Sober Curious

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” John 3:2

Long before I committed to recovery, I began to realize change may be necessary. I remember looking back over the previous year of my life, realizing that I’d used opiates more days than I hadn’t. I knew I had a problem and I knew it was getting worse. I began to wonder what it would be like to live without the drug. I was unhappy, but I also knew it was going to be difficult to quit. I certainly wasn’t ready to go to treatment or meetings. I did once pick up the phone and dial a physician helpline, but quickly hung up once it started ringing.

I was still using, but I was considering sobriety. I was Sober Curious. I wasn’t ready to commit to radical change, but my self-inflicted misery caused me to contemplate a new life.

Today’s passage tells of Nicodemus who was also curious about a new life. In the story, this lead Pharisee approached Jesus under the cover of darkness to see what he was all about. Jesus and the Pharisees interactions were usually quite contentious, but this man was genuinely seeking something different. He’d seen the miracles and though his fellow-Pharisees hated Jesus, Nicodemus was Jesus Curious. Nicodemus could have succumbed to the peer-pressure to remain in the old life, but instead, he sought out the new one, found only in Christ.

Many of us have been, or still are, here. Perhaps we’ve caused ourselves significant misery or maybe we’ve just seen our lives begin to spiral downward. We don’t like where we’re at and we want something different. We’re not quite ready for painful change. We’re not ready to become Jesus Freaks, or AA Zealots. Still, we wonder what the new life would be like, if only we could get there. We’re Sober Curious and we’re Jesus Curious.

It is at this point that we must indulge in that curiosity and do some seeking. Like Nicodemus, we too, must make that step in reaching out and finding out what the new life is all about. God repeatedly promises that the one who honestly seeks him, finds him. The new life is waiting for us. If we truly want it, then we must go looking for it.