Are you drunk?

As he looked at Hannah in the temple, the thought that crossed Eli’s mind was, “Are you drunk?”

As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli watched her mouth, for Hannah was praying silently; though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli, thinking she was drunk, said to her, “How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Sober up from your wine!” – 1 Samuel 1:12-14 (NABRE)

As my spiritual journey became more intense, my mother, not quite understanding what was happening to me, didn’t think that I was drunk, oh no, not at all did that ever cross her mind; she thought that I was staring mad. She called all my siblings to let them know that I had gone crazy, as I was displaying definite signs of mental illness.

Hannah wasn’t drunk and I was not going insane, what Eli and my mother were witnessing was the transformative power of God at work within us as we connected to His presence.

Apostle Paul put it this way,

Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. – Ephesians 5:18-20 (NLT)

When you make that connection, you can’t help but give Him praise and it’s really not up to you the manner in which that praise will manifest. What Eli mistook for Hannah being drunk with wine, was praise continually in her mouth (ref. Psalm 34:1) as she continuously whispered prayers to God.

Being spiritually drunk can have a similar effect as being naturally drunk; that’s what happened on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) when the Holy Spirit first appeared just as the prophet Joel had prophesied.

When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place

Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them

Their heads were spinning; they couldn’t make head or tail of any of it. They talked back and forth, confused: “What’s going on here?” Others joked, “They’re drunk on cheap wine.”

 That’s when Peter stood up and, backed by the other eleven, spoke out with bold urgency;

”These people aren’t drunk as some of you suspect.”  (MSG)

Are you drunk?

We are encouraged to drink spiritual wine to the full. This spiritual wine is the new life in Jesus that is to be consumed as we abide in Him.

In Mark 2:22 Jesus said, New wine needs fresh wineskins (MSG); that’s because old wineskins can’t contain new wine. Jesus used this analogy in His response to a question posed to him by a group of people.

“Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”   (v 18)

Now, Jesus, speaking of wineskins, in one sense was referring to the human body as a vessel but broader than that, the church as the Body of Christ; the new wine isn’t only the new life in Christ we are given as a New Covenant promise but is also the new wine of the gospel of Christ Jesus.

Jesus was accustomed to the ploys employed by the Pharisees and religious leaders in their constant attempts to entrap Him so, He always remained a step ahead of them with responses that highlighted their religious sanctimony.

They disapproved and scoffed at the new way of teaching that Jesus had introduced; it was unlike the old pharisaic approach to religion. While their way was designed to restrain, constrain and control the masses, Jesus was preaching freedom.

to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free – Luke 4:18 (NABRE) [also Isaiah 61:1]

The gospel of the Kingdom (new wine) could not fit into the Pharisees’ religious paradigm (old wineskin). This applies to us as individuals and expands to the broader congregation as the church.

The new wine of the gospel speaks of an authentic spiritual life; it’s not about public rituals and religious traditions handed down over generations. The new wine of the gospel cannot fit within the restraints of the old wineskin ways.

We have built structures of religious beliefs and traditions that confine us and prevent us from properly receiving the freedom that Christ brought to the world. These old mindsets are so ingrained in us that we are unable to accept new ideas. Subconsciously, we resist change and have a difficult time responding positively to anything that is outside of our comfort zones, yet we expect new results, while our behaviours remain mired in sameness.

The truth is, our wineskins must be changed if we are to experience the new wine – the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. – John 4:24 (ESV)

We seem to believe that after that original Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), there was nothing left to be done so, that is where we have unsaddled the horses and left them in the stables; the church was birthed but it is still going through its stages of growth. God is still doing new things, He isn’t done, there are prophecies to be fulfilled and unfulfilled promises remain promises still to come true.

But we wait for what God has promised: new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness will be at home. – 2 Peter 3:13 (GNT)

Are you drunk?

Wineskins would become redundant without the wine they are meant to hold. Wineskins are the point of contact between the wine and the world. As wineskins, we are God’s agents here on earth. Though secondary to the wine itself, we are necessary and useful and play an essential part in the outpouring of the new wine of the gospel which is potent.

The gospel of Christ has always been a message of newness and renewal in every age, however some of us have not grasped that the format that was used in the church canon of the 1800’s must be revised to successfully fulfil the Great Commission in the twenty first century.

