On Being “Drunk in the Spirit”

What do I mean by that term?

I realize there’s certain things that if I say them here on blogger, they will automatically conjure up caricatures of charismatics and their lingo, when I’m probably not using the terms in the traditional manner of which they’re usually used. In fact, I wrote about 80% of this entry in one sitting (which is typical of many of my entries, then I just go over them later and insert the Scriptures I was referring to once I find them). And after looking up something on the history of the Brownsville Revival, Dr. Brown’s firing and the subsequent birthing of FIRE school and church ministries, I found plenty of fundamental baptist sites totally trashing this aspect of the charismatic lifestyle, in my opinion based on tremendous misunderstandings. But those type of people will always be there to trash things they don’t even try to understand. (As a sidenote it’s amusing to me how many “heresy hunters” out there totally trashed Brownsville based on rumors and false report, always admitting to have never visited for themselves. Psha!)

So here I go, I speak from experience and Scripture with no concern for what other people think. When one has an experience that someone or others have not, the person with the experience is not arrogant for sharing it and wanting others to experience something amazing that they have. That’s simple and a part of life.

There’s one real verse in the New Testament I think that really deals with this, and one that I know of off of the top of my head in the Old Testament that I glean this idea from. The skeptic of charismatic renewal and revival movements rightly points to verses in the New Testament about calls to soberness to ‘debunk being drunk in the spirit.’ Such verses include 1 Thess. 5:6,8; 1 Tim. 3:2,11; Titus 1:8; 2:2,4,6; 1 Pet. 1:13; 4:7; 5:8. But they are really beside the point I’m getting to.

In 1 Sammuel 1, when Elkanah and his barren wife Hannah went to offer sacrifices, and she was praying for a son, and committing him to the Lord:

“As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli observed her mouth.
Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman.
And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put away your wine from you.”
But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD.
Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.” 1 Samuel 1: 12-16

And the other I will touch on–the more known and quoted reference–is in Ephesians 5:18, but I will post a few verses surrounding it for context:

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart,
giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Ephesians 5:17-21

The Message says of being filled with the Spirit “Don’t drink too much wine. That cheapens your life. Drink the Spirit of God, huge draughts of him.“ And the International Standard version says “keep on being filled with the Spirit.”

The point I want to bring out using these couple of passages is how Hannah was mistaken for being drunk in her desperation, and in this passage in Ephesians, how there’s a correlation/similarity implied in the contrast between being drunk on wine, versus being filled with the Spirit. Looking at various translations bring that distinction out.

But the phrase “drunk in the Spirit” doesn’t actually occur in most or any texts. I still think it’s harmless to use the catchphrase anyway, since there are plenty of other Christian catchphrases we use just as much or more anyway that don’t have a specific foundation in the Bible either, but I digress.

Like alcohol in a drunk person’s system, being filled with the Spirit has an empowering to the believer that “numbs” you to the cares of this world. I don’t like it when–and I even cringe when–I listen to people throw the term “drunk in the Spirit” around to indicate wild spiritual behavior in public meetings or things like that. Which, I guess I don’t oppose completely, I just think it fuels the fires for outsiders to think charismatics are flakes and when that becomes the focus, we miss it.

What I mean by ‘drunk in the Spirit’ when I use that term, is that I’m so built up in my spirit in God, that nothing in this life or in the “real world” hurts me or affects me–I’m grounded and feeding on Him and His Word and His Spirit, His presence, etc.. and those things alone–not the dope of this world. Kinda like how a drunk person can be so inebriated, that they don’t notice it if you beat them or throw things at them or if they trip and fall and stumble, it doesn’t hurt them because of the numbing effect of the alcohol on their senses.

The mistake we traditionally make in this sacred cow, is believing and acting like the correlation Paul is making between being drunk on wine and filled with the Spirit lies in behavior alone. Really, I think, and this is my opinion from experience and reading the verse in context, it’s how we “relate” to our lives and each other.

Another similarity to keep in mind: We are in control of how much of both we allow into our lives. The carnal man chooses how many drinks he will have and how drunk he will allow himself to get, or at least, maybe if he’s got a problem and is “not in control”, but still–he chooses to get drunk or not to. The spiritual man is always in charge of how much he will get filled with the Spirit. At least in the sense that he can seek, and ask for and find. We choose to go on in God or to remain apathetic in our walks with Him. In neither situation does man get overpowered by an outside force pushing itself on him to get drunk on wine or forcing him to be filled or “drunk” with the Spirit of God.

Maybe I won’t tie in Hannah praying to the subject other than to say, in the same way, despite circumstances, and her barreness, she still cried out to God and connected with Him in such a way, that she got her miracle answer, but in the process was mistaken for being drunk.

Let’s go deeper in God, and see the cares of this life not affecting us, no matter how we look to those around us.

Those are my two cents.