Pastor Craig Groeschel Shares Personal Struggle With Addiction in 'Bad Advice' Sermon Series
In part two of his sermon series "Bad Advice," Pastor Craig Groeschel of Life.Church names the addictions that are holding people hostage in life and shares how they can be defeated.
Everyone is susceptible to addiction, especially when something other than Jesus takes on a god-like reverence in one's life, says Groeschel, senior pastor of the multi-site church based in Oklahoma Ciy.
Groeschel explains in the Bad Advice sermon series that some addicitons are so much a part of daily life that people might not even realize they are allowing something to control their lives.
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When contemplating if you struggle with an addiction, it's best to ask yourself if you've allowed anything to master you, he says.
The answer could be something seemingly innocent, like coffee, but if someone is in need coffee to function every morning, then they have allowed it to master part of their life.
Through addiction, "we are seeking to find what only God can provide," he says, adding that by making something other than Christ an idol, people are "seeking to find some meaning, some peace … something that provides what only God can give."
While there are many addictions, including food, drinking, smoking, social media and pornography, Groeschel touched on his own struggle with being a workaholic, telling his congregation that he has seen a counselor twice to deal with his addiction to working and adrenaline.
He joked that this might not seem to be as dangerous as other addictions, but it is something he has had to face and cope with.
"I often think I can do more than I can really do," Groeschel explains, adding that when he overbooks and overextends himself, he both enjoys and hates the stress that accompanies his busy schedule.
"I often do it to sort of prove myself in some sick way," Groeschel says, adding that if left unchecked, his tendency to overwork and pursue adrenaline-fueled activities "can be a serious problem for me."
"I'm trying to prove my worth by my performance … rather than my worth being in Christ alone," he adds.
When encountering addiction, it's easy to follow bad advice, he says. A few examples of bad advice when it comes to addiction include refusing to admit that there is a problem, keeping an addiction a secret, and depending one's percieved strength instead of the power of God.
Groeschel points to 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, in which Paul says: "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
These verses are especially pertinent to addiction, as they show that, as Christians, "you're not fighting with your own power, but you've got the power of God dwelling within you."
"Greater is the one that dwells in you than any addiction that holds your body," Groeschel says. "We're all vulnerable to addictions, strongholds and lies, but we don't have to fight on our own."
