The Need for an Intervention

Are you familiar with an alcoholic intervention? An intervention is typically initiated by a family member of the alcoholic, most often the spouse, to confront the alcoholic about the truth of their drinking and the need for help. When the spouse approaches the alcoholic’s family for support in the intervention, they are often met with resistance because the whole family system is dysfunctional and blind to the truth of the problem. It takes a great deal of courage for the spouse to push forward, knowing that they will suffer in their efforts to break the dysfunctional pattern and set their loved one free from the bondage of substance use. It is often not till much later that their efforts are appreciated.

To set someone free, you must be willing to suffer. The individual will fight you in order to hold on to their “truth” and will despise you for confronting them. They will call you judgmental, intolerant, and narrow minded. This is why in an intervention many people are utilized to confront the individual. A chorus of truth is harder to argue with than a solo performer.

Let’s now transition to the work of Christ. Is it any wonder why Jesus was despised? He challenged the unhealthy, dysfunctional Hebrew family system and suffered for doing so, just like a spouse of an alcoholic. He was trying to set people free from the bondage of sin, but the family members, the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders, despised him and denied they had any problems, just like an alcoholic does. No wonder he tells us to be prepared to suffer for speaking the truth. We are challenging dysfunction in the same way he did, or a spouse does during an intervention. All truth bearers must initially pay a price for speaking the truth, challenging the dysfunction. This is our calling, to be truth bearers. Is the church teaching us this in this modern era? Typically not. The church grows weaker in standing up for the truth, choosing to be overly tolerant and politically correct. Yes, we need to confront with grace and truth, but these days we've dropped the truth and only offer grace. And so, people live on in dysfunction because no one is willing to perform an intervention.

The bottom line? Christians are failing to love in order to be politically correct or avoid conflict. We have become soft and self-protective. We are failing to care for our brothers and sisters. We are sitting around watching them die, just like a family member watches an alcoholic loved one die from their unchallenged dysfunctional behaviors. No wonder the Bible says we will cry in heaven when we realize how little we did for others. Keith Green’s “Asleep in the Light” is a great song to go with this post. Don’t worry, I’m just as convicted as you.