"Druggies" are people too

Multiple times in the past few weeks I have wanted to shout this.

Yes, drug addiction hits close to home. But that isn't it.

In the wake of Philip Seymour Hoffman's death I have been discouraged in the world's viewpoint of people who are addicted to drugs.

The belief that he or any addict made the decision to do drugs knowing the risk and therefore deserved death as a consequence is callous. We choose things everyday that could and do lead to our own death; eating McDonald's, or too many desserts, or not exercising, or not wearing seat belts, or driving too fast. I know it is a stretch to equate those things to drug use, but they all start with a choice and I think it demonstrates the equality of sin. For judgement is really no different than addiction. Maybe in their effects, but not to Christ.

James 2:10
10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.

We all deserve death. Not just drug addicts. 

It seems a drug addiction dehumanizes them. They are no longer people formed by God the creator and in His image, they are "druggies," and "a drain on society," deserving of the consequences of their actions.

But they are people.

They are fathers and mothers.

They are sons and daughters.

They are brothers.

Drugs change people. One fateful decision can lead down a path far from anything the user thought possible. My big brothers are an example of this, read their story: here. Not always do drug addicts end up speaking at high schools (read about this: here). My brother's are the exception, not the rule. However, they could just as easily ended up like Philip Seymour Hoffman. Our family would have been heart broken, if you had the pleasure of knowing my brothers you would have been heartbroken because they are amazing PEOPLE. Amazing, talented people created by God. And we knew who they were apart from their addiction.

We are not called to love people only when they are deserving or when we know their hearts, we are called to love them regardless. Regardless of their sin, regardless of their place in society and regardless of whether or not they are our brothers.

Matthew 5:44-47
 44"But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

 46"For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47"If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

Unlike Philip Seymour Hoffman's death, their death would not have reached the masses. However, we want their story to. Although my brothers' tale and Hoffman's ended differently, there is importance in spreading both. Hoffman's is a cautionary tale. Drugs do not discriminate based on talent or celebrity, they can take a life just the same. His life provides an example for youth and adults alike of the devastation drugs can bring. Both stories had consequences and deliverance, although God used them differently, I guarantee you God used them both.

God is sovereign. Their addiction is not an accident. Their struggles, their recovery or death is planned by God.

Who are we to question this? To belittle them? To scoff in the face of their death?

I share these thoughts in love, that we might love others more fully, the way the Lord intended.

Let us be an example to youth and those without a reference or understanding of drug addiction, to reach out to those struggling in a dark, lonely place we cannot imagine. To love those that seem so unlovely.

Then we will also be an example of Christ, for that is how He first loved us. 

"Its a calling to see worth, value and dignity in every human, no matter how sinful or distorted or far from God (even if that person is you). To devalue any human being is to deny their intrinsic worth as a fellow image-bearer of the creator."