Category: Addictions - IRONSTRIKES

Can Pornography Be Addictive? (research)

11/12/2018

Abstract:

Pornography consumption is highly prevalent, particularly among young adult males. For some individuals, problematic pornography use (PPU) is a reason for seeking treatment. Despite the pervasiveness of pornography, PPU appears under-investigated, including with respect to the underlying neural mechanisms. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we examined ventral striatal responses to erotic and monetary stimuli, disentangling cue-related wanting from reward-related liking among 28 heterosexual males seeking treatment for PPU and 24 heterosexual males without PPU. Subjects engaged in an incentive delay task in the scanner, in which they received erotic or monetary rewards preceded by predictive cues. Blood-oxygen-level-dependent responses to erotic and monetary cues were analyzed and examined with respect to self-reported data on sexual activity collected over the 2 preceding months. Men with and without PPU differed in their striatal responses to cues predicting erotic pictures but not in their responses to erotic pictures.

PPU subjects when compared with control subjects showed increased activation of ventral striatum specifically for cues predicting erotic pictures but not for cues predicting monetary gains. Relative sensitivity to cues predicting erotic pictures vs monetary gains was significantly related to the increased behavioral motivation to view erotic images (suggestive of higher wanting), severity of PPU, amount of pornography use per week, and number of weekly masturbations.

Our findings suggest that, similar to what is observed in substance and gambling addictions, the neural and behavioral mechanisms associated with the anticipatory processing of cues specifically predicting erotic rewards relate importantly to clinically relevant features of PPU.

These findings suggest that PPU may represent a behavioral addiction and that interventions helpful in targeting behavioral and substance addictions warrant consideration for adaptation and use in helping men with PPU.

Source:

Gola, M., Wordecha, M, Sescousse, G., Lew-Starowicz, M., Kossowski, B., Wypych, M., Makeig, S., Potenza, M.N., & Marchewka, A. (2017). Can Pornography be Addictive? An fMRI Study of Men Seeking Treatment for Problematic Pornography Use. Neuropsychopharmacology, 42(10), 2021-20131

When God didn't listen

5/21/2016

“Hello, my name is Bruce. I am here to help. Clear your schedules, and cancel your appointments for this weekend. It is going to be a long few days, but I think it will be worth it.”

I felt like Bruce was preparing us for boot camp. It was as if we were going to be running an obstacle course with spikes, fire, and mythical creatures involved. I laughed it off, but Bruce was not laughing. He was serious.

“It is possible that this will be the hardest thing you have done, or ever will do in your life. We are in the demon killing business and this is no time to be afraid.”

My family and I had been dealing with a demon for several years at this point. My brother in law had been struggling with a drug addiction and it had taken over his life. There was no getting away from it. It consumed everything. We had already gone through periods of hope, wishful thinking, and even anger. Now, our prayers had dried up. We couldn’t pray in faith anymore because we thought there was nothing left to pray. This was a job even too big for God.

Bruce was a professional counselor who specialized in drug interventions. If you don’t know what an intervention is, let me explain. An intervention is a group ambush on a person that is so lost in their addiction that they are now defending and feeding it regularly. It is a conversation defined by structured confrontation, and serious ultimatums.

That’s not me. I am a pastor. Until that point, I was content with side stepping hard truth with “more comfortably presented” versions of truth. I was a people pleaser.

After years of his struggle with hard drugs, stealing, and running away from God, our last ditch effort to bring him back was this awkward time of confrontation. Family came from out of state. The army was mobilizing.

The day the intervention was planned was the same day I planned to walk across the stage and receive my Master’s degree. A great day ruined.

The evening before this event we met with the counselor and went through a rehearsal of sorts, and he gave us an outline guiding us on how to write our speeches. Also, he laid down ground rules. We were to be steadfast, and unwavering. We were not supposed to take “no” for an answer. The idea was to confront my brother in law with our concern for him and tell him he needs to get help…and…if he doesn’t…we would be forced to push him away. No contact. No support. No enabling. Nothing. He would also be forced to live on the street. Sometimes love is stupid.

