The Lord vs. the Loopholes

Loophole (noun) - An ambiguity or inadequacy in the law or a set of rules.

Synonyms: means of evasion/avoidance, means of escape, escape clause

Today my heart hurts.

Last week Monday I found out that a young man I met a few months ago has fallen back into the trap of alcohol addiction.

Today my heart hurts.

I met this young man, let’s call him *Adam, a few months ago when he gave a moving testimony about how he had overcome his addiction to alcohol. His testimony was moving for a number of reasons. Some of which were because he is young, good looking and charismatic. Meeting him prior to hearing his testimony, I would not have expected him to say he was a recovering alcoholic. Secondly, he was normal. Like, really normal. He said he had gone to a good school, and he was at university when he started drinking socially. Thirdly, the story of how he became an alcoholic was so normal. It wasn’t dramatic. He had just started drinking socially like any young student away from home at university, and eventually his social drinking had turned into a cycle of binge drinking and dependence on alcohol.

His testimony was so ‘normal’ that I had asked if he would be willing to speak to our teens at church. Perhaps if they could see a young, normal guy, speaking about the dangers of underage drinking, and alcohol abuse, they would get it. He was all set to come and speak to our teens last night.

Then last week Monday I received a phone call from his employer. They had gone through Adam’s emails and seen my correspondence with him planning the talk he was going to give at our church. His employer was phoning to tell me that Adam had disappeared so they couldn’t guarantee he would show up on Sunday. They have no idea where he is and no one can find him or contact him.

My heart immediately sank, and I have to admit, it has yet to stop hurting.

My heart hurts for this young man who is so obviously in need of freedom from the chain of addiction. My heart also hurts because today while reflecting on John 10:10, I realised that God’s heart hurt for him more.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so they may have life, and have it abundantly” – John 10:10.

This line comes from the parable of the Good Shepherd. Where Christ describes Himself as the Good Shepherd who gives His life for His sheep. But that line about the thief being the one, who comes to steal, kill and destroy, is the line that today pierces my heart. So often in youth ministry I tell our teens that God loves them. That He desires their hearts. That He gave up His life for them, and would do it again, even if they were the only person on earth. I tell our teens this, but I wonder if I truly believe it. If I did, I wouldn’t look for the loopholes in my faith.

The loopholes are the ‘escape clauses’. The excuses I use to sin. I tend to measure my sin against others and think, ‘well because I’m not doing drugs and going out to clubs, and I work in church, I’m a good person’. The reality is sin is sin, whether I use a loophole to get to it or not. Loopholes are fun. They make us feel good. The allow us to feel the ‘high’ of a temporary escape from captivity. When we see it as captivity.

The problem with loopholes is that as much as we use them to get ‘out’, the thief can use them to get in. However the thief is not looking to take care of our souls. He is not looking out for our eternal salvation. The devil, as made clear in scripture, seeks to steal, kill, and destroy.

He seeks to steal our self-worth, so that slowly we begin to feel we can no longer return to the sheep-fold. He seeks to kill our eternal joy, so that only doubt and pain remain. Ultimately he seeks to destroy our lives and hopes we no longer turn to the One who gives it.

That is why Christ speaks to our hearts when asked what the greatest commandment is, “To love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.”

This commandment, which encompasses is love for us, directs us to no longer look at the loopholes, but to look at the Lord.

He desires for us to keep our eyes fixed on Him and His love. It is through Him that we gain life in its abundance. Not just here but for all eternity, because “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16.

I don’t know where Adam is, but I know how easily I could have been Him. How I could be stuck in that same cycle. It may not be the devil of alcoholism, but that of self-doubt, low self-esteem, or self-hatred.

But I turn to the Good Shepherd, who knows His sheep. And I can pray for Adam, and rest in the sheepfold knowing that Jesus Christ is looking for His lost sheep.

“And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also must I bring, and they will hear My voice” (John 10:16).

I pray Adam will soon hear the voice of Jesus Christ, who calls out to Him, who loves Him, and is willing to lay down His life so that Adam may not perish under the weight of his addiction, but have the love, peace, joy, and abundant life he deserves.

*Please offer up a ‘Glory Be’ for Adam, and all souls that are suffering with addiction in this moment. May they know the abundant love of God, and enter into the peace of true life with Him.