Having a Drink

There is hardly a more controversial topic among Southern Christians, especially Baptists, than the subject of alcohol consumption.  Now I don't mean drinking to the point of getting drunk...the Bible is crystal clear on that point.  I just mean having the occasional beer, glass of wine, or mixed drink.  According to some, the Bible is also crystal clear on that point as well, forbidding any consumption of alcohol for any reason other than possibly "medicinal purposes."  As you might guess, I have some issues with that position.  And let me be clear; it's not because I have any great personal love for alcohol.  If I thought the Bible said "Thou shalt never drink alcohol for any reason," I'd never drink it again and I'd tell everyone else they shouldn't either, so saith the Word of God.  My problem with the whole debate then, I guess, isn't really about drinking alcohol to begin with.  It's with the fact that people who don't like the drinking of alcohol (or whatever else) are going beyond what is commanded in the Bible to try and make people behave the way they desire.  I've seen it done with dancing, playing cards, musical styles, makeup, clothing styles, and a multitude of other things in the past.  We seem to have moved past most of these things over the past several years, but many people still hang onto the alcohol issue for dear life. 

Now, I'm no scholar, but I've read the Bible.  I've heard all the arguments against drinking, even in moderation, and I've even bought into a few of them in times past.  But the more I know about God's word and the harder I try to read and interpret it without bringing my own preconceived notions into the mix, the more I realize most of the reasons people give for not drinking are just not based in Scripture.  Oh, they quote Bible verses galore, but then have to do what I call "theological gymnastics" to get them to say what they want them to.  Or they base their view on emotional arguments, which might be somewhat valid for a particular individual, but should never be used to try to restrict the freedom of others who don't have the same feelings or issues. 

I guess the best way to illustrate my point here is to list all the arguments I can remember having been put forth to me against drinking even though it's not expressly forbidden in the Bible, and then explain why I feel they are not valid.  And yes, I think I'm right....if I didn't think I was right, I'd change my mind until I thought I was....but as always, debate is welcome.   You just might tell me something I didn't know or put something in a way I'd never thought of and change my mind.  So please, if you disagree, don't just sit quietly and ignore this post.  Fire away and correct me if I need it.  Here are the points as I can remember them:

Argument #1
The Bible speaks often about wine as a beverage, but the wine they had in the Bible was more like grape juice.  You couldn't get drunk on the stuff if you tried. 

This one is easy.  If you couldn't get drunk on the wine they made in the Bible, why are there so many warnings against drunkenness and being "given to much wine?"  If it was just grape juice and couldn't make you drunk, you could drink as much as you wanted.  When Jesus turned the water into wine, many argue that this "wine" was just juice.  If that's the case, why would it be better (as the story says) to serve the better wine first, then when the guests have "drunk freely" (ESV), "well drunk" (KJV), "have had too much to drink" (NIV), then bring out the inferior wine?  If the wine wasn't making them a little tipsy, why would they not notice the 'bad' wine after they had already been drinking the good stuff?

Notice also that Jesus created this clearly intoxicating beverage.  It doesn't specifically say he drank any of it, but he was at the party enjoying the festivites along with everone else, so it could be argued that he probably did.  And even if he didn't, if drinking it was a sin, do you really think it wouldn't be just as much a sin for him to make the stuff and give it to others to drink?  That's like saying he paid for the prostitutes but it's OK because he didn't sleep with any of them!

Argument #2
The Bible says we're supposed to take care of our bodies and alcohol is bad for our bodies, so it's a sin if we drink it.

Again, let me state that I'm not talking about drinking until you're drunk.  I'm talking about having a drink or two on occasion.  Several studies have been done that actually show some health benefits to consuming a moderate amount of alcohol on a regular basis.  Anyone can argue against this if they want, but they will be arguing against pretty well-established fact.  My dad loves to tell the story about an uncle of his who had a couple of sips of whiskey every morning and evening during most of his life.  He died when he was about 95 years old and somebody said "Yep, I knew that drinking'd get him eventually!" 

Not to mention the fact that we can preach against alcohol and say it's bad for us so it's a sin to drink it, but we seem to have made a Baptist tradition of overeating at the fellowship dinner.   Gluttony is as harmful to the body as just about anything else we can do, but it's a socially acceptable sin, so it's OK.  I never hear anyone preach against smoking, tanning, not exercising, overeating, or any of the other things we do that cause the premature deaths of many more people than moderate alcohol consumption.

Argument #3
Just look at the number of lives ruined by alchol!  People drink to the point that they neglect their wives and their kids go hungry because they can't hold a job!  Anything that can cause that much harm has to be bad.

Point taken, to be sure.  But one beer a night doesn't cause anyone's kids to go hungry.  There's no real argument against that fact, but the point is made that it starts with one beer, then next thing you know, you're an alcoholic.  It's true enough that some people are unable to drink in moderation, and for those people, I agree that they should never touch the stuff.  But that's no reason to say no one should ever drink alcohol and that it's a sin if you do.  There are plenty of other things people get addicted to that we don't take that same position on.  Money, sex, food, gambling (that one does get some attention)....these are addictions that tear families apart just as effectively as alcoholism, but you never hear of anyone teaching you should take a vow of poverty so you don't turn into a materialist workaholic.  Nobody ever preaches that married people shouldn't have sex because once you do it, you might become addicted to it (porn addiction is rampant, by the way, even among pastors).  Nobody teaches that you shouldn't eat anything besides bread and water because you might develop a food addiction.  You can't prevent moral failure in everyone.  You can teach people to guard against it and to recognize when something looks like it may be a problem for them and deal with it appropriately, but just because some people have a problem with alcohol (or whatever else), we are not justified in making a Christian doctrine of the opinion that no one should be able to partake of it. 

