Wake Up, Look Up

Hello, everyone. Thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch, and in today's episode, we're asking the question, did our vices go invisible? This is prompted by a, pretty challenging and indicting article in the Atlantic recently about how American life is rapidly being filled by vices that happen in private. In other words, we're doing destructive things, forming destructive habits in the quiet of our own home. Which means by the time those habits are devastating, it's too late to for anyone to help. Let me give you an example. One common vice, that Americans used to think of was drinking alcohol. In fact, in 1830, this is a crazy stat. In 1830, the average American drank 7.1 gallons of pure alcohol a year, which equates to four shots of alcohol a day per person. We were drinking at a very high rate. But in 2022, that number has plummeted to 2.5 gallons of alcohol per year, with actually only 54% of Americans drinking at all. In other words, we have largely rejected alcohol and public drinking as a way of life. But in its place, some new vices are forming. So, for example, marijuana use is up dramatically among Americans, particularly those in the age group from 18 to 50. pornography is rapidly on the rise, and so is online gambling. In fact, 48% of men ages 18 to 49 have online gambling accounts, which means one out of every two guys you come across is actively betting on sports or something online. In fact, statistically, they're very likely to be smoking marijuana, watching pornography, and in gambling. All of which they do from the privacy of their own home, and much of which they do from the confines of their own phone. Meaning a lot of the men around you and even the women might have pornography problems, marijuana problems and gambling problems, and you don't even know. Which means, again, they could be in real trouble and you wouldn't even know it. It's not like when you say, hey, where's Zach? Oh, he's at the bar at 2 o' clock in the morning. And whether I say it or not, you already know I have a drinking problem. We don't see these problems before it's too late. And I wanna caution you from a pastoral perspective at just how dangerous this is. So let's talk about this from a biblical perspective. Let's start here. Sin lives in the darkness. It kills in the darkness. In, other words, it's like mold. It grows best when no One's noticing. That's why Paul says in Ephesians 5:11 that we're to expose the. The deeds of darkness. Light is what chases the darkness away. Meaning there's a reason why you're doing these things and not talking about it. There's a reason why you're doing these things and no one knows. It isn't because everyone's so judgmental. It's because deep down you know these things are not good for me. And if I talk about them, someone's going to tell me that someone. So I do them when no one is around, and I think and pretend that no one knows. The problem with that, of course, is when you do cross the line where these things actually are causing damage, which they inevitably will, no one will be there to help. Ecclesiastes 4:10, Solomon says, pity anyone who falls and has no one to help, because what does that person do? And. And you probably know that if you're listening to this and you're looking at a bank account that's been devastated by gambling, or you're realizing you can't get to sleep without ingesting marijuana in some way, or you realize that you have no intimate, romantic or personal relationship with your spouse because you're looking at hours of pornography a day. Who's gonna help you if no one knows you? You're doing these things. You see, Satan is a little bit like a lion who attacks a pack of gazelles. When everyone goes one direction, he attacks the one who's all by themselves. Which is why you need to hear me say this. Our new vices appear harmless, but they're really not. Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 6:12, and this is a good standard. He says, I will not be mastered by. By anything. Gambling, pornography, marijuana. Those tend to be vices that dominate us. We get to a point where we can't imagine life without them. And when you can't imagine life without something, that means that thing has complete control of you. And if that thing has control of you, then it also means that Jesus does not. You're headed in a different direction. So what do we do? Well, there's kind of two answers to this. One is if you are the person struggling, and one is if someone struggling comes to tell you if you are the person who's struggling, you have to tell someone. Again, this is a verse I quote all the time, James 5:16. If we confess our sins one to another, we will be healed. James is telling us, sin grows in the dark. But if you turn the light on, it withers. You've got to tell someone, I have a gambling problem. I have a marijuana problem. I have a pornography problem. I bet it's hard for you to even say that to yourself. That's where it starts. You got to admit that. But then you got to say it out loud, because then the light is on. And now you've got people who can help. But I'll say this to those of us to whom someone else might confess another verse I quote all the time, Galatians 6:2. Bear one another's burdens and fulfill the law of Christ. I say that because when a person says, I have a, gambling problem, the best and most loving and most Jesus centered answer is, no, no, no, no, no. We have a gambling problem. We have got to reach into the dark and pull out our brothers and sisters in Christ who are being mastered by gambling and pornography and marijuana and a whole host of other things. When they say, I have a problem, we need to say, but you also have a team. We're gonna fall. But to borrow from Solomon, no one should fall alone. Hey, thanks for watching this episode of Wake Up, Look Up. If you enjoyed it, please help us get the word out by sharing it with someone you think might benefit from it. And while you're here, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get further content or even download the CCC app, where you'll find even more resources to help you grow in your faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.

Have an article you’d like Zach to discuss? Email us at wakeup@ccchapel.com!