Jud Wilhite, pastor of Central Christian Church in Las Vegas, is one of the best leaders on the planet! (And…is also a confirmed speaker at NLC 2011, HERE are the details, seriously, THIS is going to be AMAZING!!!)
Anyway, he recently wrote a book entitled “Throw it Down” that deals with the issue of overcoming addiction! I LOVE the fact that the Lord used Jud to address this subject…it’s something that has made church world uncomfortable for a long time and we cannot continue to stick our heads in the sand if we are going to rise up and be the difference maker in the world that Jesus called us to be. And Jud didn’t just write a book about it…his church has hit this issue head on and has seen some amazing success!!! (In the end…the church wins!!!)
I had a chance to ask Jud a few questions and here were his responses.
1. What caused you to focus on overcoming addiction for your new book Throw it Down?
I spent 4 years as a drug addict so I know what it is to be broken, but also to have Jesus put you back together. I’m celebrating 22 years of sobriety this year! Addiction is so prevalent in society and in the church, not just drugs and alcohol but addiction in a lot of forms—approval, perfectionism, food disorders, anger issues. I wanted to inspire people to move forward into the life of freedom Jesus’ offers us.
2. Tell me more about the recovery program that you use at Central Christian and why it’s been so effective?
It’s just a bunch of broken people helping other people! As you know, it is so powerful when people get honest and straightforward about junk in their life and start dealing with it. That kind of community is just contagious. And it can happen in any church, in any small group. You just have to have people willing to go first and share their life.
3. You use the Exodus of Israel out of Egypt as a metaphor for your process of helping people find their way out of addiction. How so?
Exodus is so powerful. It means “the road out” and shows how God set his people free from slavery. In many ways we find ourselves enslaved in our own addictions and issues, so I draw out principles from the Exodus that can help us on our own journey to freedom. For example, it usually gets harder before it gets easier. As soon as the Israelites left Egypt they faced all kinds of challenges, so much so that they wanted to go back. It can feel this way when we are facing our issues as well. But it is worth it and it is part of the process of God setting us free from sin. There are all kinds of principles in Exodus like this and it is very revealing to lay them over our own lives.
My advice…if you have ever struggled with any type of addiction (or you know of anyone who has)...PLEASE get this book! (You can do so by going here!)