Is A.D.D. a Sin?

00:00:05.000 | We get a lot of questions and emails about anxiety disorders and ADD, attention deficit disorder.

00:00:11.000 | One listener asks if ADD is simply a mental disorder or is there sin mixed in here?

00:00:16.000 | And last time in episode 281, you addressed anxiety, but you wanted to save ADD for a whole 'nother episode,

00:00:21.000 | so let's talk about that today. What would you say about this disorder?

00:00:27.000 | The first thing I'd say, I'm thinking back now that what I said in the last podcast about anxiety

00:00:35.000 | and the use of natural strategies as well as spiritual strategies to both cope and flourish in our own limitations,

00:00:44.000 | that applies here big time as well. Let's start with the definition.

00:00:51.000 | This is really big, and I have some exposure to it personally, and I've read some about it,

00:00:58.000 | so this is my best shot. I'm not an expert in ADD, but here's what I understand it to be.

00:01:04.000 | ADD, attention deficit disorder, goes by other names as well, sometimes ADHD,

00:01:12.000 | is a brain configuration that presents unusual challenges because of a combination of deficient focus and hyperfocus.

00:01:27.000 | In other words, adults, there are whole books on adult ADD as well as children.

00:01:33.000 | We usually think of it as kids, you know, acting out in school and certainly,

00:01:37.000 | a brain condition that may focus intensely on one thing for hours and be utterly oblivious of a whole bunch of other things.

00:01:48.000 | So there's a combination of hyperfocus and deficient focus, and I would say this condition in the brain,

00:01:57.000 | and I suspect it is physiological, I don't know how all that works in terms of the way the brain is patterned over time

00:02:06.000 | as a child, but yes, dimensions of physical shaping in the brain has all the marks of the fall,

00:02:14.000 | like all of our brains, and their deficiencies. I mean, you can think of all kinds of conditions

00:02:21.000 | that are physically affected by the nature of the brain, and that's because the brain is affected by the fall,

00:02:30.000 | and yet, I would say that a structurally different brain is not an act of sin.

00:02:39.000 | So that's the question sometimes, is it a sin to be ADD? And I'm saying no, but like all brains,

00:02:50.000 | the ADD brain will be prone to sin in certain ways. That's the way to think about it.

00:02:57.000 | And so, like all of us, John Piper is prone to sin in certain ways, that Tony Ranke is not prone to sin,

00:03:05.000 | because the way my genetic makeup, my background, inclines me to struggle with certain things

00:03:11.000 | that you don't struggle with and vice versa. The saint with ADD, I like the sound of that,

00:03:18.000 | the saint, yes, the saint with ADD will need the grace and humility, it seems to me, to take steps

00:03:28.000 | to fight the peculiar ways that ADD inclines him or her to sin. For example, it's not a sin, I don't think,

00:03:37.000 | to forget a task or to fail to see clutter. But it is a sin when wise and loving people give suggestions

00:03:50.000 | to how you might compensate for a weakness, and your pride or your self-sufficiency rejects them.

00:03:59.000 | This is the interplay between the soul and the brain. This is where the gospel of Jesus is always relevant

00:04:08.000 | to our physical conditions. The gospel may not change the structure of the brain, but it will humble the heart

00:04:14.000 | to be receptive to counsel and practical help that God has provided in the body of Christ

00:04:21.000 | and in the natural resources of the world. So the spiritual transformation of the heart's humility

00:04:29.000 | through faith in Christ can make all the difference in the world how happily and fruitfully a person with ADD lives.

00:04:39.000 | So in real life, the way ADD and other syndromes work out is that the physical and the spiritual are woven together.

00:04:49.000 | We are never only physical or only spiritual. Every one of us should strive to know ourselves

00:04:58.000 | and our peculiar bent towards sinning. It's always influenced by physical reality as well as spiritual.

00:05:06.000 | And then we should embrace, by grace, through faith, embrace all the means of grace

00:05:12.000 | and seek to live our humble, loving, helpful lives within the limits and the temptations that we have.

00:05:22.000 | Good. Thank you, Pastor John. And we'll follow up and talk more tomorrow about antidepressants and sleep patterns, diet, and exercise.

00:05:29.000 | Until then, please email your questions to us at AskPastorJohn@DesiringGod.org.

00:05:34.000 | And you can visit us online at DesiringGod.org to find thousands of books, articles, sermons, and other resources from John Piper, all free of charge.

00:05:40.000 | I'm your host, Tony Ranke. We'll see you tomorrow.

00:05:43.000 | [end]

00:05:46.000 | [end]

00:05:49.000 | [BLANK_AUDIO]

Is A.D.D. a Sin?

Chapters