Do Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll Really Satisfy?

I chose drugs because they looked fun. I chose to push religion away because it didn’t. I figured most of the normal world was evolving past religion anyway. I figured I might as well do the same. It would take me years before I found out that drugs and sex were their own sorry version of the rat race of endless marathons of promises that failed to deliver. After fifteen years of trying to fit in, I finally admitted I did not know how to fit into a world like this, so I joined the rebellion. My personal glory and pleasure were ultimate, and the entire idea of God was stopping me from getting it. So, I ignored Him, amplified my doubts, and allowed my vision to become clouded by all the things I desired most.

Aldous Huxley once said, “I had motive for not wanting the world to have a meaning…the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation, sexual and political” [47]. By evicting God from our worldview, we free ourselves to commit every form of wicked atrocity our sinful heart’s desire. In doing so, however, we are admitting simultaneously that our entire existence is void of any form of purpose or meaning.

Does ignoring God or pretending He does not exist change the fact of His existence, or does it only change the extent to which our minds are rooted in reality? If He does exist, He exists and we will face Him one day. If He does not exist, we will still face the immediate consequences of our actions. Whether God exists or not, any person who pursues these worldly pleasures for long will find that they enslave more than they liberate and never satisfy for long. While it is relatively easy to ignore God, it is much more difficult to ignore the conscience He has installed at the core of every human being that throbs even as we sedate it with seduction and substances.

“Every one of them is without God and does sinful things. Every mouth speaks foolish words. Even with all this, His anger does not turn away. His hand is still held out. For sin burns like a fire. It burns thistles and thorns. It sets the woods on fire, and they go up in smoke. The land is burned up by the anger of the Lord, and the people are like wood for the fire. No man shows pity on his brother. They take what is on the right hand but still are hungry. They eat what is in the left hand but are not filled. Each of them eats the flesh of his own children.”

—Isaiah 9:17-20

Discussion Questions

Have you, at times, ever rejected or been angry with God because people who were supposed to represent Him hurt you in some way?

How did what they taught you at school influence your worldview and your understanding of God?

Does it surprise you that the primary reason people reject God is so they can reject morality and do whatever they want?

Does ignoring or rejecting God in order to satisfy short term desires actually lead to a better life, or does it lead to misery and bondage?

If God is real, won’t they have to face Him anyway? Won’t ignoring Him now only make things worse both in the short-term and the long run?