From 1999 to 2017, more than 700,000 people died from drug overdoses. In 2017, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids (including prescription opioids and illegal opioids like heroin and illicitly manufactured Fentanyl) was six times higher than it was in 1999. On average, 130 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose. To put these numbers in perspective, opioid-related deaths outnumber car crashes and gun-related deaths in the United States. Opioid-related inpatient hospital stays increased 64% nationally from 2005 to 2014.[1]
The reality of this national crisis demands a care plan from government leaders and faith-based communities. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recognizes that churches occupy a unique position to help during this crisis. Churches have the capability to respond to and to function as spaces of hope for people struggling with addiction and for their families. This is the approach that Daniel Edwards and Faith Church in Chandler, Indiana, has taken. Faith Church has had a passion for caring for people struggling with addiction for years. The Helwys Society Forum is pleased to interview Daniel about the ministry taking place at Faith Church.
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Zachery Maloney: Daniel, thanks for taking time to do this interview and discuss your ministry at Faith Church and Matt’s House. (Faith Church chose to name their transitional housing ministry in memory of Matthew McComas who was lost to an overdose and because Matthew’s House was a place publicans came to meet Jesus.) Please begin by telling us about what Faith Church and Matt’s House is doing to minister to those struggling with substance abuse.
Daniel Edwards: This is a ministry that we at Faith Church have been involved in for many years. We’ve ministered in the local jails and prison by providing church services for inmates, discipling them through one-on-one visits, and holding them accountable after release through discipleship groups or mentor relationships.
We’ve also offered Christ-centered support groups and meetings at our church building, participated in local recovery meetings and gatherings, and developed strong relationships with local recovery leaders. We are known to be where addicts are welcome.
Most of this work looks like discipleship groups that are found at many churches; these just happen to take place within a culture of recovery and addiction.
The turning point for us occurred when we reached a few addicts and discipled them to be in places where they could lead others to freedom in Christ. Their leadership, service, and established connection to the addiction community really paved the way for further ministry.
To be a church that ministers to and includes addicts doesn’t require a halfway house, a dedicated staff member, or even an “addiction program.” Learning to speak the language of the addict, to connect with the addiction community, and to make addicts feel welcome in your church are things we all can and should do.
I once heard that a Christian school was started every eight hours during a period in the late 70s and early 80s. The response to the secularization of public education pushed many churches to start their own schools. They felt there was a crisis, and they responded. I graduated from one of the Christian schools started in that time period. That the church has not yet mobilized on a similar large scale, in the midst of this obvious epidemic of opioid addiction, troubles me.
Because Matt’s House is still in the fundraising phase right now, it’s not ministering to addicts yet. Our dream is that we’ll be able to house a couple of men who are making their way through local drug court programs at some point. This means that they’ll receive accountability from their court ordered programming, will have already gone through rehab, will be required to have a job, and will be reporting daily (at first) to take a breathalyzer or urinalysis test. Matt’s House will attempt to come alongside this already strong programming to provide transitional housing and discipleship.
The transitional housing piece is key because drug court fees are expensive, the employment that these men usually have is not well paying, and staying with family or friends often guarantees that these men will remain in old patterns and around old temptations.
The discipleship piece is key because we’ve found that people are more open to spiritual matters when they are going through the process of breaking free from addiction than at any other point in their lives up to that point. Most twelve-step programs are built on spiritual ideals, and many of them find their origins in Scripture.
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ZM: What are some common stigmas that friends and family members have towards those struggling with substance abuse?
DE: Most of what people picture in their minds about addicts is a very stereotypical, poor characterization. The majority of the addicts in your town probably started their addiction with pain killers and got their first highs because of a prescription from their doctor for a sports injury or a minor surgery.
You probably do business with and work alongside addicts every day, and you have no idea. We typically think only of the addicts who are near the end of their rope: the problem is undeniable or the consequences have really taken their toll. An active addict is a completely different person; even though they may be able to hide and blend in for a while, the past leads to total destruction.
The best analogy I see in Scripture is that of a demon-possessed person with whom Jesus interacts. The demon(s) cause the person to be terrifying to his own family and friends, to be self-destructive, and to be utterly miserable.
