Saved from Sobriety: How Brett Smith Got Sober but Realized That Wasn't Enough

About this episode

Brett Smith shares his journey from alcoholism to sobriety and the realization that true freedom comes from faith in Jesus rather than just sobriety.

“The only thing that had changed was the object of my worship—I went from worshiping alcohol to worshiping sobriety.” Those are the words of Brett Smith. For years, Brett struggled with alcoholism, eventually finding sobriety through the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. He did everything right. He worked the program. He sponsored other guys. He carried the message. He went to meetings religiously. He even became the self-described “poster boy” for AA and a disciple of the Big Book. From the outside, his life looked great. But something didn’t sit right. As Brett began to pursue Jesus more seriously, he couldn’t shake a growing tension between what he was reading in Scripture and what he was preaching in AA: the language, the framework, the idea of a “higher power”—while it all claimed to be faith-filled, it wasn't really pointing to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Eventually, he realized that despite being sober, he hadn’t actually been set free. Instead, he had just swapped addictions and started worshipping sobriety. In this honest conversation, Brett brings a warning that many are hesitant to say out loud…

People in this episode

Host: Jon Seidl

Guest: Brett Smith

Topics covered

• alcoholism
• sobriety
• faith
• recovery
• Christianity
• spirituality

Keywords

• alcoholism
• sobriety
• faith
• recovery
• Christianity
• 12 steps
• spirituality
• AA
• Big Book

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Alcoholics Anonymous

Books & works: Big Book

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