We rehearsed the night before, and the next day we met at McDonald’s beforehand to go through final procedures and pray. As a united front, we drove to the house, and woke my brother in law up for the battle. We passionately pleaded our case and Ryan (brother in law) sat there listening politely even though he was visibly shaken by being ambushed. The conversation seemed to last an eternity. Crying was involved. Yelling was included.

In the end, Ryan refused to go to treatment. It was heartbreaking. God had let us down. The counselor said that most people change their mind within 90 days. Ryan didn’t. God was still not answering our prayers.

After losing all hope, and feeling that God was saying “no” to our plea, something miraculous happened. Ryan, who had refused to enter into the battle of recovery, decided to enter a facility to get help. 9 months later, our prayers (that we had gotten tired of praying), were answered. God did a miracle in His timing….even if it felt too late in our hearts and minds.

We found out later that he was being told lies when he spent his time with people on the streets. He was told that “no one” had ever recovered from the addiction that he had, and that he might as well give up. He tried so hard to fix it on his own, but those lies were burned into his brain.

The facility he went to for help refused to let him in. Apparently there were no beds available. Ryan became angry and would not take “no” for an answer. The caseworker looked at Ryan with a sly grin, and enrolled him. They wanted to see his fight and stubbornness. They wanted to see his anger with his current situation.

They lied. It was a holy lie…if those exist.

Also, the caseworker informed him that he was a byproduct of this place, and he once struggled with the same addiction.

There was hope again.

Today, 5 years after that intervention. Ryan is an incredible, transformed, passionate brother. He loves his family, and is generous with the money that he has. Recovery is not easy, but daily he is getting stronger and goes to meetings multiple times a week. He is an advocate for change and recovery.

That day revolutionized who I was as a pastor. I was given a new perspective about pain and suffering. Also, I became a better leader who is intentional about truth.

I am so proud of him. I am also so thankful that God’s timing is perfect. God listens even when we think it is too late.

Don’t give up.

This post was written by Rev DeCrastos. You can find his blog here: https://other-words.net

My husband is a porn addict

3/2/2015

As the wife of a confirmed porn addict, I can tell you that life is not easy. In my mind, I sometimes wish he was addicted to "real women"; I cannot compete with airbrushed fantasies. In the dark hours when I know what he is doing in the room down the hall, I think how I could verbally attack or expose a "real woman" for her part in my husband's infidelity, yet I have no recourse but to writhe in emotional pain as the man I love is pretending to have sex with someone he will never meet.

When he comes to my side and offers affection, I want to respond but am repulsed. My heart aches to know that I am the one he wants to hold, but knows all to well that he may not even see me for the images dancing in his mind. His arms may not even be around me, but around one of the many women he just spent the last hour with in the solitude of our marriage bed while I did dishes and helped kids with homework.

Many times I hear the promises that it is over; that he is mine alone. In graphic detail I am exposed to what his eyes have seen, the secret desires he had for those other women. He tells me about it as he promises he will get help. If only I could believe it this time.

A "real" affair would be easier for me to accept. Yet I walk each day with the feeling that I am never enough. As one woman, with one body, I can never be enough. With a heart full of shame that is not my own I beg God for His intervention. Plead that He help me keep this secret from children who love their father deeply. I ask that today is the day my husband finds freedom so that I can be free.

Even though I understand all the reasons it is not mine, as his wife this is my burden as well as his. He can claim that this is his secret hell that he cannot seem to escape, but as surely as I wear his ring on my finger and share his name, this hell is mine.

Written by Anonymous.

Porn addiction escalates

1/30/2015

Because of its addictive nature, in order to just feel some sense of normality, an individual usually needs an ever increasing dosage of porn. The material that they seek out also evolves. Overtime their appetite pushed them to more hardcore versions to achieve the same level of arousal.Have you ever wondered how pornographers that charge for their material stay in business when there’s so much porn available for free?

As Wendy Seltzer—an attorney and fellow at Yale Law School—explained, the answer is actually pretty simple: once porn users get hooked, they’ll want more and more. “Seeing [free porn] just whets their appetite for more,” Seltzer said. “Once they get through what’s available for free, they’ll move into the paid services.”

