Is There Such a Thing as Religion Addiction?

Religion Addiction Believe it or not, I have experienced first hand how religion can be addictive. But then anything can be carried to the extreme by overzealous practitioners of all sorts of different behaviors or activities. But those of us with addicted minds cannot limit our involvement in these behaviors - it is all or nothing. I have witnessed individuals "drunk in the Spirit" or "High on God" and heard others say that God is like a drug that needs to be tapped into for the emotional high that praise and worship can bring. I for one wanted this spiritual high and seriously contemplated selling all my possessions, giving up current relationships, and become like Jesus. In Matthew 16:24 Jesus also tells his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me". Again in In Mark 8:34 Jesus tells the people,"He said unto them, “Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me". And in Luke 9:23 Jesus is portrayed as making the statement, ""Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me". However, I came to a realization that what I was doing was unhealthy. It is a phenomena known as Religion Addiction, or being addicted to religious aspects. During research for different addictions, I found some interesting concepts about how some churches are able to actually fuel the emotions of people and foster addictive-type qualities in their "productions" or sermons. Mega Church services are one type of worship experience that some claim can be "addicting". James Hart, president of the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies, has this to say about mega church worship productions, "Ecstatic worship can be positive, nurturing the emotive side of God's relationship with us. But when ecstasy begins to dictate theology, or suggest normative behaviors, we risk falling off the plateaus of orthodoxy and orthopraxy." http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/october/is-megachurch-worship-addictive.html For more information on addiction, visit My Addicted Mind.Com