A Healthy Addiction?

This week at our small group, we began discussing the "passages of thirst." John 6:35 reads, "Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." This is one of the many verses we chewed on.

The group is growing closer each time we meet. We've had several conversations where opportunity abounds for differences of opinion - all done in love. This time, it was about addiction. Although there are bad addictions (these come to mind quickly), are there any addictions that might be considered good?

Here's my thought: When Jesus speaks of hunger and thirst, He's obviously speaking of those things that sustain and lead to real life. If one is so passionate about living real life, can we say that person has an addiction (this time, healthy) to something God ordained as good?

We sang a song called Breathe, during our corporate worship. The chorus includes phrases like "I'm desperate for you", "This (desire for God) is my daily bread", and "I'm lost without you." These phrases sound somewhat similar to the "hunger and thirst" verses in the New Testament.

The discussion among the group brought up some good questions. 1) Is there anything remote to a healthy addiction?; 2) How does one become so passionate about God and continue to live with their feet "on the ground"?; 3) Is it possible to share that love, passion, or addiction, with those around or do we leave the change up to God/Holy Spirit? ; and 4)If there is something of a healthy addiction for Christ, how does one get his/her fix?

I'm now off to do a word study. Thoughts?

The North American Church

From time to time, I check out church research "guru" Ed Stetzer's blog. You can find it here. The most recent trend Stetzer points to is evangelical churches in North America forgetting their mission of sharing the Gospel message and replacing it with a "twelve step program for inner peace." The results have been a lack of importance for evangelism in the North American church.

Stetzer's biggest concern is Christians have lost confidence in the Gospel. In other words, we've moved past the good news of Christ providing restoration, hope, and love to a dying cosmos. We've begun to see salvation more as a individual blessing and for that reason, the challenges in people's lives and meeting those challenges (recovery groups, benevolence ministries, etc.) have taken the lead over the power of the cross. For that reason, the church in North America in is decline. Those "outside our walls" become complacent, apathetic, or skeptical about what goes on inside the church - that is, until a practical problem arises in their lives. The North American church has become a therapy center rather than a place to understand the Gospel.

What are your thoughts?