Fortunately for pornographers, that pattern isn’t likely to change any time soon since the reason it happens is built into the brain.

Pornography researchers have found that users acclimate to the porn they watch—they get used to it, and it stops being exciting or arousing. Why? Because their brain’s pleasure response has gotten numb.

When a person is aroused by porn, their brain releases a chemical called dopamine that makes them feel pleasure. As the dopamine goes through their brain, it leaves behind a pathway created by a protein called iFosB (pronounced delta fos b) that connects feeling aroused to looking at porn. Basically dopamine is saying “this feels good; let’s remember how to get back here,” and iFosB goes to work building a brain pathway to make it easier for the person to do that again. When this happens with healthy behaviors it is a good thing, but when it happens with unhealthy ones it can lead to trouble.

The problem is, when a person consistently looks at porn, their brain is constantly being flooded with a high level of dopamine. A healthy brain isn’t used to that, so the brain responds by getting rid of some of its dopamine receptors, which take in the dopamine that’s released so that the brain knows it’s there. With fewer receptors, the user can’t feel the dopamine’s effects as much—and suddenly the porn that used to excite starts seeming boring.

Many leading brain researchers now believe that once a porn user’s brain starts cutting back on dopamine receptors, to get the same excitement and arousal they used to feel, many porn users need an even larger surge of dopamine; to get it, they have to look at more porn, look at porn more often, or look at more hardcore material. You see, it’s not just arousal that gets dopamine pumping. The brain also releases it when it sees something novel, shocking, or surprising. That’s why consistent porn users often find themselves looking for harder and harder images. On top of that, because they’ve built up such a high tolerance to arousing material, to feel excited many users have to combine sexual arousal with the feeling of aggressive release. That’s why so much of hardcore porn is full of images of women being physically harmed. It’s also the reason that many porn addicts quickly find themselves looking at things that used to disgust them or that they used to see as morally wrong.

On top of needing harder material, many porn addicts find themselves craving porn more and more often. That’s because while they’re overloading their brain with dopamine, they’re also building up higher levels of iFosB. The more iFosB, the more the user’s brain drives them to look at porn, even if they don’t like the material they’re looking at.

As the addiction deepens, users not only become more impulsive, making it more likely that they’ll give into their cravings, but also whenever they encounter a stressful situation, they’re more likely to feel like they don’t have any way to deal with the stress other than by turning to porn’s temporary distraction.

And the more they turn back to their habit, the deeper the brain pathways that lead back to using become, making it harder and harder to break the cycle.

This post is taken from the website, http://www.fightthenewdrug.org

Citations to support the statements in this post are available upon request.

Porn is addictive

1/28/2015

"Pornographers promise healthy pleasure and relief from sexual tension, but what they often deliver is an addiction, tolerance, and an eventual decrease in pleasure." - Norman Doidge, MD, The Brain That Changes Itself

It wasn’t very long ago that doctors and researchers believed that in order for something to be addictive, it had to involve an outside substance that you physically put into your body, like cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs.

Once we got a peek into the brain, however, our understanding of how addictions work changed. It turns out, cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs have more in common than you might think. Sure, on the outside, some are poured into a glass while others are lit on fire and smoked. But once they’re in the body, they all do the same thing to the brain: flood it with a chemical called dopamine. That’s what makes them addictive. And porn does the exact same thing.

You see, your brain comes equipped with something called a “reward pathway.” Its job is to motivate you to do things that keep you and your genes alive—things like eating or having sex to produce babies. The way it rewards you is by releasing dopamine into your brain, because dopamine makes you feel good.

However, just because your brain has adapted to motivate you to do something doesn’t mean it’s always good for you. For example, your brain produces higher levels of dopamine when you have chocolate cake than it does for whole-wheat bread. Why? Because 3,000 years ago, high-calorie foods were really hard to come by, so when our ancestors found them, it was important that they eat a whole bunch while the getting was good. These days, a bag of Oreos is only as far as the nearest supermarket. If we gorged on them every chance we got, chances are we’d get heart disease, gain weight, and develop a bunch of other health problems.

