Addicted people can be loyal friends, says Andy Constable in the CNE podcast
Andy Constable. Photo private, Canva
Christian Life
In Niddrie, drug dealers are usually nearby. Yet pastor Andy Constable believes that addicts have something to teach to the church.
In the CNE podcast, he says that addicts are much more open about their lives than ordinary churchgoers. “The key is to come to them with humility”, says Andy Constable after 17 years of daily experience with addicts.
Andy works in the country with the highest death rates because of drugs in Europe: Scotland. In the CNE podcast, he shares more about this with the host Evert van Vlastuin.
He works as a pastor of Niddrie Community Church and the addict’s program 20schemes that belongs to the church. Niddrie is an area in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh.
Together with the former addict, Mez McConnell, he wrote the book Addiction and the Local Church that will come out soon.
Co-author Mez was a drug addict who was saved by the Gospel. Grace not only washed away his sins, but also caused him to stay away from taking drugs again.
For Andy, this illustrates the power of the Gospel. When drunkards and junkies come to the door, he first says that they are welcome and then continues that there is “hope and healing” in the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is not against rehabilitation centres, but they only deal with the “outside”. The church and the Gospel are focused on the “inside”.
Only the power of the Holy Spirit can bring a solution, he says. “I teach the hope of Ezekiel and Jeremiah that God promises that when we trust in Jesus Christ, He gives us a new heart, which changes our actions.”
He has seen radical change through grace. “I have met people who, as soon as they became a Christian, didn’t ever touch drugs again. We praise the Lord for that.”
But he has also seen other things. “Many men and women I’ve worked with have had a more up-and-down walk with the Lord. They’ve had seasons of victory over addiction and fallen back again into sinful habits. Sanctification is a slow process.”
In the interview, he shares more about the ‘success’ rates.
Constable sees addiction as sin. He defines addictions as: “Sinful or idolatrous habits that enslave and destroy a person.”
An addiction is a power that keeps you away from putting the Lord first. In the podcast, Andy challenges the way we usually think about addiction — even suggesting that your phone might be your idol.
As Jesus went out to spend time with the outcasts, churchgoers can welcome addicts and spend time with them. He thinks every church can do that, no matter what area it is in. Andy also has some advice for middle-class churches full of decent people.
Important is to accept those people instead of judging them. “Don’t come alongside as a self-righteous. They smell that from a mile away. Rather come with humility”, Andy warns.
Of course, there are things you should not do, such as lending them money or expecting them to tell you the truth. “I had to learn all that. But don’t be legalistic either.”
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