospel, we know that no one is beyond reach—no matter how addicted they are. He can save to the uttermost those who come to God by the Savior (see Hebrews 7:25). He can keep them from falling and present them faultless before His glory with exceeding joy (see Jude 1:24). 

If we don’t utilize our weapons—that are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds (see 2 Corinthians 10:4), our churches will become hospitals full of sick patients rather than barracks full of courageous soldiers. This results from focusing on the symptoms rather than the cause—on the web rather than the spider.

Empathize with drug addicts who come into your church, but make sure you open up the Law to bring the knowledge of sin, then preach the glorious gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation. 

©2024 Ray Comfort. Used with permission.