The grief was still present in the eyes of the messenger to the Southern Baptist Convention as he recounted that his son recently had died from a drug overdose. The pain filled the airport limousine as we headed toward the convention center hotel, and little could be said to ease the tragedy.
Not only does the resulting carnage from reckless choices regarding drug abuse play havoc with the victims' lives, but so many others are directly touched by the tragic events.
A telephone call from a distraught minister told of another misadventure, of a wayward son who had been readmitted to a Christ-centered primary treatment center.
"They kicked him out, saying that he was unwilling to perform the study exercises required of participants," the pastor related.
"He wandered around town and eventually got drunk, stole something and was arrested and charged with misdemeanor larceny. He's in jail under a small bond. He's calling us constantly, crying for us to get him out. I know I told him that he couldn't come home until he got his life straightened out, but we just don't know what to do!"
We had already agreed in previous conversations that the son should undergo treatments consecutively in two primary treatment centers before, hopefully, getting accepted by a Christ-centered halfway house. The parents had promised to practice tough love this time. But they hesitated to resist bailing him out before his court date. "Don't do it," we urged, knowing that this sends the wrong message and remembering how the son had blamed them for his actions in recent telephone conversations.
"He needs to realize that he, and he alone, is responsible for his mistakes. He needs a strong dose of Jesus in his heart!" we counseled, knowing that the parents often pay the price for the mistakes of their children.
After we had spoken at the morning and evening services of a church, seeking to provide inspiration and hope from our own experiences and trying to provide common sense advice to those whose loved ones had gone astray, the phone rang. An obviously agitated young man screamed at the top of his voice, "What did you say at church that made my parents pack up my clothes and tell me that they were kicking me out?"
The young man had first sought help for his drug problem from his pastor, who had referred him to us (again), believing that he was at last serious about seeking recovery from his serious drug addiction. We laid out a plan for recovery that required taking a leave from his job. He had been reluctant to pay the price required by a workable, Christ-centered recovery program. Instead he turned to a secular agency that immediately placed him on methadone. We had warned the druggie and his father that this temporary crutch could provide no final answer and would just postpone or destroy any opportunity for permanent recovery.
