I found this quote in an article by Mary Elizabeth Williams about actor Charlie Sheen, a habitual Hollywood train wreck struggling with substance abuse:
“Nearly all of us have been affected by the actions of substance abusers at one time or another. The relative who calls in the middle of the night asking for money. The lover who turns mean. The coworker whose messes we have to clean up. And the question that comes up again and again is – when do we cut them off? Are there some people who are just beyond redemption?”
We know the answer to this question – no one is beyond redemption. That is why Paul the Apostle says the following:
“ Therefore, since God in his mercy has given us this new way,we never give up. We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods. We don’t try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this. You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4: 1-2; 5-6).
We cannot stop telling people. We are compelled to go, to Charlie Sheen – and all his wives and friends and suppliers and lawyers and viewers – to tell them that no one is beyond the reach of Christ’s redemption, no one is outside of the walls who cannot come in under the blood of this most excellent sacrifice which makes life new and gives real hope.
Near the end of her article, Williams writes the following:
“Plenty of other stars – and friends – have eventually come back from the abyss. If Russell Brand and Lou Reed can do it, why can’t Sheen? There are those for whom getting clean seems relatively painless. There are those who struggle for years. And heartbreakingly, there are those who, it seems, can’t. Maybe the reason we keep giving the latter so many chances isn’t because they’re such great people, or even because we depend on them so much. It’s because even in the face of a seemingly fatal diagnosis, it’s human nature to hope."
I disagree. It is human nature to act below our nature. Yet it was a part of God’s original plan to imprint eternity in our hearts (Ecc. 3:11). We yearn for more since we were designed for more. And there is so much more. God longs for us to walk with Him today and receive blessing of redemption, deliverance and blessing today and forevermore. Jesus said that, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life” (Mark 10:29-30). The tribulations come to remind us that this world is not our home, but there is so much more than we can attain even here.
No, Ms. Williams, no one is beyond redemption. But it may be beyond our demeanor and prestige and position to ask for help. For those of us who have surrendered and cried out for a real solution, and tasted the living water, we shout, “now is the time. Today is the day of redemption and salvation and deliverance!" Amen!
Read the entire article – http://www.salon.com/entertainment/tv/2010/10/27/charlie_sheen_beyond_redemption/index.html
