The recent death of a popular singer has triggered a maelstrom of reaction from fans and celebrities to the medical community and law enforcement officials. Liam Payne of the group One Direction killed himself by jumping off a balcony at an Argentina resort on October 16, 2024. Toxicology showed that he was high on a drug called “Pink Cocaine” or “Tuci (2C)”. But Payne wasn’t the only victim; he was just the most recently visible. In 2021, 2,600 overdose deaths in the US were attributed to Tuci; in 2022, the number was 3,026. Never heard of Pink Cocaine? That’s because it’s been around for only six years, created as a cocktail of depressants and stimulants, and joining a host of such party drugs designed to deal death to the user. Remember Diddy Combs, the music mogul charged with sexual trafficking and assault? He is currently accused of requiring all his staff to carry Tuci to distribute to others. These new drugs are so potent that regular doses of Naloxone (the drug used to counter overdose deaths) make no impact. Death comes swiftly with nothing to help.
As I ponder this latest onslaught on the lives of people, I am reminded of the phrase used by Paul to describe our world as the arrival of the anti-Christ closes in: “from bad to worse.” While previous illicit drugs seek to create “a nation of addicts”, drugs like Tuci seem to focus on addicting people as quickly as possible, and then killing them off as soon as possible. Somehow, it doesn’t make sense to kill off your consumer market. The only reason such a “business” model could work would be if the purpose is to send as many people as possible and as quickly as possible to a Christless eternity. The battle, it seems, is not about money but souls. Back to Paul’s phrase, the entire passage reads like today’s news: “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:12-13). So what is our response to this? Let’s follow Paul’s message again: “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, acquaint [yourself] with the Word of God, which is able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:14-15). To be certain, Tuci will be superseded by something more deadly in the coming days. Wars will become more efficient at killing people; gangs will become more violent. Things will get from bad to worse. But the battle is not of the flesh. It’s spiritual. And we would do well to keep ourselves and those we love spiritually strong.
Just Church
Here at Just Church, we are called to be “people of the gospel”: “The vision of Just Church is to establish a church in just the way Christ called the church to be – true to His Word, loving Him, loving one another, and loving the lost.”
