Death – When Addiction Consumes Your Soul

Addiction

A Chinese man died in an internet café. Reportedly, he collapsed after gaming for 3 days straight days without food or water. 

That story hurts my heart. 

I don’t understand much of the Asian culture, or this new phenomenon of gaming addiction. But one thing is universally clear: 

Addiction leads to death. 

Addiction – Damage 

What sort of damage are you doing, to pursue something so earnestly, you’re willing to put your own health, sanity, and life on the line? 

It must be a passionate pursuit, something deep in your soul, where you’re able to block out all other noise and chase after exactly what you want. 

It’s a commitment – a passion – to go 72 hours without food or water, and have no regard for the consequences. 

What could ever be so compelling? 

Addiction – Evil 

This is a fast of the most evil sort. It is a fast of internal motivations and internal struggles. It is an unwavering commitment to pursue your own wants, your own desires, and your own will. 

And it is something that will get you killed. 

Any time we focus on ourselves, it is a path that leads to destruction and despair. 

However, fasting, and the removal of food, is supposed to be good. 

As Christian believers, when we talk about fasting, we talk about giving something up and focusing our attention back on Christ – things above ourselves. 

A fast is inherently good, it is a positive experience. It’s an acknowledgement to get outside yourself, and your addictions, and your hurts, and struggles. 

A fast is not supposed to get you killed. A fast will bring you new life. 

Addiction – Killing 

Right now, my wrist and back are killing me. 

I sit in the same position all day, and forget to move around. I’m focused on writing, and editing, and researching. 

I get so focused and so involved in my projects that it’s hurting me. 

So then hours later I take a step back as lightning shoots through my elbow. It feels like I’ve been beaned by an MLB fastball, and think, “Ow! Geez, I’m a moron.” 

These activities aren’t energizing me – they’re bringing me pain and suffering – and in the moment I’m so excited, so invested, and so high on the activity – that I forget how much it will hurt in the end. 

Addiction – TV 

I’ve talked about my TV addiction – it’s dumb, I know. It’s like white people problems, right? 

But TV is enjoyable. I like it a lot. 

I go to work. And when I come home I watch endless hours of TV. Then I go to bed – rinse and repeat the same routine all week long. 

That’s not much of a life. That’s not a life worth living – that’s boring at best. 

My recent “fast” is to remove the endless TV watching – I still get an hour to brush up on something fun and worth watching – but the endless marathons have been removed. 

There needs to be a healthy balance in everything we do. 

And I feel better for it. 

Addiction – Ruin 

If you’re not careful, a serious addictions can ruin anyone’s life. 

But there are subtle ones that sneak up on us too: social media, video games, food, work. The list is endless and we all have our weird problems. 

But where does it end? 

Are you willing to watch 3 days of endless television, without food and water, in an attempt to fill a void, or because you deserve it? 

At what point does an addiction become all-consuming, that it’ll sneak up on you, and take over your entire existence and you never saw it coming? 

Because frankly, the addiction may kill you, and you wouldn’t even know.