Drugs have a similar effect on the addict. If you’ve cared for or loved someone who struggles with addiction, you know that the addiction will make them lie, steal, manipulate, and hurt the people they love.
For this reason, support groups exist for people not simply for those who struggle with addiction themselves but also for those who love someone who does. Even if the addict gets sober, their loved ones feel the effects of the addiction afterward. They may develop co-dependency. They may become so accustomed to “saving” or “covering for” the addict that they don’t know how to operate afterward. Their identities get so wrapped up in their loved one’s addiction that they don’t know who they are during the recovery process.
We’ve often found that ministry to the family of addicts is just as vital and complicated as ministry to addicts.
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ZM: Recovery often happens more slowly than people would like. I recently heard someone say “The gospel cures the most important things immediately, and it cures everything eventually.”[2] Knowing this reality, how can we communicate that Christ has endless compassion for people who are going through the recovery process?
DE: I regularly use this analogy: Imagine that you were building your dream home with your own hands. How long do you think it would take you? Years? But how long would it take me to destroy it? Minutes? It’s much easier and quicker to tear down than to build up. When you’ve been destroying your life for years, don’t expect to rebuild everything in weeks.
We must also remember that, while God has forgiven addicts of the eternal consequences for their sin, the earthly impact of their sin remains. That is why steps of recovery, which will lead them through cataloging every wrong they’ve experienced and every wrong they done to others, is so vital. In this way, they can forgive those who have wronged them, releasing all bitterness and making amends to those they have wronged, freeing them from guilt. If guilt and bitterness remain, addiction will return as a way to cope with them.
Thankfully, just as Christ gave Himself for our justification, He gives Himself to our sanctification. He is fully committed to making us like Himself, no matter how long it takes. He won’t quit on us.
Interestingly, many Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings end with the Lord’s Prayer followed by everyone saying in unison “Keep coming back; it works if you work it.”
If we keep walking with Jesus, He’ll keep working to make things in us on earth as they are in Heaven with Him.
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ZM: Many of our readers are filling the role of preaching and teaching at their local church each week. What advice would you give to leaders who trying to help in this area of addiction in their own community?
DE: 1. Find a way to preach in the local county jail or rescue mission regularly. Google your local county jail, call the phone number, and ask them to connect you to the chaplain. The chaplain can lay out the process for getting you approved to preach in the jail and being put on the schedule. If there is no chaplain, ask to speak to the jail commander and ask what type of religious services are offered to the inmates.
Sadly, many view these preaching opportunities as the kind of thing you should do when you’re preparing for ministry or trying to learn how to preach.
One of the best things I ever did for my preaching was to start regularly preaching to lost people in the local county jail. I stopped assuming people had a church background. I stopped speaking in lingo that only Bible College graduates could appreciate and started speaking the language of people in the community I was trying to reach.
Preaching in those contexts will force you to contextualize the gospel. If your sermon wouldn’t be helpful in that context, why would it be helpful for the addict or convict who walks into your church service on a Sunday? It’s hard to develop the skill of preaching to the lost when all we ever do is preach to the choir.
I love preaching in the jail because the men are sober and in their right mind, sometimes for the first time in months. They have just awakened to the fact that their lives are not headed down the path they had planned, and they don’t have access to their typical means of coping with disappointment. They’re desperate for hope.
I rarely have trouble getting guys to pay attention in that context. They’re hungry for some hope. There are jaded men who come just to get out of their cell, but we can usually handle them and move on for the sake of the guys who really want to hear something helpful. If you want to preach to a crowd of interested lost people, preach at the local county jail.
2. Attend some AA and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meetings. Google “AA Meetings near me” and find an “open meeting.” Closed meetings are for addicts only, so go to an “open meeting.” If you’re asked to introduce yourself, say “I’m Daniel, and I’m here to listen.”
Respect the anonymity of the people in the room, and don’t use any stories you hear as sermon illustrations. Don’t attempt to interject or to give advice or to preach a sermon. Just listen. Don’t expect to hear the gospel, but notice the language that’s used, the advice that’s given, the open confession you’ll see. If you find a halfway decent meeting, I think you’ll find it very moving. I know I did. You’ll also gain some important tools for contextualizing the gospel message for the lost people in your city.