Porn is basically sexual junk food. When a person is looking at porn, their brain thinks they’re seeing a potential mating opportunity, and pumps the brain full of dopamine. And unlike healthy sexual relationships that build up over time with an actual person, porn offers an endless stream of hyper-sexual images that flood the brain with high levels of dopamine every time the user clicks to a new image.

Setting your brain up for an overload of feel-good chemicals might sound like a good idea at first, but just like with junk food, what feels like a good thing, in this case isn’t at all. Because porn use floods the brain with high chemical levels, the brain starts to fight back. Over time, the brain will actually cut down on its dopamine receptors—the tiny landing docs that take the dopamine in once it’s been released in your brain. As a result, porn that once excited a person often stops having the same effect, and the user has to look at more porn, look at porn more often, or find a more hardcore version—or all three—to get aroused.

Eventually, as the brain acclimates to the overload of dopamine, users often find that they can’t feel normal without that dopamine high. Little things that used to make them happy, like seeing a friend or playing their favorite sport, can’t compete with the dopamine flood that comes with porn, so they’re left feeling anxious or down until they can get back to it.

On top of that, dopamine doesn’t travel alone. When the brain is getting a hit of dopamine, it’s also getting new pathways built into it with a protein called “iFosB” (pronounced delta fos b).

Essentially, iFosB’s job is to help you remember to do things that feel good or are important. While dopamine is motivating your brain to do things and rewarding it for doing them, iFosB is quietly leaving trail markers in your brain, creating a pathway to help you get back there. When this happens with healthy behaviors, it’s a very good thing. However, as little as one dose of many drugs will also cause iFosB to start building up in the brain’s neurons, and of course porn’s powerful dopamine surge causes iFosB to build up as well.

The more a user looks at porn, the more iFosB accumulates, essentially beating down the brain pathways leading to using, making it easier and easier for the user to turn back to that behavior, whether they want to or not. Eventually, if enough iFosB accumulates, it can “flip a genetic switch,” causing irreversible changes in the brain that leave the user more susceptible to addiction.

And for teens, the risks are especially high, since a teen brain’s reward pathway has a response two to four times more powerful than an adult brain—which means teen brains release even higher levels of dopamine. Teen brains also produce higher levels of iFosB, leaving them extra vulnerable to addiction.

This post is taken from the website, http://www.fightthenewdrug.org

Citations to support the statements in this post are available upon request.

Would Jesus do that?

9/30/2014

This picture represents an important concept in gaining ground on addictions and compulsions.

If you observe this startling picture you will notice various things. I don't even understand all that the artist intended as he has made several statements with this picture.

However, what stands out to me the most is the left arm of the man shooting up. If you look carefully, you will see that it is actually Jesus' arm that is receiving the drug.

There is an important concept to be learned here. Did you know that what you do to yourself, you do to Jesus? If you think this is a goofy idea, know that it is true. Paul stated, "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!"

Do you abuse your body? Do you abuse alcohol and/or other drugs? Then you're causing Jesus to abuse his body.

Do you engage in sexual sin? Do you let your mind wander into lust? Then you're causing Jesus to sin sexually.

Does your mind ruminate on hateful thoughts? Then you're causing Jesus to hate.

This concept is also consistent with David's statement to God, "Against you and you only have I sinned..." All of our sin, is ultimately sin against God.

Understanding this concept is important in conquering addictions and compulsions. Pray, asking God to show you that when you sin, you are sinning against Him and involving Jesus in your sin. Ask God to have His Holy Spirit prompt you, when you start entertaining sinful thoughts, to remember that you will be sinning against Him and involving Jesus in sinfulness.

BE HOLY
BE A MAN

"Christian" swinging????

9/29/2014

A Florida couple who claim to be devout Christians and lovers of exercise say they are joyfully spreading the love of Christ and the Bible through their unconventional wife-swapping and fitness ministry. The wife says she doesn't believe swinging is wrong, but if it is, she'll find out on judgement day.

Dean, 49, and Cristy Parave, 44, revealed in an interview with Barcroft TV (Caution: Note that the referenced video is a tad bit sensual) to YouTube Thursday that they believe the community of fitness swingers they've created and promote on Facebook is "God's plan."

