Why Would a Christian Accept Legalizing Drugs?
Question 112 in Faith Seeking Freedom: Updated & Expanded
This question is from Faith Seeking Freedom: Updated & Expanded, available in paperback, PDF, and Kindle.
Full Question in the book: “Perhaps these policy ideas make sense to a libertarian, but why should a Christian accept them? Are you saying you want to treat the health matter of drug abuse separate from the legal matter of drug abuse?”
More than the secular libertarian, libertarian Christians should be able to recognize that drug abuse and addiction are symptoms of a spiritual problem, not merely a physical health problem or a criminal matter for courts to sort out. Anyone who serves a master other than Jesus is guilty of idolatry, and drug addiction can be one of the more visible forms of that ancient sin. As believers, we recognize that all have sinned, and that all need to repent and believe in Jesus.
Rather than holding disdain in our hearts for drug addicts, as Christians we should have compassion for them and a desire to help them escape the consequences of sin through the gift of salvation. As Christians, each of us has come to the realization that we are not enough in ourselves, but that we can be more than enough in Jesus. That hope—a hope that is absurd and impossible according to the world’s wisdom—should give us a boldness in reaching out to other sinners who have yet to repent of their sins and seek the only lasting escape from them through our Lord and Savior. This compassion is in keeping with the great commandments of Jesus and honors him.