The Addiction the Church Refuses to Confront
I was stressed recently, and I ate a donut out of the trash.
That’s a little embarrassing to admit, but it’s true.
My son had eaten part of it and thrown away the rest. It was still inside its Styrofoam container, so I told myself it wasn’t that disgusting. So I reached into the garbage and ate it.
Oddly, it brought relief. And yet, perhaps it’s not that odd at all. How we treat sugar in culture mimics how we treat other destructive substances like alcohol. But because sugar is more “acceptable,” it tends to go undetected.
That’s the revelation Kristy McCammon, founder of Life Unbinged, had on a recent episode of my podcast, Confessions of a Christian Alcoholic. She spent years addicted to sugar, and the way she described it was eerily similar to how “traditional” addicts talk about drugs and alcohol.
I should know. After all, I’m the Christian who became an alcoholic.
As Kristy and I talked about my donut story, I laughed, because how else do you tell that story? But the longer we spoke, the less funny it became.
Why couldn’t I simply leave the donut there?
The answer, I think, is that food, especially sweets and sugar, has become an acceptable source of coping, relief, and comfort. And for some reason, we don’t like to talk about it. Especially within the church.
Sugar: The Temptation We Ignore
“Food is the good girl’s alcohol,” says Kristie. She wasn’t claiming food and alcohol produce identical consequences. They don’t. Her point was that our sinful hearts can treat them similarly. We can make idols out of them and give them jobs they were never meant to have.
The substance changes, but the heart asks the same question: What can make me feel better right now?
When we feel anxious, lonely, angry, bored, ashamed, or overwhelmed, some reach for a drink while others head toward the pantry. But as long as we’re not drowning our discomfort in alcohol, we excuse or minimize using food and sugar to do something similar.
That’s where this gets uncomfortable for Christians. We’ll confront alcohol abuse, drug addiction, sexual sin, and adultery head-on. But food? That gets a pass. Bring a bottle of liquor into church, and people will have questions. Bring a dozen donuts, and no one thinks twice.
It’s true, right?
The Question We All Need to Ask
Let me be clear: I’m not judging anyone from a distance. I’m the Christian who became an alcoholic. I knew Jesus, loved Jesus, followed Jesus, and professed Jesus, yet I still fell into addiction.
I know what it’s like to turn to something other than God for cheap relief, comfort, and escape. So, this isn’t me shaming anyone. I’m also not minimizing my struggle by lumping a late-night Skittles run into a bourbon bender.
But I am asking one honest question, and I hope you ask yourself, too. Has food, sugar, sweets, or anything else begun replacing God as your source of comfort and relief? Because in the end, anything we turn to besides Jesus is wrong. It’s an idol.
And here’s the reality: We all have idols. Or, as I like to say, we’re all addicted to something.
How Do We Know When We’ve Made Food an Idol?
Let me be clear: Donuts aren’t inherently sinful. Neither is enjoying dessert or celebrating with a meal. Food is a gift from God. The issue is the place it occupies in our lives.
Romans 1:25 describes fallen humanity worshiping and serving created things rather than the Creator. That’s the heart of idolatry: Something God created begins receiving the dependence, devotion, or trust that belongs to him.
Food can become an idol. The lack of food can become an idol. Your phone can become an idol. Your kids or work can, too. I like to say that anything misordered is disordered.
Addiction isn’t only about how much we consume. It’s also about what job we’ve given it. When food becomes our primary comforter, dependable escape, or necessary reward after a difficult day, it may be doing a job it was never created to do.
Kristy began using sugar for comfort early in life. Eating made her feel safe, and eventually, food became her response to nearly every emotion. She loved Jesus and lived an active Christian life. But food had quietly moved into the “high place.”
I understand that progression. Alcohol did the same thing in my life. It started as something I enjoyed properly, then became something I turned to, and finally became something I needed.
Ask yourself: Is food, sugar, or anything else doing for me what only Jesus should do?
The Best Advice for Food Addiction: Get Curious about the First Bite
One of the most important pieces of advice is to get curious.
Why do I wander through a grocery store when I’m stressed?
Why do I pick food off my children’s plates?
Why does saying no to one food feel harder than it should?
Instead of only asking, “How do I stop eating this?” we can ask:
- What am I feeling right now?
- What am I hoping this food will give me?
- Am I hungry, or am I trying to escape something?
- What happens inside me when I say no?
Not every snack is a spiritual crisis. Not everyone who overeats has an addiction, and body size doesn’t reveal what’s happening in someone’s heart. But conviction shouldn’t be ignored simply because our struggle looks socially acceptable.
As I often say about alcohol, the only drink I can say no to is the first one. For some people, the same may be true of certain foods: The only bite they can confidently refuse is the first one.
Bring Your Real Hunger to Jesus
This isn’t an invitation to shame yourself over everything you eat. Shame drives us deeper into secrecy, and secrecy gives our struggles room to grow. This is an invitation to what I call radical vulnerability.
What are you truly hungry for? Safety, comfort, relief, connection, rest? Food can distract and soothe us for a time, but it can’t satisfy our souls.
Only Jesus can.
He invites us to bring our anxiety, loneliness, grief, boredom, fear, and exhaustion to him where it can truly be dealt with. He offers the most flourishing and fulfilled life. But we tend to settle for less. For cheap knockoffs. And then we wonder why we are restless.
That process of going to him instead of the “creation” is hard. I get it. It’s a lifelong process. I’m still asking God to reveal what I turn to instead of him—even after hitting rock bottom and realizing how alcohol had taken over. Maybe that’s why Kristy’s insights hit me so hard. I don’t want food - or anything else - to quietly occupy the place in my life that belongs to Jesus. I’ve seen what happens when I make that mistake.
I don’t want that for you either.
By the way, you can listen to my full conversation with Kristy McCammon on the Confessions of a Christian Alcoholic podcast for a deeper discussion about food addiction, sugar, emotional eating, Gospel-centered freedom, and even GLP-1s and weight-loss shots.
And maybe after, the next time you’re tempted to eat a donut out of the trash because you’re stressed, you might actually reconsider.
I know I will.
Jonathon M. Seidl is a bestselling author, speaker, consultant, and founder of Veritas Recovery, a Gospel-centered nonprofit helping people find freedom from addiction of all sorts and at all levels. He’s appeared across the counter on numerous TV, radio, and podcast programs talking about his own story of addiction, mental health struggles, and why Christians aren’t immune from “messy sanctification.” He’s the author of Finding Rest and Confessions of a Christian Alcoholic, and hosts the popular Confessions of a Christian Alcoholic podcast. A Wisconsin native, he now lives in Frisco, TX, with his wife and two kids.
If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, share this podcast or follow Confessions of a Christian Alcoholic on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!
Image Credit: ©GettyImages/millann
Originally published July 16, 2026.
