The Pathway to Recovery: What Jesus Has to Say About It.

by, Steve Ellsworth, MA, LADC/MH Candidate

After spending over a year of weekends in the detox unit of the Addiction Recovery Center, it became clear both Christians and non-Christians were struggling with addiction. Unless they had relapsed, many did not know what recovery looked like. Most assumed that recovery was life as it was before only without using their drug of choice. Some thought recovery was switching from their drug of choice to alcohol since they didn’t have a drinking problem. One individual gave up alcohol only to become addicted to heroin because he didn’t have a problem with it. Clearly, some direction was needed.

If there was a common denominator, it was the people there felt somewhere to the left of unworthy. They were living in the Darkness and couldn’t find their way out. Shining the Light into the Darkness only blinded them, and they retreated further into the darkness. A softer Light was needed to light the way. The “Red Letter Words” turned out to be the answer.

“Enter ye at the strait gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction and many go there. Because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth to life, few find it.” Broadway Extension was often used as an analogy to the “Broad way.” Broadway Extension has many exit ramps that lead to destruction: Drug dealers, liquor stores, toxic relationships, new cars, fast boats, good jobs, a big house and the all the trappings the world has to offer. Many of the exit ramps lead to Darkness; some exits were just more socially acceptable than others. After considering this illustration, many people in the Addiction Recovery Center became willing to peek out of the darkness.

“Go find the Lost Sheep.” But, “I can’t; I’m a lost sheep; I need someone to come find me.” Over the course of the weekend, many identified they now faced a choice; continue to live on the broad way that leads to destruction or find the strait gate and the narrow path that leads to life. They knew they had to choose. “I’m still willing to continue. I’m tired of being a lost sheep living in the Darkness on the Broad way to destruction. What’s next?”

“Take nothing on your journey. No scrip, neither two coats, neither shoes. The workman is worthy of his meat.” Scary. But there’s that word again: “Worthy.” It is the one word that turns addiction into life. ‘Worthy’ is not a gradational feeling; it’s a state of being. You either feel worthy or you don’t. If you want recovery, one way is to follow the red words and find the strait gate and the narrow path to life. “Are you willing to continue to search for the strait gate and the narrow path to life or do you want to find a way to make the broad way to destruction more pleasant?” It’s my mission to help you find the strait gate and the narrow path that leads to life. There are other options that can help you make the broad way that leads to destruction more pleasant. But, in the end, the “broad way” still leads to destruction.

“Go to another city or town and inquire who in it is worthy. And if that house be worthy, let your peace come upon it. If not, then let your peace return to you. Leave the unworthy house, shake the dust off you feet and flee.” The recovery analogy here is the strait gate that leads to life is a worthy treatment facility. You are going there to find peace and the narrow path that leads to life. “Are you still willing to search for it?”

Step three of the twelve steps states: “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.” Sunday afternoons at the ARC was the time to make that decision. It is the decision that we all have to make if we want to go through the strait gate. Most thought there was no other way to go through the strait gate and start down the narrow path that leads to life. The decision of whether or not to go to rehab, changed: People were now moving from simply making a decision to quit using, to making a decision to find the narrow path that leads to life. They were seeking healing, not just abstinence. “Because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth to life, few find it.”

Make that decision. Call Transforming Life today and begin the journey to being worthy, finding the strait gate and moving down the narrow path that leads to life.