"I feel like right now this is God's plan," said Cristy to Barcroft TV. "The Bible doesn't talk about swinging, specifically. ... I just feel like, as a married couple, if you agree on something together then it's OK. If it's not, like I said, judgment day, I'll find that out."

Through their fitness swinging network Dean and Cristy, who is a bisexual mother of three, explained in a Daily Mail report that they have encountered swingers who are both religious and fans of exercise. Sometimes, however, they encounter people who are unsure about Jesus or are atheists. In these instances, they explained, they would have a light Bible study before they have sex.

"I don't think God would be mad at what we're doing," Cristy told the Daily Mail.

"At first I was conflicted, but the more we looked at it the more it makes sense to us. Dean and I are both in agreement with this lifestyle, so we're not committing adultery. God put people on the earth to breed and enjoy each other. I feel God is always with me and he has put us here for a reason," she said.

The couple, according to the Mail, met on a dating website eight years ago and Dean explained that, before meeting his wife and experiencing God, his life was an aimless, booze-filled nightmare.

"For me, every day used to involve a case of beer and a bottle of Jack Daniels," he recalled. "After my fifth arrest for driving under the influence, I begged God for help."

And God, he said, delivered him from an extended prison sentence.

"I should have been looking at 10 years, but the judge sentenced me to just 10 months in prison. For me that was a sign," he added.

Dean explained that he built a 40-foot cross in his backyard and committed to doing God's work for the rest of his life. And he found his ministry in swinging and exercise.

"If I can go to the next swingers event and get 10 people to believe in Christ, my job's done," Dean told Barcroft TV.

"Swinging, to me, started as a lifestyle. Then, it was like, you know what, we can do a lot of good with this, instead of, you know like, let's just have fun with this. I'm getting to people that probably would never even visit a church," he said.

"What I think about being a devout person is God is not gonna put a lion with a bunch of elephants, so what's he gonna do? He's gonna put a swinger with a bunch of swingers to spread his word, simple as that," he said.

(Editorial note: Here at Ironstrikes, we don't believe that one can be a Christian and also a swinger)

This post was taken from the Christian News Network. For the original post, go to: http://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-couple-spreading-gospel-through-wife-swapping-and-fitness-i-dont-think-god-would-be-mad-says-bisexual-wife-127107/

Filthy Rich

7/5/2014

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2: 4-7

Have you ever wanted to be rich? I mean, filthy rich? We have heard this phrase so many times, and I don’t know about you but, when I hear this phrase, I picture Scrooge McDuck (remember Ducktales?) swimming in a giant silo filled with coins. Many of us wouldn’t mind never having to worry about bills, and having enough left over to indulge our desires…within reason.

The Bible is very clear about this attitude. We can gather all of the material stuff possible, and the blessing that would result would not even compare to the value we find in a relationship with Christ. Also, we can read that all of the righteousness we can produce is like “filthy rags” to God…because a life lived independently of God’s resourcing is a life that is severely lacking in momentum.

So, when we read this excerpt there is something shocking that jumps off the page. Considering the deep deficit we begin with…the rejection of God, the disobedience, and overall spiritual infidelity, it is amazing to see that an acceptance of God’s mercy and salvation is an act that completely fills this void. It not only fills this void, but there is so much overflow the apostle Paul describes the amount as “incomparable”. This means that there is no quantity of any other substance that can equally be compared to this resource.

It is a relaxing thing to know that God loves us so much that we have immediate and continuous access to this abundance. Not only that, but it is relaxing to know that it is okay to accept it. I know that sounds crazy, but I think there are many people who have a barrier up when it comes to accepting God because they feel so terrible about their past. They feel they should be disqualified from grace, and misery is a punishment well suited for their sorrow.

God is offering His riches to you. More than you could ever imagine. It is okay to be free.

This post was written by Rev DeCrastos. You can find the original post here: http://other-words.net/2014/06/23/filthy-rich-monday-musings/

Sunday Meditation

6/1/2014

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Philippians 3:12

Some days the desire to be 'finished' with recovery is almost overwhelming. It is such an attractive thought. To be 'done'. It sounds so good. Done. Finally. Please, Lord, I want to be done today.

