Alcohol has been a controversial issue for many years regarding the Christian faith. Questions like: Can Christians drink or is it a sin to drink beer, wine and alcohol? What about an occasional glass of wine for dinner? Or a cool beer on a hot summery day? As I looked through the scriptures there were many verses about alcohol, but none that strictly outlawed alcohol consumption. But lets take a look at all sides of the spectrum...
Jack Wellman, a christian Author, freelance writer, and pastor at the Mulvane (KS) Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas raises money for the homeless and prison ministry through many of this books. Jack is presently attending seminary at Southern California Seminary completing a masters in religious studies. He also writes for a small website called "What Christians Want to Know."
In a recent blog post "Can Christians drink alcohol" he gives many facts about the consumption of Alcohol and whether or not its a sin. Wellman examines many verses in the bible that God and many of the prophets bring up about Alcohol consumption such as:
The Bible is clear that drunkards will not inherit the
Kingdom of God. First Corinthians 6:9-10
says, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of
God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor extortionists will inherit the kingdom of God.”
The problem of drinking alcohol is not the alcohol itself
because Paul tells Timothy to “Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine
because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses” (1 Tim 5:23). Surely if alcohol was a sin, Paul would not
have recommended it to Timothy who was a pastor. There is some medical evidence
that a little wine is helpful, not only to the stomach, but for the body in
general; however, anything in excess is nothing but trouble.
Also, Isaiah addresses the effects of drunkenness by
writing, “But they also have erred through wine, And through intoxicating drink
are out of the way; The priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating
drink, [priests were not allowed to drink at all - Lev 10:9] They are swallowed
up by wine, They are out of the way through intoxicating drink; They err in
vision, they stumble in judgment” (Is 28:7).
This reminds Wellman about drunk drivers who frequently kill innocent
victims on the highway, kill themselves on deserted roads and even die from
an alcohol overdose.
Wellman continues to say that through these verses we can see that strong drink or wine in excessive
amounts is sin and leads to poor decisions and sometimes to immorality, but
this does not mean that God forbids wine and strong drink altogether. During the Feast of Tabernacles, God told
Israel that they could, “exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver
with you and go to the place the LORD your God will choose. Use the silver to buy whatever you like:
cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you
and your household shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God and
rejoice” (Duet 14:24-26). This does not
mean that they can get drunk but alcohol in moderation is permissible.
But lets check out this video "Can Christians Drink and Smoke"
According to Mario A. Russo, a christian existentialist, drinking and smoking is okay. The problem is not with alcohol and tobacco itself, but the problem comes
when our sinful addictive nature turn them into idols and we rely on alcohol
to get us through the day, to make us feel better, to drown our sorrow, numb
our senses and emotions, so we don’t feel pain anymore. Same as when you get addictive to tobacco and ruin your
health. You are physically killing yourself through the use of cigarettes. The heart is the problem
when dealing with addiction and habits. It’s a heart issue that needs to be addressed.
“God is the creator of all things and created man to make
things beneficial and pleasurable. We have freedom and liberty in Christ and can exercise
dominion over the whole earth,” Russo said. It’s our right to take things as tobacco
and turn them into cigars or cigarettes and take coffee beans and turn them
into coffee and take chocolate and turn them into candy bars.”
However, John Muncy, in full time evangelistic ministry
for over 35 years is the founder and president of Jesus Cares Ministries
since 1978, thinks very differently about Alcohol.
In the video above, Muncy attempts to call alcohol for what it is; it destroys. Muncy explains the achievements of Alexander the Great and is considered one of the most remarkable men in history. He became Pupil of Aristotle at the age of 14 and conquered many kings by the time he was 33, but was destroyed by consumption of Alcohol.
"Alcohol has left a trail of shame, death and destruction in its past and its future promises to continue to do the same," Muncy said. "Its a lying sin in our society and all the promises from TV ads, music videos, movies try to glamorous alcohol, but that is not the real world because it leaves trails of brokenness and maned lives."
So we see three sides of this issue. Yes, Christians can drink, to Christians should only drink a little bit, to no Christians are not allowed to drink at all. But who's right? Still we ask can Christians drink, is it a sin to drink alcohol?
Boose explains that people speak about the fact that in the Bible
there are many places that speak about wine in both the Old and New Testaments, in both a good light and bad light.
But then many will mention that Apostle Paul encourages Timothy to take
some wine for his stomach (1Titus 5:23), which is what Wellman explains in his blog post.
Also, there is Jesus who made wine at Cana, which is what Muncy explains in his video. But what about the example that we set as
believers, "not Christians" because today that does not mean much, but as those
who are struggling to follow Jesus.
One night, about 6 years ago, Boos was at home and was
considering having a drink, but suddenly he remembered a promise that he gave to his students, as a new Bible teacher.
"I told them that they could call me anytime,
day or night," Boos said.
Then, he realized that if
they call me and I had something to drink he would not be able to drive to
where they were, in a desperate situation (and I am not encouraging any Bible
teacher to drive to meet any student anywhere).
So, he decided not to drink that night.
Before John Boos was a Bible teacher, he began to
consider how others might see him.
"What
if I was at a restaurant with my family and one of my Bible students saw me
having a drink," Boos said. "Then, that person might
say to themselves: If John does so, then it must be okay. But its not like I drink that much.”
He then considered this next passage:
Co 8:9-13:
9 Be careful, however,
that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the
weak. 10 For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this
knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has
been sacrificed to idols? 11 So this weak brother, for whom Christ
died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12 When you sin against your
brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13
Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat
meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.
Soon after Boos made the decision to stop drinking, he found out that his father,
on a Saturday afternoon, was having a beer.
He walked down the street to speak with one of the neighbors and found out that this man had been an
Alcoholic, but has been dry for about 5 years. After all those experiences he decided to give up drinking all together.
"I
will not even taste a sip of wine or beer or any other fermented drink on any
occasion," Boos said.
"I have found that I can personally please God in this
struggle, and so by doing this I will err on the side of devotion to God."
So, for Gods kingdom's sake Boos made a personal decision to stop drinking so that others may have a chance to do what is right before God.
There's one side, there's the other, than there's the truth.
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