Can religion become an addiction? Can it offer an escape from reality? Worse yet, could it give someone a false sense of security concerning their relationship with God? What would a religious addiction look like? And could churches today be full of people suffering from religious addiction?

Also, read about how the Israelites tried to justify living life their own way and then tried to avoid the consequences of doing so. Could we be doing the same thing today?

Today’s Readings:

Ezekiel 11 & 12
Psalm 122.1-5
Proverbs 28.17-18
Hebrews 6.1-20

What Is Religious Addiction?

Psalm 122.1-5:

Church Attendance without Heart Change

Psalm 122 is one of a group of psalms called the “Songs of Ascent” (Psalms 120-134). They were traditionally sung by pilgrims traveling the uphill road (an ascent) to Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish festivals.

Verse 1 says:

I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the LORD.’

While the theme of this Psalm is a prayer for Jerusalem, it should motivate and encourage Christians, as well. It’s a great reminder that we should be joyous about going to church and worshiping with other believers. If we dread going to church and find any excuse to stay home, we need to check our hearts. Someone once said, “If you don’t want to spend time with believers here on earth, there is little chance you will be with them for eternity.”

Of course, going to church doesn’t save us and God doesn’t love us less if we miss a service, but it is part of living an obedient life before Him (Heb. 10.24-25). And yet, we can be deceived into believing it doesn’t really matter.

On the other hand, we can do religious things like going to church without a genuine heart change. Our religious activities can help us justify sins like bitterness, unforgiveness, gossip, even sexual sin, and other failures to love God and others.

And like the Scribes and Pharisees, we can be blinded to our own sin while at the same time downright self-righteous and judgmental toward other people and their sin.

How does that happen?

Religious Addiction

I once heard someone talk about what he called “religious addiction.”

Definitions of addiction include words like habit, obsession, and dependence. It denotes a compulsive need or dependence on something. It usually involves a certain lifestyle, hanging out with other people who do the same, and even talking the way they talk. And it often offers an escape from reality.

One writer said, “The religious addict escapes the reality of his own sin … If he doesn’t deny his sin altogether, he finds some way to justify himself, often by noticing how he’s not as bad as the next guy. He’s not like those heathen.” He goes on to explain that a religious addict will, among other things, adopt the lingo and much of the lifestyle of other religious people, including things like attending church. He says, “These are his ‘sacrifices’ to gain his god’s favor and retain his righteous standing,” because, like any addiction, it’s a form of idolatry. Religious addicts are often blind to their own problems.

Our Blind Spots

But we don’t have to be religious addicts to have blind spots where we are not worshiping God as we should, areas where we’re going through the motions, but not living a Christ-honoring life.

In Psalm 86.11 the psalmist said, “Unite my heart to fear Your name.” We can have “rooms” in our hearts that are off-limits to God. In effect, we say, “I’ll do this, this, and this or quit doing this and this, but I’m going to do what I want in certain other areas.”

We may even feel justified by saying things like: “No one is perfect” or “I’m a work in progress.” We fail to see the seriousness of our sin. At times, we believe we have spiritual collateral with God because of our self-proclaimed good deeds. We think God will somehow understand and excuse our sin.

What Should We Do?

Let’s pray that God would help us see those “rooms” in our own hearts where we have locked God out or where we have justified sin. Examining ourselves in light of God’s Word can help us do that. But we also need to be part of a Christian community where others can speak truth into our lives. That means we need to be open and honest about our struggles and willing to listen when others point out a problem area (Gal. 6.1-2). Let’s not let pride cause us to think we are too spiritually mature to need others. We need each other in the body of Christ more than we know.

Today’s Other Readings:

Ezekiel 11 & 12:

Going Their Own Way

The Israelites thought they were in charge of their own lives. They often decided they had a better idea of what they needed and where they would find the answers to their problems than God did! So instead of seeking God, they followed after idols. Instead of trusting God for their provision, they pleaded with fertility gods, even participating in sexual immorality as part of their pagan worship.

When God said, if you continue going your own way, I’m going to allow you to go into captivity, they said, we can avoid the consequences of our actions by relying on our own clever schemes. We can cover our sins instead of repenting from them, align ourselves with pagan nations when we come under attack, and only listen to the “prophets” who tell us what we want to hear.

Sound familiar? It should. How have we done that as a nation and in the culture at large? Here are a few ways …

God Said …

God said … marriage is a covenant and should not be broken except in the case of sexual immorality (Matt. 5.32). Instead, we said we’ll make “no-fault” divorce the law of the land.

God said … don’t have sex outside of marriage (Gal. 5.19). We said, we’ll use condoms and birth control pills and we won’t have to suffer the consequences of pregnancy, AIDS, and other sexually transmitted diseases. Or we’ll just live together without a covenant.

God said … we were fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps. 139.13-16) and that He created us male and female (Gen. 1.27). We said we can define, change, and determine our own sexuality.

God said … marriage is to be between one man and one woman (Gen. 2.24) and we said, we’ll change the law and demand our right to marry anyone we choose.

God said … life is precious; I created it and knew you even before you were formed in your mother’s womb (Ps. 139.13-16). We said it’s not a baby and we can abort it any time we like.

God Has Not Changed

Instead of recognizing God as God, we have set ourselves up as gods. We have attempted to change the culture, change the law, and even change the church.

