Sobriety

To be sober is to not be intoxicated or dulled by substances or activities, but also marked by a certain seriousness and earnestness in life. In 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul uses the metaphors of sleep and drunkenness to examine the state of our spiritual lives.

A close look at the biblical teaching on alcohol provides a diagnostic for spiritual sobriety. On the one hand, drunkenness is destructive; on the other, alcohol is deemed a gift of God. Is the lesson simply moderation? Not exactly. Harmonizing the tension shows us what we are looking for when we imbibe on anything and expect it to give us ultimate satisfaction. Holding the two truths simultaneously reveals that to be sober is not the same as being somber. Rather, spiritual sobriety is confident, celebratory, and conscious of the glory of God in Christ.