Argument #4
The water they had back then wasn't safe to drink, so they had to drink wine to keep from getting sick.

Besides the fact that there are several references to people drawing water from wells, which would strongly imply that the stuff was safe, if drinking alcohol is a sin, it's a sin.  It doesn't matter why you're doing it, if it's intrinsically sinful and offensive to God, a true follower of Christ would die of thirst rather than drink it.

Argument #5
What if non-Christians see you out having a drink at dinner and it makes them think you're a hypocrite and ruins your witness to them?  The Bible says you shouldn't do anything that causes your brother to stumble.

OK, this is the one that you could almost convince me with.  And honestly, if I thought any non-Christians would actually be bothered by seeing me have a beer with my steak at Logan's, I'd not do it and I'd not lose any sleep at all over making that sacrifice.  But once again, this idea comes only from the people who just don't like drinking and are trying to find a justification for telling me if I was a good Christian I wouldn't do it.  The reason I say that is that I've talked to a lot, and I mean a LOT of people over the past several years about this very issue.  Some were Christians and many were not, and I've gotten essentially the same response, even from those few who had hardly been around church or the Bible at all.  In the course of discussion, I'd ask something like "So, do you think it's wrong for a Christian to have a beer every now and then?"  The almost universal response was "Well, I know the Bible says you shouldn't get drunk, but didn't Jesus turn water into wine?"  So.....no non-Christian I've ever run across would be think less of my committment to Christianity if they saw me having a drink with dinner or buying a bottle of wine in the store.  Honestly, NOT ONE that I've ever talked to said they'd have a problem with it. 

The funny thing about that discussion is that even when I had it with dyed-in-the-wool Southern Baptists, all the ones under about 60 years old have said the same thing.  They'd wink and say, "Well, I do have a glass of wine every now and then..." real shy-like.  And these were not just Christmas/Easter Christians....these were deacons, teachers, choir members (sorry if I'm getting any of you guys in trouble!), people who were in every other facet of their lives very committed followers of Jesus Christ.  And there was no spirit of rebellion in them.  It was never "Well, I know what the Bible says, but......"  It was always, "I've read the Bible and I just haven't found anything that says Christians should never drink." 

So if it doesn't bother non-Christians, if it doesn't bother my fellow church members....who am I supposed to be causing to stumble in their Christian walk by having a drink?  Well, the only people I know who have ever had a real problem with it have been much older people with very traditional mindsets, some of the pastors who preach this "doctrine" from the pulpit, and their immediate families.  Now come on guys, I can deal with the fact that you don't think I should be drinking for whatever reason, but don't tell me the fact that I might have a beer and see nothing wrong with it is going to cause a mature Christian like my pastor or someone who's been a deacon for 45 years to "stumble" in their faith.  It might offend your sensibilities, but if you say that's enough reason for me to limit my freedom, that doesn't make any sense.  You're saying that I shouldn't drink because it offends you.  Then you're saying it offends you because I'm doing wrong by offending you, but the only scriptural reason you can come up with for being offended by it is just because of the fact that you find it offensive.  See, it doesn't make any sense when I say it either!  Not to mention the fact that if you are in the position of being a pastor or leader in the church, or if you've been a Christian for 75 years or something like that, you might not like what I do, but how can you possibly say my actions are going to negatively impact your relationship to Christ?  As a mature Christian, your faith should not be based on what some whippersnapper like me does or doesn't do, especially if it's something that isn't expressly forbidden by Scripture.

OK, you got me going.....but if you'll remember what I said at the beginning:  this post isn't really about alcohol.  That's just a topic everyone can relate to.  But although I do enjoy a good beer, I really would put it down and never touch the stuff again if I believed that's what God wanted me to do.  This post is about the fact that we all have our preferences, whether it's about drinking, music, the way people dress, tattoos, piercings, leadership styles, the list goes on and on......and we often elevate those preferences and traditions to the level of doctrine.  That means we're telling people they have to abide by our "laws" in order to be a "good" Christian, even though our "laws" don't come from anywhere besides the inside of our own heads.  We use all kinds of arguments, many of them based on a convoluted view of scripture and many of them based purely on some emotional appeal, to try to make people behave like we want them to. 

Jesus climbed all over the Pharisees for heaping extra rules and regulations onto people, even though they had no basis in Scripture and even though they had no real value in helping people live more Godly lives.  These extra rules only served to make it more difficult for people to come to know God.  Now if God says something and it's difficult for people to deal with, that's one thing; but if God didn't say it, who are we to add additional restrictions on people who are trying to seek him?  We can come up with all the emotional reasons we want for why people should wear nice clothes to church, not listen to certain kinds of music, or abstain from drinking alcohol; but until we can show where God's word clearly instructs us in these matters, we are just sharing our personal opinions.  And when we try to force others to live by our opinions, we are simply making getting to know Jesus harder than it needs to be.  I don't drink to be rebellious or to try to offend people who don't think I should be doing it.  I do it, and publicly defend the practice, to show those outside the body of Christ that the Christian life isn't about following a bunch of man-made rules, but that it's about being 100% committed to following Christ; seeking God's heart through prayer and reading Scripture, both in the company and with the guidance of fellow believers; and trusting the Holy Spirit to lead you in the right direction.