Craig Groeschel - Soul Detox: Clean Living in a Contaminated World

God doesnt seek for golden vessels, and does not ask
for silver ones, but He must have clean ones.

Dwight L. Moody

When I was growing up, it seemed like all grown-ups smoked, all the moms continually twirling Virginia Slims between their fingers while the dads talked with a Marlboro or Camel dangling from the corner of their mouths. They all enjoyed their cigarettes, which I gathered were probably better than what most of them smoked in the 60s. My own mom and dad, although wonderful parents in too many ways to count, fit right in with their peers and smoked at least two packs a day.

Being raised in a house filled with smoke, I was never bothered by the smell. A nonsmoking guest would have instantly identified it and likely complained, but my family thought nothing of it. Most of us probably have a smell we associate with growing up our moms pine cleaner or our dads Old Spice. For me the smell was cigarette smoke. I found it strangely comforting because it was what made home smell like home.

Since all my buddies parents also smoked, their homes had the same odor all except for Mikes house. Although I didnt know why at the time, I remember loving the way Mikes home smelled. Each time I walked in the front door, I felt like Id just entered a Sea Breeze commercial. Its hard to describe what clean smells like, but I thought Mikes mom knew the secret formula. Not only did every room sparkle, but they smelled so fresh, lemony, and bright, as if his mom had just finished dusting with Pledge before we walked in. Looking back, I know that the fresh, cool smell wasnt just the presence of air freshener but the absence of cigarette smoke. No one lit up at Mikes house.

While the health risks of smoking were well known at the time, it was a few years before the American Medical Association came out with its findings on the dangers of secondhand smoke, especially for children. Their conclusions led to a series of public service announcements that showed toddlers lighting up and puffing away and other similarly shocking scenes. No ones parents were trying to poison their family and cause health problems. Nonetheless, they unknowingly put all the people they loved including themselves at risk.

It seems funny to me now in a sad, ironic kind of way. Parents of all shapes and sizes lovingly warned their children: Look both ways before you cross the street. Put on your coat so you dont catch a cold. Wash your hands so you dont get sick. Dont get in the water until thirty minutes after youve eaten. (I still dont get that one.) Though they did everything within their power to keep us safe and protect us from harms way, many parents were unknowingly poisoning their kids with secondhand smoke.

I didnt realize how unhealthy my home was until I got outside it enough to breathe freely and experience the difference. In fact, after living in a smoke-free environment for the first time ever in my college dorm, when I returned home, I was shocked.

The walls, which I remembered as a crisp white, held a dull, yellowish tint. A pale gray film coated the air. Even when no one had a cigarette lit, an unmistakable haze filled the room and enveloped us all. And as soon as I walked in the door, the odor slapped me in the face. Instead of having the comfortable and familiar smell of my home, my old dwelling place smelled like a stale ashtray.

Upon my return to school, my roommate Spiff grimaced when I walked into our dorm room. Clearly, my clothes and duffel bag carried the musty smell of cigarette smoke. Youre rank! he shouted before throwing my bag in the hallway and telling me to shower.

My stomach sank as it dawned on me. For the first eighteen years of my life, I lived in a cloud of secondhand smoke, oblivious to how it was coating my skin, my lungs, my throat. Not only did I smell like a chimney, but I unknowingly inhaled poison on a daily basis. I didnt blame my parents; they didnt know that secondhand smoke is practically as dangerous as inhaling it firsthand. But their ignorance didnt change the reality of the situation.

Im proud to say that both my parents overcame their addiction to tobacco and did what many seem unable to do quit smoking. They recognized that something they enjoyed and accepted had the potential to harm themselves and those they loved most.

Im convinced that many of us are living in this same kind of dangerous trap with our spiritual health. We know something doesnt feel quite right, that were not growing closer to God and following Christ the way we would like, but we cant put our finger on it. Even though we believe in God and want to please him, we find it hard to serve him passionately and consistently. We want to move forward spiritually but feel like were running against the wind. We want more we know theres more but we just cant seem to find it.

Why do so many well-meaning Christians take one spiritual step forward, then slide back two? Why do we long for more of God in our lives and yet feel farther and farther away from him? Whats holding us back from growing in this relationship that we claim is our main priority?

While many factors go into answering these questions, ultimately I believe our spiritual enemy blinds us with a smoke screen of poisonous distractions. Just like I lived unaware of the smoke in my home, many people arent fully aware of the forces stunting their spiritual growth. Without realizing the impact on their faith, people embrace harmful relationships, consume toxic media, live with addictive habits, and remain oblivious to the long-term effects. We think the way we live is perfectly fine, normal, harmless, or even positive. Some people dont want to take an honest look at the way they live, claiming, What you dont know wont hurt you.

Unfortunately, this just isnt true. Many individuals who inhaled secondhand smoke not to mention all the millions of smokers have suffered permanent and painful physical effects. The truth is this: what many people dont know is not just hurting them but killing them spiritually.

Youve probably heard that if you put a frog in a kettle of water and heat the water slowly to a boil, the frog will adjust to the warming water and wont even realize that its boiling to death. How is this possible? The increase in temperature is so graduated that what feels like a warm bath at first becomes a hot tub before kicking into doubleboiler mode. By that time, its too late. The frogs body adjusts to his surroundings, never noticing that what surrounds him is draining the life out of him.

In our culture, the water temperature increases daily. Without realizing it, we slowly become acclimated to a toxic environment full of poisonous influences. As the water temperature rises, we keep pretending were soaking in a hot tub having the time of our lives, never dreaming that were scalding our souls. As we become scarred and desensitized to what is right and wrong, good and evil, life-giving and life-draining, we lose sight of our first love. We move away from God one degree at a time.

I know firsthand how this process works. Several years after becoming a Christian, I reflected on all the parts of my life that God had changed. Rather than occasionally telling other people what I thought they wanted to hear I believe thats called