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Drunk and Honest

Drunk and Honest

JULY 26, 2023

/ Articles / Drunk and Honest

One time, when they were young, we took our granddaughters to Disney World for a “character dinner.”

As we ate dinner, all the Disney characters (Mickey, Pluto and the rest) made their way around, greeting everybody and posing for photos. Our granddaughters loved it. They were running around, hugging the characters, jumping up and down, and yelling along with the other 5,000 (it seemed like that many) children.

I forgot to mention that they also gave the children as many free desserts as they wanted…

I sat there with thoughts of committing homicide on Mickey Mouse when the waitress came up to take our drink order. I ordered an iced tea. The waitress said, without even smiling, “Sir, excuse me for saying this, but you could handle this better drunk.”

Well, I don’t drink alcoholic beverages. It’s one of the few sins about which I can feel self-righteous. (Everybody needs at least one.)

But ever wonder what would happen if we all got drunk and honest? (No, I’m not advocating that so don’t send me letters. I probably shouldn’t have said it, but…)

Paul said, “Having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another” (Ephesians 4:25).

Maybe we would be honest about our sin.

James wrote, “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another…” (James 5:16). I think there should be a sense of propriety about specifics but if we were a little plastered maybe we would stop acting like we were outsiders of the human race.

I have a pastor friend who opens his worship services with a welcome to visitors. “We’re glad you’re here,” he says. “This is the local chapter of Sinners Anonymous.” That is so good…and so true.

Ever wonder what would happen if we all got drunk and honest?

I often wonder how many people avoid the church because they think that it’s only a place for good people. It’s not. None of us are good.

Maybe we would be honest about our feelings.

Can you imagine the shock of the Christians who heard Paul tell Peter what he thought about Peter’s hypocrisy? “But when Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face…But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all…” (Galatians 2:11-14).

I don’t think that we ought to always say what we think…but I do think that sometimes we just might die of “niceness.”

Our oldest granddaughter was once with us as a lot of adults sat around talking after dinner. She sat by quietly and well-behaved, writing on a pad of paper. Later, after putting the children to bed, we picked up her papers and noticed that she had written on one of them “I AM BORD.” What if we were that honest?

Maybe the church would be a better place if we said what we really thought. Maybe the sermons would get better and we wouldn’t have so many meetings. Could be that we would eliminate a whole lot of stuff we keep doing “just because” and do some things that would be effective and bring glory to the King.

Maybe we would be honest about our need.

The Bible says, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). You can’t “bear” until you “share.”

If I were really honest I might tell you how lonely I feel in a crowd. I might tell you about my insecurity and fear of shame. I might admit that I’m not as good as you think I am or as I seem to be in my books. I might come clean about always being afraid of saying something stupid. I might tell you how little I actually know…so much so that it’s insane anybody listens to me about anything.

Then maybe you would hug me and tell me that it would be all right.

You too?

Then I would hug you and tell you that, because of Jesus, it would be all right.

Honesty is a good thing. And maybe we don’t have to be drunk to get there.

Steve Brown

Steve Brown

Steve is the Founder of Key Life Network, Inc. and Bible teacher on the national radio program Key Life.

Steve Brown's Full Bio
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