Slavery, Freedom and Addiction – Part 1: Why Can’t I Just Stop?
Guest Blogger Stuart Leitch
Have you ever seen the damage someone is doing to themselves, or to those around them, and asked, “Why don’t they just stop?” Or maybe it’s been closer to home, “Why can’t I just stop doing something which I know is destructive or wrong?”
If you’ve ever tried to change an entrenched, self-defeating behaviour in yourself (or impossibly in others!) and struggled, then you probably get why Paul said, “The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin…” (Rom 7:14).
It’s a vivid image Paul paints of our human nature—“you used to be slaves to sin… you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity…” (Rom 6:17, 20). This may be hard for our sensitive (“It doesn’t make me feel good”) modern ears, but it should stop us thinking in terms of ‘us and them’ when discussing addiction—and may even get us thinking about what true freedom really is.
Psychiatrist and theologian Gerald May says: “Addiction is a state of compulsion, obsession, or preoccupation that enslaves a person’s will and desire.” He continues, “All of us suffer from addiction… the psychological, neurological, and spiritual dynamics of full-fledged addiction are at work within every human being... We are all addicts in every sense of the word.”
The Roman Empire was a slave society. At its peak, it’s estimated 6 million people were slaves—through conquest, trade, or birth. When Paul wrote to the Roman church, around 25% of the population were enslaved. Most lived in harsh conditions and died before the age of 20.
So when Paul uses the language of “being a slave,” it is all the more striking. The early church included both slave and free. Historians think the church grew significantly among slaves, because in the Christian community they were spiritually emancipated from their societal roles (“There is no longer slave or free… you are all one in Christ Jesus.” – Gal 3:28).
Slaves had no personhood, no family name, no freedom of choice, no inheritance, no legal protection. They were non-citizens, owned property. In many ways, the parallels with addiction are striking—loss of identity, family, freedom, being used, loss of years, living under a loveless master. For some, it’s all they’ve ever known. They’ve been born into slavery.
St Augustine wrote, “The good man, though a slave, is free; the wicked, though he reigns, is a slave… to as many masters as he has vices.” Goodness doesn’t enslave—but sin does.
Many factors increase the likelihood and impact of addiction, but what must change for someone to be free is not primarily circumstances, but the direction of the will—back to God. A good environment helps—but the inner change is what’s truly needed. That means admitting the need to change, being willing to be changed, and taking action to live in a new way (no longer as a slave).
His passion is to see faith-based recovery teams across the UK and offers training consultancy to that end.
He can be contacted via https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuart-leitch-recovery1010 or stu.leitch@outlook.com.
*Opinions expressed in guest posts are those of the author, and do not represent any official position held by Jubilee+.*