Mess it Up Show 419 - Adroit

Mess it Up Show 419 - Adroit

What can we learn from those who have battled addiction? Mess It Up Show 419 finds the Bow Tie Guy flying solo, chatting directly with people in recovery and anyone curious about faith, sobriety, and second chances. The tone is relaxed and a bit playful, but the themes go deep.

Kicking off with the "word of the week" – *adroit* – he has fun challenging you to use it in sentences for bonus points, while sneaking in a reminder to be more skilful with love and kindness. From there, the conversation shifts to something much heavier: his mum’s upcoming clinical trial for macular degeneration, and what clinical trials can show us about Christianity and recovery.

He compares faith and recovery to a structured clinical trial, complete with real treatment and placebos. Some people, he says, get a "placebo Jesus" – a brief emotional boost after a crisis, like the surge of men who came to Bible study in jail right after 9/11, only to drift back to old habits. That leads into a tough but honest question: if someone claims to accept Christ but nothing in their life changes, has anything actually happened?

Along the way, he talks about hitting "rock bottom" and then finding a "sub-basement", the danger of grabbing the steering wheel back from Jesus, and the importance of consistency – keeping up meetings, church, and connection even when life feels better.

A lyric from Jamie McDonald’s song "My Family" sparks a reflection on how "only Jesus" can "rewrite my history", turning him from the "nefarious bad guy" into the unlikely hero of his own story and widening his idea of family beyond DNA. If you like recovery talk wrapped in humour, honesty, and a lot of Jesus, this one asks you to think: are you on the real medicine, or just the placebo?