Lazy Faith and Recovery

But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.  2 Chronicles 15:7

As Christians, we rightly teach that we don’t save ourselves by our works – we can’t earn our way into heaven by being good. In the eyes of a perfect God, we’re all terminally flawed and could never be good enough to deserve salvation. This, Christianity teaches, is why Christ had to die on a cross – as a flawless substitute for our sin. All we must do, is have faith in Christ. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

So, we cannot save ourselves by our works. This though, can lead to a lazy faith. If I’m saved by faith and not by works, then I don’t have to do anything. Faith means I just sit back, believe, and change nothing and I’m good. Recovery has a similar problem. Step One of AA teaches that we’re powerless over our drug. The temptation then, is to believe that if we’re powerless, then we must simply sit back and do nothing.

While I believe that we’re saved by faith and while I’ll admit that I was once powerless over my drug, I’ll also insist that both faith and recovery require a lot of hard work. James, the brother of Christ, wrote that Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead (James 2:17). James understood that we’re saved by our faith, but he also understood that if our faith was real, it would radically impact our behavior. Likewise, while the 12 steps insist on powerlessness, they also demand 11 more steps that require a lot of hard work.

Today’s passage reinforces this hard work. In the story, King Asa was tasked with returning his people to faith in God. To do so, he had to rid Israel of its idols, which required radical change – a lot of hard work. Similarly, Jesus taught that if we’re trapped in some addictive sin, we must do whatever it takes to cut that sin of our lives. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away (Matthew 5:30). If I’m struggling with alcohol or pornography, I’m responsible to do whatever it takes, to rid myself of that thing.

I’ve heard well-meaning Christians tell other Christians that they’re trying too hard, but I’ll insist that if I’m wrestling with an addictive behavior, then I simply haven’t tried hard enough to cut it out of my life. Yes, I’m saved by my faith in Christ, not by what I do. But if I truly have faith in Christ, then I must daily do what it takes to abandon my way to follow his (Luke 9:24). And that requires a lot of hard work.