But, we have learned something about our capacity for self-deceit. We have learned that we are not entirely in control of the process of recovery. And, we have learned something about the dangers of complacency. It can lead us back into denial, and toward relapse. There is no more dangerous moment for us than the moment we become convinced that we are all better.

Recovery is 'pressing on'. We have not 'already obtained.' We have not 'already been made perfect.' Tomorrow's recovery cannot be done in advance. And yesterday's recovery, although it has changed and enriched us, is not the same thing as today's recovery. Today's recovery can only be done today.

The process of recovery restructures our lives in some very fundamental ways. We had learned silence, and in recovery we learn to speak the truth. We had learned not to feel, and in recovery we learn to feel. We had learned either not to need other people at all or to be excessively dependent on other people, and in recovery we learn to need other people in appropriate ways. These are significant changes. But, they are not irreversible changes. We can go back to silence, emotional numbness and unhealthy relationships. Recovery is necessarily therefore a new way of life. It is a daily pressing on. It is the day-at-a-time practice of the disciplines of recovery that makes it possible for us to continue to heal, grow and change.

Lord, you have brought me so far.
Thank you. I am grateful for all I have gained.
But, I want to press on.
I want to continue to grow.
I want to continue to learn.
Help me to press on.
Help me to do today's recovery today.
Help me to press on toward you.
Take hold of me with your love.

Amen.

Copyright Dale and Juanita Ryan
National Association for Christian Recovery

To drink or not to drink?

5/28/2014

I decided many years ago totally to abstain from alcohol, and it is my opinion that all Christians would do well to make the same decision. I believe this issue is important because it relates to a broader, and thus even more significant subject—that of the modern church’s ongoing move toward becoming more and more like the world.

My Bias

In the interest of full disclosure, I am biased. I hate alcohol—not the taste (although to be honest, I hate that too), but what it does to people. The first funeral of a teenager that I conducted was of a young man killed by a drunk driver. I’ve had literally hundreds of counseling sessions with couples and spouses as their marriages teetered on the brink because of alcohol. I can’t count the hours I’ve spent in jails and prisons visiting inmates whose lives have been forever negatively impacted because of crimes they committed while under the influence. Even more hours have been spent in emergency rooms, trauma units, and at hospital bedsides, while ministering to victims of alcohol.

The horror stories I could tell could fill a book: the teenaged girl losing her virginity while drinking, the college student brain damaged after a fraternity initiation, the young minister involved in a terrible wreck after having just a couple of beers to relax, and scores of others.

Let me be blunt! I see absolutely no positive argument for something that will make you act like an idiot, smell like a brewery, fight like a fool, impair your motor functions, drain your bank account, give you a hangover, scare your kids, alienate your spouse, make you a danger to your fellow man, and has the potential to enslave you.

I wish I could tell you that all I know about this is from the vantage point of a pastor. Regrettably, I must admit that during my prodigal days drinking was very much a part of my social life, and for the same reason most people start drinking—peer pressure. I wanted to fit in.

I can also tell you the time I decided to quit. It was early one morning when I woke up in the middle of a street in front of a frat house across from the Southwest Missouri State University campus. I decided right there and then that drinking could get you killed. I was right.

The Bible’s Counsel

Before we go any further let me state the obvious. I know that Jesus miraculously created wine as his first public miracle in Cana, and that a person could have consumed enough to get drunk. Yes, Paul told Timothy to drink a little wine for medicinal purposes. It is true that the Bible nowhere forbids the drinking of alcohol, only its abuse to the point of drunkenness. Paul said, “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life” (Ephesians 5:18*). It is also true that many people, including many Christians, drink only in moderation; a glass of wine with their dinner or a cold beer on a hot day. And I’m not suggesting that such will make you descend into the gutter.

But let’s consider the whole counsel of God concerning the use of alcohol. Proverbs 23:29, 30 says: “Who has anguish? Who has sorrow? Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining? Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns, trying out new drinks.”