Mankind has not changed, but neither has God; His answers are still the same—turn from evil and from going your own way, seek God and obey Him, and receive His grace and forgiveness.

But let’s look at three more verses from Ezekiel.

In the Midst of Judgment

But even in the midst of His judgment, God once again gave a promise that pointed to the gospel:

¹⁹ And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart, ²⁰ so they will obey my decrees and regulations. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God (Ezek. 11.19-20).

The nation of Israel as a whole rejected His sovereign rule in their lives over and over. They even rejected Christ when He came as their Messiah (Jn. 1.11). But there will come a time when God will soften their hearts and move in a powerful way among the Jewish people.

For Those Who Accept the Gospel by Faith

But the gospel is not a blanket promise. It is for those who repent and accept it by faith. The next verse says:

²¹ But as for those who long for vile images and detestable idols, I will repay them fully for their sins. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!” (Ezek. 11.21).

Many have heard and in some cases rejected the gospel repeatedly. Others of us have not fully surrendered to the Lordship of Christ. Often because we have not really embraced the gospel. We may be cultural Christians with some form of mental assent to the truths of the Bible. Or we may be religious idolaters as I talked about earlier. But we have not come face to face with our own sin and wretchedness and our desperate need for a Savior. Like the Jews in Jesus’ day, we think our religious acts and so-called good deeds are enough. But like Paul said in Romans 3:

⁹ What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.

¹⁰ As it is written:

Our Only Hope

Paul went on in Romans 6.23 to tell us that the wages of sin is death, not just physical death but spiritual death, eternal separation from God. Our only hope is Christ and His finished work on the cross. It’s “The Great Exchange.” Through faith and repentance, we can exchange our sin for His righteousness and accept the gift of eternal life with Him.

But repentance is much more than sorrow over the consequences of our sin. Genuine repentance involves our emotions but it is brokenness over our sin and a turning away from it and going God’s way. Paul told the Corinthians:

⁹ Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. ¹⁰ For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death (2 Cor. 7).

May God grant those we know and love sorrow that produces repentance leading to salvation. And if any of this has pricked your heart or you’re not sure of your relationship with Him, cry out to Him and ask Him to do the same for you.

You might also consider reading this post and watching the video:

“Could You Be a Christian in Name Only?”

Proverbs 28.17-18:

Walk Blamelessly

Whoever walks blamelessly will be saved, but he who is perverse in his ways will suddenly fall (v. 18).

Paul said it this way:

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life (Gal. 6.7-8).

Hebrews 6.1-20:

Don’t Stop with the Elementary Principles of Christ

The last three verses of chapter 5 reminded us that we should not remain spiritual babies, but through practice—the doing of God’s Word—grow as believers. In the first three verses of chapter 6, we are told to build on the foundational truths of Scripture. Hebrews 6.1-3:

¹ Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, ² and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. ³ And this we will do if God permits (ESV). 

Once we have fully grasped the elementary principles, we need to keep growing in the knowledge of God. And the writer seems to imply that what he shares in the following verses are more challenging to understand but no less important.

⁴ For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵ and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶ and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. ⁷ For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. ⁸ But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned (vv. 4-8 ESV).

This is a deep and important passage of Scripture and it deserves much more time and explanation than I can give it here.

But briefly, the writer isn’t saying that genuine believers can lose their salvation. That would contradict Scripture’s clear teaching. We have to read Scripture in light of other scripture.

These were people who appeared to be believers, people who professed faith without ever having it in the first place. Judas Iscariot would be one example.

These are people like the ones Jesus talked about in Matt. 7.21-23:

²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ ²³ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’ (ESV).

Today they might be people who:

• raised their hand once in church,
• prayed a prayer to ask Jesus into their heart,
• who were baptized,
• walked an aisle,
• or who say they have always been Christians.

 

Yet, there was no repentance and understanding of their true need for a Savior. 

But while we need to take these warnings seriously, for those of us who belong to Christ, we don’t need to fear losing our salvation. We can know that God will hold us steadfast to the end.

¹³ For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, ¹⁴ saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” ¹⁵ And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. ¹⁶ For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. ¹⁷ So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, ¹⁸ so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. ¹⁹ We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, ²⁰ where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek (vv. 13-20 ESV).

Coming Up:

In the next few days, we’ll discuss whether we could be worshiping idols, what it means to be children of light, generational sin, a slippery spiritual path, playing spiritual games, and talk more about whether going to church is necessary or optional.

I hope you’ll sign up so you don’t miss any of them. You might also like to check out our YouTube channel.

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Blessings as you grow in Christ,

Donna ♥

Note about this post:

I began blogging through the Bible in 2012 and have done so every year since then. These posts are the product of many edits and additions throughout those years. Some days I make major changes, other days fewer. 

A while ago, I read Jen Wilkin’s book None Like Him about the attributes of God. One is His incomprehensibility. In it, she says, “God is incomprehensible. This does not mean that he is unknowable, but that he is unable to be fully known.”

I have found that to be true each year as I’ve gone back through the Bible. Sometimes I find myself feeling as if a passage just appeared there for the first time. I’m reminded that no matter how many times we read through the Bible, we have only scratched the surface. I hope you feel the same.

Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26.14)

I sometimes LINKUP with these blogs.