Christians and Drinking

This post warrants a disclaimer: I do not intend to encourage or endorse the excessive drinking of alcohol. If you have a history with alcohol did not under any circumstance lead yourself into temptation. I will not have your blood on my hands.

I have had some good and not so good discussions with some people recently about whether or not Christians should be allowed to drink or not. Obviously if your breaking the law, you should not be drinking whether your a Christian or not.

I have a problem with the normal pat christian answers for stuff like this,”Oh, don’t drink it’s a gate way to alcoholism.” You know that is true for some folks, I don’t intend to argue that. My problem is as christians we owe a better answer then it’s bad. The Bible says it’s bad. You see how weak that is.

So I embarked on a short study of the subject. I do not claim to have done an exhaustive study. The study actually confused me more then answered my question. So with out trying to lose every fiber of respect people have for me here it is.

I do not believe that drinking in it self is a sin. There I said it. To me sin requires motive. “Why did I do this.” So the next question is: Is my motive for drinking pure? uh…um….I can’t really answer that. I mean sometimes I just want to drink a beer. Other times I have had a stressful day at work and want to unwind. Still other times I with people who are drinking and decide to join in.

I suppose I could list reasons for a while, but I think you’d rather me continue.

One has to point out that there is a flaw in the arguement. There are places were the drinking can take the place of God. And what do we call that class “idolatry,” very good.

I do think that there may be an appropriate time and place, but it can very easily be taken to an extreme. If you are in ministry you shouldn’t drink. I do agree with that. The Bible says that teachers will be held to a higher standard. You are examples to people far weaker then you, especially in youth ministry.

I think we also have to take into account that we have to seriously consider our justification for such things. I won’t blanket judge people, but I have noticed that sometimes people will talk about all their reasons why they should be allowed to do something and rarely think about the reasons they shouldn’t do them.

1Co 6:12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful.
“All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything.

Obviously I didn’t talk about drunkenness because you can’t argue that it’s ever ok to be drunk. I do also feel like I am leaving this open a little, but I believe this is something that anyone struggling with this needs to pray about as I have been doing.

Here’s some verses that may help. Please study them for relavence, I will admit some could be taken out of context.

Isa 29:9 Astonish yourselves and be astonished; blind yourselves and be blind! Be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not with strong drink!

This verse centers mainly on being “drunk in the Spirit.”

Joh 2:9-11 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

Ok the water into wine thing, there’s an arguement that states that this is actually grape juice and not fermented wine. I’m sorry to say this but that makes absolutely no sense if you take this in context with scripture. Every passage that talks about wine in the Bible refers to drunkenness of some sort. And why would the poor wine be left to after the good wine. Maybe because everyone was to drunk to care what it tasted like. And lastly, they didn’t have a perserving process for grape juice in those days so after a week of being stored it was already fermenting.

Luk 1:15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.

This verse was the only verse I came across that said anything about no drinking at all. This instruction is given to John the Baptist’s parents. People still though he was crazy.

Rom 14:21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.

This is a legitamate concern, you don’t want to cause another brother to fall into sin be cause of your behaviour.

Eph 5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

Again, a verse pointing out that don’t get drunk, but choose God

1Ti 3:8 Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain.

Here we see that deacons and I say any leader in a religious organization should not be drinking at least getting drunk, but it stands to reason that drinking should be avoided.

1Ti 5:23 (No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.)

I was glad to find this last verse, because it’s often over looked that wine and even beer are in fact sources of nutrients. Yeah I’m claiming that they may be healthy in moderation.
You can make the argument that highly caffeinated beverages, and beverages high in sugar are more damaging to the body then alcohol in moderation.
Alcohol does cause liver damage and other health issues, but most if not all stem from over consumption. Caffeine in average doses has been linked to heart disease and attention defecit disorder. High fructose corn syrup (sugar) is a leading cause of diabetes in America where it has become our next great epidemic. The disturbing thing is, that this isn’t people drinking a 2-liter bottle a day, it’s people like you and I that have a can or two, or a 20 oz. bottle a day.

I can hear people already clamoring, “Your defending drinking.” In a way i probably am to some degree, but there is a bigger issue. If we say drinking is wrong because God says so, then you need to show me Biblically. If you make the case that it’s bad for you while your drinking your Pepsi then I say so is your Pepsi.

Hear me when I say this though, a strong case can be made that drinking although lawful,is not profitable. Like anything, you must must must hear God and I leave myself open to being wrong.