Reflections following an “Addiction and the Church” seminar by Dave Evans, LPC, at Heartland Recovery Program.
The statistics are staggering: 46% of people have friends or family affected by drugs and alcohol, with some estimates suggesting that number climbs to 50% when considering the broader scope of addiction’s impact. These aren’t just numbers—they represent real people, real families, and real pain touching every corner of our communities. At a seminar hosted by Heartland Recovery Program, church leaders and community members gathered to address a critical question: How can the church better support those struggling with addiction?
The Church as a Safe Harbor
Pastor Dave Evans, with nearly 40 years of pastoral experience and 28 years as a substance abuse counselor, opened the seminar with a powerful truth: “Sometimes failing needs a safe place to fail.” His words cut through the typical church platitudes to reveal what many struggling with addiction desperately need—not judgment, but sanctuary.
Drawing from John 3:16-17, Pastor Evans reminded attendees that God didn’t send His son to condemn the world, but to save it. “There’s no condemnation for those in recovery,” he emphasized, challenging churches to move beyond stigma toward radical acceptance. This isn’t about enabling destructive behavior; it’s about creating an environment where healing can begin.
The concept of the church as a “safe place to fail” is revolutionary. Recovery isn’t a linear process—it’s cyclical, messy, and often marked by setbacks. When churches understand this reality, they can provide the consistent love and support that makes genuine transformation possible.
Understanding the Enemy: The Nature of Addiction
To effectively minister to those struggling with addiction, we must first understand what we’re dealing with. “Addiction is a desire to use a substance or behavior to the extent that instead of a person controlling the addiction, the addiction controls the person,” Evans explained. This loss of control isn’t a moral failing—it’s a biological reality. Substances create chemical dependencies that replace natural brain chemistry, leading to tolerance, cravings, and ultimately, a cycle of destruction.
The physical toll is evident: lifelong addiction can age a person by an estimated 15 years. But the spiritual and emotional damage runs even deeper. Addiction creates barriers to spiritual life, replacing our relationship with God with artificial substitutes that promise fulfillment but deliver emptiness.
The Stages of Transformation
Recovery follows a predictable pattern that churches can learn to recognize and support:
- Denial and Conviction
The journey begins when denial breaks down—often through what Pastor Evans called “the Holy Spirit’s intervention.” This conviction creates an internal struggle that can no longer be ignored. Churches can support this stage by providing non-judgmental spaces where individuals can begin to acknowledge their struggles.
- Crisis and Humility
Most people entering recovery programs are in crisis—coming out of prison, broken relationships, or rock-bottom experiences. This humility creates an opening for change. Churches can be ready to meet people in these crisis moments with immediate, practical support.
- Overcoming Through Christ
The pastoral opportunity lies in showing how people can overcome through Jesus Christ. This isn’t about quick fixes or simple prayers—it’s about providing hope, support, and practical tools for daily living. Churches must be prepared to walk alongside people through the difficult process of recovery.
- Identification and Maintenance
As individuals progress, they begin to identify more with Christ than with their addicted past. This new identity must be nurtured through consistent discipleship, community involvement, and ongoing spiritual formation.
The Cost of Inaction
The seminar highlighted the staggering cost of failing to address addiction effectively. Prisons are full, treatment centers are overwhelmed, and taxpayers bear the financial burden. But beyond the economic impact lies a more profound cost—the waste of human potential and the perpetuation of generational trauma.
“There are no throwaways in God’s world,” Pastor Evans declared. Even those who have committed crimes under the influence, even those society has written off, retain their inherent dignity and potential for transformation. The church’s role is to see what others cannot—the possibility of redemption in every person.
Practical Steps for Churches
Based on the seminar’s insights, here are concrete ways churches can better serve those struggling with addiction:
Create Welcoming Environments. Move beyond surface-level hospitality to genuine acceptance. This means training church members to interact with people from all backgrounds without judgment or condescension. Simple gestures—a handshake, a pat on the back, genuine interest in someone’s well-being—can communicate worth and belonging.
Understand the Process. Educate church leadership about the nature of addiction and recovery. This isn’t about becoming medical experts, but about developing realistic expectations and appropriate responses. Recovery is a process, not an event, and churches must be prepared for the long haul.
Provide Practical Support. People in recovery need more than spiritual encouragement—they need practical help with housing, employment, transportation, and basic life skills. Churches can partner with recovery programs and social services to address these fundamental needs.
Offer Discipleship, Not Just Salvation. Leading someone to faith is just the beginning. People in recovery need intensive discipleship that addresses their specific challenges and vulnerabilities. This might include small groups focused on recovery, mentorship programs, and ongoing accountability relationships.
Address Cross-Addiction. Recovery from substance abuse doesn’t automatically prevent other compulsive behaviors. Churches must be aware of the tendency toward cross-addiction and provide holistic spiritual formation that addresses the underlying spiritual needs that substances once filled.
The Unique Opportunity
Perhaps most importantly, the seminar revealed a unique opportunity for churches. People who have been “broken by addictions” often develop a special relationship with Jesus Christ. Their brokenness creates an openness to spiritual truth that others might not possess. Their recovery testimonies become powerful tools for reaching others who are struggling.
When churches learn to see addiction not as a moral failure but as a spiritual opportunity, they can become agents of transformation in their communities. This requires moving beyond the comfortable boundaries of traditional church programming to embrace the messy, complicated, but ultimately redemptive work of walking with people through their darkest valleys.
A Call to Action
The seminar concluded with a powerful reminder: “When the pain becomes greater than the desire to use, substances are able to stop being used.” The church’s role is to provide hope that is greater than the pain, community that is stronger than isolation, and purpose that is more compelling than any artificial high.
This isn’t easy work. It requires patience, understanding, and a willingness to be present with people in their struggles. But for churches willing to embrace this calling, the rewards are immeasurable—not just in terms of lives transformed, but in the authentic community that emerges when people are free to be real about their struggles and victories.
The challenge before us is clear: Will we be churches that simply hope hurting people find their way to us, or will we be churches that actively pursue those who are suffering, meeting them where they are with the love and grace of Christ?
The statistics tell us that addiction touches every congregation, whether acknowledged or not. The question isn’t whether we’ll encounter people struggling with addiction—it’s whether we’ll be prepared to love them well when we do. The time for preparation is now, because transformation is possible, hope is available, and as Pastor Evans reminded us, “There are no throwaways in God’s world.”
In a society that often discards the broken, the church has the opportunity to be different—to be a place where the lost can be found, and where the power of Christ can break even the strongest chains of addiction. The only question is whether we’ll answer the call.
Listen to Dave Evans’ teaching about Addiction Awareness in this opening session of Addiction & The Church. The full series is available on our YouTube channel, or find the link to other resources here on our website.