debauchery

debauchery - n. excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures; intemperance

"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit."
- Ephesians 5:18

Anyone who knows me will probably tell you that I am the last person who is probably going to get drunk on wine.. or anything else for that matter. I made this little pinky promise to my sister when I was like 9 or 8 or something. She said, "Promise me you'll never drink or smoke."

And yes, till this day, I have yet to drink or smoke. Except secondhand smoke. I think I ruined my lungs on that (okay, not ruined, but I can definitely tell you at one point they were blacker than they should be).

Perhaps it's been good all along, and yes, I look like an angel child, but it's made me super judgmental. Go a year back, and if I had seen the verse above in the Bible I would've used it to expel the fierce spirits of liquor and death from my friends in college. Drinking is the devil. It is. Really.

Yet things have changed. I have a different, less legalistic perspective now. The first thing that came to my mind when I read that verse was that I think I get drunk on myself sometimes. Sometimes, I love and crave attention so much that I will seriously get drunk on an adrenaline high of myself to be some crazy freak, and I'm sure people can testify to that. Chris the "not-drunk, but seriously acting like he is" guy. And yes, it does lead to "debauchery." (See definition above.) And to caution you on the definition, "sensual" refers to my senses feeling good, not the different kind of "sensual" that you probably don't want to imagine right now, but as this sentence goes on you're imagining more and more of... Okay, not constructive. 

But anyway, yes, I get high, I get drunk on myself because I'm so self important. I am my own drug. And if you told me that a year ago I would've told you to go check yourself in a mirror and look at the bags under your own eyes. You FILTHY DRUNK HYPOCRITE (would have been going through my mind). Chris was dumber back then. (And still dumb, but a little less so. Thank God for that.)

"Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial."
- 1 Corinthians 10:23

This doesn't mean I suddenly think alcohol and drugs and cigarettes are all wonderful things. I think they can be good things. Maybe I'm sitting at a table, (over 21 of course, because you know I'm a goody-two-shoes law-abiding citizen), with a beer in my hand having a good conversation with a buddy as we're just chilling out. That is not a bad thing. But it can definitely be bad. If it's debaucherous. I think we all know what we're talking about.

But other things are like that too. Video games, sports, whatever... I get drunk on some anger and competitiveness and I hate it when Michigan loses to Ohio State but oh well, what are you gonna do about it now and why does it matter so much? I mean it's not a bad thing in itself but really, it's really sad to make it so important. Grades, studying.. when it becomes the center of everything it is harmful.  A 3.0 is not going to shatter your world, by any means.

Religion, church.. when it becomes about the legalism and the rules and the impressing of people, it is perhaps worse than alcohol. Because at least there's a negative social stigma attached to alcohol. People will never tell you you're getting messed up by being so holy and praying (or pretending) and going to church. You're lost down a path that no one will come save you, sometimes. It's just dangerous. Religiosity for the sake of religiosity is the worst deception ever created (at least for me).

But of course all these things can be good, again. Video games (bonding time), sports (bonding time, staying healthy), Michigan beating Ohio State (praise God time), grades, studying (learning to glorify God and use our gifts and knowledge for His kingdom), religion, church (learning how to discipline ourselves to come into God's presence day after day, to serve Him and to grow as a community centered around knowing Christ)... and yeah. The examples could go on, but the point here is...

I just gave you a complete sermon without standing in front of a podium. You just got punk'd.

And the One Thing is, let's not get involved in debauchery anymore. Whatever form that takes. It's just stupid.