If the way we evangelize and carry out missions no longer works, then we need to stop trying to pour new wine into old wineskins as both the wine and the skins will be ruined.

Understand, the gospel does not change but it does produce change therefore the wineskins must change as time passes. The relationship between the wine and the wineskins is greatly compromised as more and more wineskins refuse to be replaced.

Pitifully, we aren’t even trying to place new wine into old wineskins, we are still using the old wine and the old wineskins, while the new wine sits unattended on the countertop waiting to be poured out into new wineskins that are yet to be acquired.

The old wineskins of outdated models, obsolete theologies, outmoded traditions, dilapidated institutional ideas and old habits cannot hold the new wine of the gospel. We need to recognize that if the way we've always done things isn't working, perhaps the focus is more on tradition and less on Jesus. The old traditions are not adequate to hold the gospel of Christ.

The wineskins of traditions, structures and patterns of doing things which have grown up around the gospel are secondary, manmade and subsidiary. The gospel is primary, God-ordained and central. Those things that were initially created by man to aid in the spreading of the gospel eventually become obstacles. It is not farfetched to suppose that one of the greatest stumbling blocks to the gospel may be us, the church itself.

Too many of us haven’t perceived the new thing.

See, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? – Isaiah 43:19 (NABRE)

Are you drunk?

When the new wine of the divine gospel touches human hearts, new wineskins are the result. When faith grows, the old wineskins burst. Wineskins are bursting and yet the church refuses to acknowledge the truth of their worsening state.

The gospel is the new and living way (Hebrews 10:20) but the church is stuck in an old way of life.

Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” – Matthew 15:1-2 (ESV)

Jesus was not obeying their traditions.

He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? – Matthew 15:3 (ESV)

Jesus shifted the focus from the manmade traditions to the commands of God.

God said, ‘You must respect your father and mother.’ And God also said, ‘Whoever says anything bad to their father or mother must be killed.’ But you teach that a person can say to their father or mother, ‘I have something I could use to help you. But I will not use it for you. I will give it to God.’  You are teaching them not to respect their father. So you are teaching that it is not important to do what God said. You think it is more important to follow those traditions you have. You are hypocrites! – Matthew 15:4-7 (ERV)

The gospel was new in the church founders’ day, and it is new in our day, and it will be new in the days to come. The gospel of Christ is still new, but too many have not grasped that (Isaiah 42:9).

In the same way that God put a new song in David’s mouth (Psalm 40:3), He has put a new song in the church, but many are still singing an old tune. The church was never meant to be static, stationary and stagnant, bound to traditions made by men of old that have no bearing on the way of life in changing times. The history of the church and of Christianity bears witness to this truth.

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” – Revelation 21:5 (GNT)

Are you drunk?

The church wants to conserve the old, but the power of the gospel cannot be constrained, it is designed to burst forth into the world, that is the nature of the divine.

There must be no restraints; the old wineskins are designed to bind the gospel, that is the nature of humanity.

Renewal is constantly happening in nature and it’s no different with the gospel; renewing, not in its structure but its impact.

The more we understand it, the greater its impact – the wine of the gospel affects our perspective, our thinking, our lives, our world anew again and again.

It was the power of God then and is the power of God now and will continue to be the power of God forever.

I have complete confidence in the gospel; it is God's power to save all who believe, first the Jews and also the Gentiles. – Romans 1:16 (GNT)

The new wine will never stop bursting old wineskins. The new wine is meant to be poured out as we must be poured out, one vessel into another, giving of ourselves lest we get in the way of others reaching Jesus, lose our taste and become unfit for drinking like Moab (see Jeremiah 48:11-12).

Are you drunk?

Beloved, well-preserved wineskins are still old wineskins no matter how well preserved they may be; it’s definitely not about the fermentation of the new wine, for the wine is not the problem, it’s the wineskin that needs to be replaced.

Holding tight to traditions that no longer work simply because “That’s what we’ve always done” is foolhardy and leads to spiritual stagnation. We cannot continue putting an Old Testament spin onto the New Testament dynamic.

Amen †

Shelley Johnson “Are you drunk?” © 2026 July 15, 2026