1 Peter 1:13 – Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
If you have ever tried to have a meaningful conversation with a drunk person you know that it is not just difficult, but impossible. A drunk person makes no sense and no matter how emotionally and loud they try and communicate, it’s still all nonsense.
The opposite of being drunk is being sober. Peter tells us that just as people can have a drunk body, we can also have a drunk mind. Since he is writing to a church, this must mean that even God’s people who are sober in their body can be drunk in their mind. In our age of social media mobs armed with hashtags as weapons, every day starting not with breakfast but rather the latest outrage, and social shaming as the world’s newest favorite pastime, it seems the drunk minds are winning.
For the Christian, there are five things that will help your mind stay sober:
- Worshipping includes thinking
- Thinking precedes doing
- Mindless Christianity is a problem
- Mindless people fall into mob mentality led by shouting instead of the Spirit
- Mindful Christianity is our only hope
The drunk mind is, like the drunk body, rather lazy. Most people who are physically drunk tend not to run marathons, work overtime at their job with efficient results, or head to the gym for a workout. Likewise, most people with a drunk mind don’t do much research, dig deeply into an issue, or think about it for longer than a nanosecond before responding. In our age of limited character counts, pithy hashtags, and photos from social media influencers, you can safely assume that most of what is said is a lot more like the end of Mardi Gras than the kingdom of God. The key for God’s people is to constantly seek to be sober minded and the equivalent of the designated driver for friends and family who have a drunk mind.
How is it going for you to be sober minded in personal relationships and online during these crazy times?
To download the free e-book ODD LIFE: Good God which is a study in 1 Peter for individuals, groups, and families from Pastor Mark click HERE. To listen to Pastor Mark’s 9 sermons on 1 Peter preached in the summer of 2020, click HERE. These and other resources are made possible by our ministry partners who support Real Faith as a Bible teaching ministry of Mark Driscoll Ministries to whom we say THANK YOU!