I’ve never felt more like I was doing what Jesus did at the feast that Matthew held at his house with all his publican friends than when I’ve attended AA meetings.
As we’ve built friendships and led people to Christ, one of my favorite things to do is to attend an AA meeting with someone to watch them pick up a chip for achieving a major milestone on the recovery journey.
3. Read up on personal struggles of addiction. Three books I’ve really found helpful are Beautiful Boy by David Sheff, Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance, and Dopesick by Beth Macy.
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ZM: Recently, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services put together a toolkit for community and faith-based leaders that provides practical ways that people can bring hope and healing to those in need.[3] Are there any other resources that you recommend to our readers who are maybe looking to help with this issue in their church or even in their own families?
DE: Bridges to Grace: Innovative Approaches to Recovery Ministry by Elizabeth A Swanson: a look at several ways that different churches are involved in recovery ministry. This book was very practical for us early on and gave us a glimpse at what other churches were doing.
Life Healing Choices by John Baker (founder of Celebrate Recovery): Baker writes about discovering the 12 Steps of Recovery in the Sermon on the Mount.
Co-Dependent No More by Melody Beattie: A good book for anyone in ministry to read but especially for people dealing with addicts and their families
Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend: This is a solid work on the Biblical idea of boundaries and will provide some good guidelines on where to draw lines on helping, enabling, and hurting the people you reach.
Prodigal God by Timothy Keller: A great short read that helps us out of our older brother tendencies such as “they should just quit and get their act together.”
Generous Justice by Timothy Keller: a helpful framework for doing this type of ministry
Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance: Memoir of a man whose early life was marked by his mother’s addiction and who ended up being raised primarily by his grandmother. Many of the people we work with in this generation have experienced this very thing. Many people with whom I’ve worked with were not introduced to addiction by friends but rather by family.
Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction by David Sheff: a good look at a father’s broken heart as he tries to help his addict son.
Dopesick by Beth Macy: a comprehensive look at the opioid epidemic, especially in the rural areas that many of our churches minister in.
The Big Book by Alcoholics Anonymous: This handbook will give you a good look into the mind of the addict as well as the spiritual concepts that are introduced yet left incomplete in AA.
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ZM: What are some ways our readers and can support the work being done through Matt’s House?
DE: Pray that the final funding comes in; pray that our plans for the addition to the house will be approved without any issues; pray that the work on the house is able to get underway once the plans and zoning are approved; and plan to come to help us build once we get underway.
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ZM: Thank you so much for your time, and I hope that Forum readers will be encouraged by work being done through Matt’s House.
DE: Sure thing. Every community is full of addicts; so all of us have an opportunity to be in this work. I hope that someone will take up the call to go and preach in their local jail or to make their church open to addicts.
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About the Author: Daniel Edwards has
served as the Pastor of Faith FWB Church in Chandler, IN, since 2005. Faith FWB
Church is currently raising funds to establish a small transitional housing
ministry called “Matt’s House” in memory of Matthew McComas. Daniel is married
to Nicole, and they have two children: Haven (age eight) and Lincoln (age five).
He currently serves on the NAFWB Media Commission and the NAFWB Executive
Committee. The best place to connect with him is Twitter (@Pastor_Daniel).
[1]Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Medications To Treat Opioid Use Disorder. Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series 63, Full Document. HHS Publication No. (SMA) 18-5063FULLDOC. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2018.
[2]From a lecture given by Dr. Sam Williams, Professor of Biblical Counseling at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina on February 13, 2018.
[3]U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Opioid Epidemic Practical Toolkit: Helping Faith and Community Leaders Bring Hope and Healing to Our Communities,” HHS.gov; https://www.hhs.gov/about/agencies/iea/partnerships/opioid-toolkit/index.html; accessed April 2, 2019; Internet.
May 1, 2019
Such great hope and encouragement that everyone can use to help someone struggling with addiction. Like the article said it could be someone that sits right beside you everyday. Be there for whom ever it is you may be the one that helps them find Christ.