Did you know that a huge addiction is sweeping across our nation? People are addicted to their smart phones! They have to constantly be checking facebook, Twitter, their email, YouTube, Pinterest, or texting. Listen to these startling statistics:
—The National Safety Council reports that cell phone use while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes each year.
—Nearly 330,000 injuries occur each year from accidents caused by texting while driving.
—1 out of every 4 car accidents in the United States is caused by texting and driving.
—11 teens die every day as a result of texting while driving.
—According to a AAA poll, 94% of teen drivers acknowledge the dangers of texting and driving, but 35% admitted to doing it anyway.
—21% of teen drivers involved in fatal accidents were distracted by their cell phones.
—Teen drivers are 4x more likely than adults to get into car crashes or near-crashes when talking or texting on a cell phone.
Even better are spiritual addictions. David was addicted to God.
Psalm 63:1, 6—“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.”
The Apostle Paul was addicted to his Savior.
Philippians 1:21—“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
But in I Corinthians 16, we read of a family that was addicted to the ministry. What an amazing addiction to have! What a wonderful addiction! Let’s notice four important truths about this spiritual addiction.
The word for addiction
The Greek word tasso means “to place in a certain order, to arrange, to assign a place, to appoint…one’s self to minister unto one.”
The King James Version is the only version to use the word “addicted.” The other translations use the word “devoted” or “consecrated.” The word “addicted” seems to be a strange word to use. Yet it is the best word. To be addicted to something is to be completely dependent on it. This family chose to be addicted to ministry, that is, to be dependent on doing it. They felt that they had to do it.
The Greek word gives the sense of priority. They have assigned themselves to serve others. They willingly got into this addiction, which leads to the next point.
2. An addiction is purposeful
No one accidentally gets addicted to something. A drug addict gets addicted because he chose to take drugs and he continued to take them. A porn addict willingly looked at pornography and continued to.
It was the same with the Stephanas family. They willingly addicted themselves to the ministry. Notice the verse says “and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints.” They chose to do it.
What addictions have you chosen in your life? It’s sad that often we’re addicted to our phones, but not to the Bible. We’re addicted to facebook, but not to prayer. We’re addicted to the mall, but not to church. And you can’t blame anyone for your addictions but you. Just as you choose to be addicted, so you choose to keep away from the things of God.
3. The whole family was addicted
Paul calls them the “house of Stephanas,” meaning the whole family. It wasn’t just the father or the mother who were faithfully serving, it was the whole family. How wonderful when the whole family comes to church and serves together!
What does your family do together? Go on trips, celebrate birthday parties, etc. But the best thing your family can do together is come to church and serve. It’s sad when the whole family does not come to church. It’s also sad when only part of the family serves in the church. Get the whole family involved! Church is a big family for families. It’s families serving families; families fellowshipping with families; families supporting families. It’s all about the family!
Are you serving in the church? If yes, great, but let me ask you: is your family serving in the church? We have kids programs and a youth group; every person in your family can be involved in the ministry.
4. Their addiction was not selfish
Most addictions are selfish, but not this one. Ministry is never selfish.
“It is not meant of the ministry of the word properly, but of serving them in other respects, supplying their wants, helping and assisting them upon all occasions, both in their temporal and spiritual concerns.” —Matthew Henry
A list of ministries in our church: prayer line, Light of the World, Sunday School, TLC Concerned Parents, youth group, the choir, the band, special music, the Daycare, the media ministry, the radio, visitation, meals for members, and Young Cadets.
You have no excuse—get involved in a ministry! Even better, get addicted to a ministry. You can’t help but serve in that ministry—you have to be there in your place.
Read verses 17-18. By addicting yourself to a ministry, you can fill your place so that our church is complete in every area. We don’t want to be lacking. We need nursery works, kids workers, prayer warriors, soul winners, teachers, and pastors. No job is too small.
CONCLUSION
Illustration: Underground churches in China are addicted to the Bible, often meeting every day and studying for hours.
How do you get addicted to something? By doing it over and over again. Find that ministry and be faithful; learn to love it, so that you won’t want to miss it, no matter what.
We have the wrong addictions! What if you read your Bible like you read your text messages? What if you prayed as often as you checked Facebook? What if we went to church as excited as we go to the mall? We are NOT addicted like the Stephanas family was!
—Are you addicted?
—Will you purposefully addict yourself to a ministry?
—Will you help your family in getting involved in the church?
—Will you take your place in the church and be dependent on that place?