There are six consequences listed in verse 29, all in the form of a rhetorical question, the first of which is, “Who has anguish?” The Hebrew word for anguish is an expression of despair and impending doom. It is no coincidence that 40 percent of suicide attempts are alcohol related. The wise man goes on to ask the source of sorrow, fighting, complaints, unnecessary bruises, bloodshot eyes; and makes it clear that the source is overindulgence of alcohol.

Most people in the ancient world drank alcohol. The Egyptians and Babylonians were manufacturing beer 3,000 years before Christ. But here’s something you need to know. Alcohol use changed radically in AD 700 when Arab chemists discovered how to distill alcohol, which led to the ability to produce highly potent concentrations. Thus the wine and beer produced previous to that was, for the most part, very low in alcoholic content. You could get drunk, but you had to drink a lot to do so.

However, today, if you buy a bottle of whiskey, liquor, or even wine, the natural fermentation is bolstered by the addition of distilled alcohol. New wine in biblical days had very little alcoholic content, and even aged wine had a low amount compared to today’s standards. Don’t take my word for it. You can easily research it using the Internet.

So-called “adult beverages” are very much a part of American social life. However, the advertising industry doesn’t sell intoxication, but fantasy; it doesn’t sell reality, but fiction. Ads for alcoholic beverages tout happiness, wealth, prestige, sophistication, success, maturity, athletic ability, virility, creativity, and sexual satisfaction—but these are the very things alcohol abuse destroys. Proverbs 23:31, 32 says, “Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is, how it sparkles in the cup, how smoothly it goes down. For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake; it stings like a viper.”

I haven’t even mentioned that millions of Americans are in bondage to alcohol because of their addiction to it. But listen to the closing verses of Proverbs 23: “You will see hallucinations, and you will say crazy things. You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea, clinging to a swaying mast. And you will say, ‘They hit me, but I didn’t feel it. I didn’t even know it when they beat me up. When will I wake up so I can look for another drink?’” (vv. 33-35).

A Simple Question, A Larger Concern

Let me ask a simple question: Why should you drink? If you never take the first drink, you’ll never become addicted. If you don’t drink, even if you could handle it, you won’t be a stumbling block to those who can’t handle it (and I believe Paul said something about not causing your brother to stumble). And if you don’t drink, you won’t be supporting an industry that has caused untold heartache for millions of people.

Try a little experiment. Carefully read a city newspaper for the next seven days. Make note of all the stories of tragedy and heartache that somehow involve alcohol. Then, against that backdrop, try to defend its use. A quote often attributed to Abraham Lincoln is, “Alcohol has many defenders, but no defense.”

At the beginning of this article I suggested that this topic is representative of the broader subject of the church becoming more and more conformed to the world. I have a number of preacher friends who are social drinkers. I know of several churches that have changed their policy manuals to allow for social drinking. I’ve even heard it defended as a tool for evangelism (I wish I had the space to deal with that one).

But let’s be honest. Is it not simply an attempt to fit in with the world? What happened to “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking . . . ”? (Romans 12:2, The Message).

America’s No. 1 problem drug is not an illegal drug like cocaine, marijuana, meth, or heroine, as big a problem as they are. The No. 1 problem drug is a lethal one—alcohol. It causes more deaths and more addiction than any other drug. More than 55 percent of highway deaths are alcohol related. There are more than 17 million alcoholics in America, and that number is rising. And it is impossible to quantify the death, disability, psychosis, and relational harm done by alcohol.

No, the Bible doesn’t say, “Thou shalt not drink,” and you may be able to handle it. But what about your children who are introduced to the use of alcohol by your example and who are not able to handle it? I can point to many parents who would give anything to be able to go back and become abstainers if only for the sake of their kids.

Taking all this into consideration, isn’t it best to remember the words of Paul? “You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is good for you. You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is beneficial. Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others” (1 Corinthians 10:23, 24).

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*Scriptures are from the New Living Translation of the Bible, unless otherwise indicated.

This post was write by John Caldwell who is the retired pastor of Kingsway Christian Church, in Avon, Indiana. For the original post, go to: http://christianstandard.com/2012/08/to-drink-or-not-to-drink/