Addiction and Grace: Love and Spirituality in the Healing of Addictions

by Gerald G. May

The Beatitudes of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount are an unparalleled testimony to the glory of freedom from attachment. The blessedness they promise comes not just from heroic battles with one’s addictions, but from being unwillingly deprived of their gratification. The poor, the grief-stricken, and the persecuted, for example, have had no choice; they suffer and they need h...

Sin, then, is not just ignorance or moral straying, but a kind of bondage or slavery from which one must be delivered into freedom. Freedom is possible through a mysterious, incarnational synthesis of human intention and divine grace. The issue is not simply whether one follows personal attachments or follows God. It is instead a question of aligning one’s intention with the God within and with us, through love and in grace. To make the alignment possible, Jesus proclaimed a message of radical forgiveness, not only forgiveness of humanity by God, but also forgiveness of one another by people. In this radical forgiveness, it is even possible to be freed of attachment to one’s own guilt for or justification of the wounds one has inflicted upon others. True love of self, a reverence for the essential goodness of God’s creation, is made possible. Herein lies the potential for endless freedom in the service of love. Nothing, not even one’s own sinfulness, has to remain as an obstacle to the two great commandments. For Christ, the way to abundant grace and forgiveness is through himself, away from all possible objects of attachment. “I am the way”; “Follow me”; “I am the bread of life”; “I will give you the living water”; “Whoever comes to me will never hunger”; “Come unto me all you who labor….” Jesus was the New Adam, the profound love gift of God entering the world to effect a reconciliation of humanity with God, to restore a right relationship to those who were unfree, who h...

In spite of the variety of views as to the source and purpose of temptation, biblical sources show a clear consistency as to its nature: it is the starting point of addiction. Whether we see it simply as our biological capacity to become attached, or as a seduction by dark external forces, or both, temptation is always the first step, the preliminary opportunity, for addiction. Once attachment is fully entrenched, our motivations become so mixed that freedom to choose is seriously compromised. But in the stage of temptation, where only the potential for attachment exists, our yes or no can make all the difference.

Whether test means examination or exercise, most modern people are not at all attracted to the notion of being tested by God. Neither am I, and neither, apparently, was the author of the Letter of James. The letter says, “When you have been tempted, never say ‘God sent the temptation.’” The whole idea of testing brings back the concept of a fearful, self-protective, and now even ignorant God who must put us to the test to find out whether we are faithful.20 But let us look a little more deeply. If we are truly meant to have a free capacity to choose for or against God, if that is really the perfection of God’s creative love for us, then the choices we make must be responses to invitations, not to coercions, manipulations, or orders. God, in love, protects our freedom by calling to us, not demanding of us. God’s invitations may be dramatic and strong, or still and small, but anything more than invitation will not protect our freedom and potential for love. God will not be a puppet master over humanity.

“Follow me” is only a natural consequence of God’s more primary request, “Love me.” How could true, flowing love be born unless we freely choose the Lover, just as the Lover has first chosen us?

truly free choices for love must be made over and against something else. There is no authentic freedom if we are consistently drawn to one clearly preferable option; again, who would choose otherwise? The excruciating reality is that truly free, loving choices cannot be easy. In fact, one might timorously propose that the most free and loving choices are those that call forth the relinquishing of what one holds most dear. It is another meaning of the cross. The joy and beauty of freedom and love must be bought with pain. We might wish that God had created things otherwise, so that an easier life could be possible, but a careful look at our own history will prove such a wish empty. It is precisely where we have chosen, most painfully and with greatest personal risk, to say yes to love and freedom that we have found the most richness and joy. Indeed, it is not easy, but we would grow to hate it if it were. Thus, ironically, we must have attachments if we are to be free. We have to turn away before we can come home with dignity. Just as God invites us toward love, we must be pulled away. Just as we crave freedom, we must be seduced into slavery. It is here, perhaps, that temptation begins to make a little sense in the light of love. It is still not an attractive concept; I do not think it was ever meant to be. Our temptations are trials, certainly. And each of our addictions proves how we have responded—not simply from our conscious will, but from the totality of our being. ...

Christian tradition holds no doubt that evil actually and vehemently means to work against, not for, God. Evil is irrevocably at cross-purposes with love, life, freedom, and creation. According to the same tradition, Satan was created free in God’s love just as was humanity, and in all of creation Satan most willfully and maliciously chose against God. But the tradition further maintains that Satan has been vanquished; the power of evil is invincibly restrained by grace. Evil continues to work against God, but with no chance of ultimate success. Moreover, there is no power and no condition that God’s grace cannot penetrate with love. God can indeed, then, work through the power of evil. Perhaps this is what happens in the phenomenal deliverances that sometimes occur in the most severe addictions, and even more frequently in the many opportunities attachment provides for authentic surrender to God. Grace shines radiantly through addiction.

Grace is much more than a static possibility of love. It is an outpouring, a boundless burning offering of God’s self to us, suffering with us, overflowing with tenderness. Grace is God’s passion. The New Testament closes with these words: The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come!” Let everyone who listens answer, “Come!” Then let all who are thirsty come: All who want it may have the water of life, and have it free.22