DESCRIPTION
In this episode, Chris Rivers, Scott Mozingo, & Jim Taylor discuss the concepts of recovery, addiction, and idolatry and how these are tied to discipleship and our maturity as believers. They explore how re:gen can be a tool for confronting the nature of our sin, the sin of others, and the brokenness of the world in which we live. By entering into this process with a humble posture and an awareness of our need for God, we find connection with our Creator.
- Recovery is defined as: 1) a return to a normal state of health, mind, or strength 2) the action or process of regaining possession or control of something stolen or lost. Based on this definition, every person is in recovery. We have all experienced loss. We have an innate sense that the world is not the way it should be. As believers, we recognize there is only one thing we have lost, and that is our relationship with the Creator. God created us to be in an unhindered relationship with him and each other. He placed eternity in our hearts, and he made a way for our relationship with him to be restored.
- While God desires for us to find satisfaction in him and enjoy the fruits of a relationship with him, we are constantly striving for other things to replace him and fill that spot. In many cases, we have taken good things and centered our lives around them, making them ultimate things. Addiction, in this sense, is another word for idolatry. Most of the addictions in our context are not substance or chemical addictions but behavioral addictions. We are addicted to status, power, being right, victimhood, control, anger, productivity, our own way of thinking, etc.. We must understand and recognize that anything we orient our lives around besides God will destroy us. God, by nature, has no boundaries. When we allow things to function like God, they will take over every area of our lives.
- Re:generation is a 12-step discipleship process oriented around life change and hope through the application of God’s Word. Re:gen gives us some categories and puts us through a process where we must confront the nature of our sin, the sins of others, and the brokenness of the world we live in. While it is a recovery tool, it cannot fix or save anybody. Only Jesus can save and heal people. In the work of recovery, the work is the goal. By submitting to a process and humbling ourselves, we are able to get connected to the Creator and allow him to draw us back to devotion to him.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
- Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us God “has planted eternity in the human heart.” In what ways have you seen evidence of this in your own life?
- What idols/addictions have you centered your life around? How have you seen these things lead to destruction?
- What might it look like to have an unhindered relationship with God? What steps do you need to take personally to reorient your life towards this goal?
SCRIPTURES
Yet God has made everything beautiful in its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:11
Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts. 1 John 5:21
And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. John 17:3
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. 2 Peter 1:3a
Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Jesus Christ had. Though he was God, he did not think equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Phil 2:4-11
Isaiah 44:6-22
RESOURCES
gracechurchrecovery.org
https://resources.gracechurchsc.org/articles/over-100-common-struggles-personal-assessment
If you have questions about this episode or you have an idea for a future episode, please visit the podcast page and click on "ask Scott."
