Alcohol – Should a Christian Drink?
We are continuing our series entitled, “Too Hot to Handle” and today we are going to be talking about the Hot Topic of Alcohol and the Bible and whether a Christian should Drink.
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Even as we did last week, we see a wide discrepancy between what some churches that would categorize themselves as Christian teach on this subject.
Some churches – Abstain to be a member
In some churches you will find that to be a member, you need to sign a covenant that you will not drink alcohol probably along with a list of other “Thou shall nots” that you commit not to do. You will probably also hear preaching that even the slightest bit of alcohol is a sin to drink.
Other Churches – Beer tent
At the other extreme, you will find churches that have a beer tent or a full bar when you go to one of their functions.
Now before you say, “tell me where those churches are so I can join,” we want to see what the Bible teaches and says on this subject and what we should do in light of the teaching of Scripture.
As I studied the Scriptures this week, I found some things that may be surprising to some of you.
First,
Drinking Alcohol in moderation is not a sin
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How do I know this? We see this in a couple of ways.
First we see that
God provided wine
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Throughout Scripture, we see that God’s provision of wine is not considered a bad thing.
Psalm 104:14-15
14 He makes grass grow for the cattle,
and plants for man to cultivate--
bringing forth food from the earth:
15 wine that gladdens the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine,
and bread that sustains his heart.
His provision of wine is also often associated with His blessings.
Isaiah 55:1-2
"Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
We see that wine is used in a positive way to symbolize His blessings when we come to the Lord.
Wine consumption part of Normal life
And in fact there are many instances where wine is just consumed where no positive or negative connotation is given, it is just a part of the normal every day life that people partook of on a regular basis because it was something that God provided.
Not only did God provide wine, but
Jesus Drank Wine
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Jesus himself, admits to this in
Matthew 11:18-19
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ’He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ’Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ’
Was it only grape juice
There are some who will say that he only drank grape juice and not alcoholic wine, but it would be hard to reconcile the fact that he was being accused to be a drunkard, even though we know definitely that He was not.
We also see that his first miracle is turning water into wine.
John 2:9-11
the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."
11 This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.
This wine was alcoholic as indicated by what the master of the banquet said about people usually bringing out the cheap wine when people’s senses have been dulled by too much alcohol.
So, if Jesus drank and his first miracle produced alcohol, then there must be nothing inherently sinful about having a drink.
So, right now you are probably in one of 2 camps.
Some of you may be saying, this sermon is great!
Others are probably saying “What kind of message are you giving.”
Well, hang on a minute.
I have no interest in advancing a set of taboos of the Conservative Christian culture that creates a new set of rules for us to follow. Rule following has a way of trumping relationship with Christ as we can see with the Pharisees.
We need to preach the word of God. We are here to advance the gospel and the teaching of God through His word and seek to live our lives in accordance with that teaching.
And if the word of God shows that people drank alcoholic beverages and that it was not a sin to have a drink, then we can teach that.
But while we can see that the Bible may show that
Drinking alcohol in moderation may not be a sin, we also see that it clearly teaches that
Drinking alcohol to Drunkenness is a sin
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In the Old Testament we can see in
Isaiah 5:11-12
11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine. 12 They have harps and lyres at their banquets, tambourines and flutes and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD
Isaiah 56:9-12
9 Come, all you beasts of the field, come and devour, all you beasts of the forest!
10 Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs,
they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep.
11 They are dogs with mighty appetites; they never have enough. They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way, each seeks his own gain.
12 "Come," each one cries, "let me get wine! Let us drink our fill of beer!
And tomorrow will be like today, or even far better."
Isaiah is describing people who are focused solely on their own pleasures and they drink to drunkenness and Scripture condemns them.
Listen to the Proverbs.
Proverbs 23:20-21
20 Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat,
21 for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
Drunkenness is sin that is condemned in the Old Testament.
And we find further that it is condemned in the New Testament as well.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
There is hope through Jesus to overcome, but we need to realize that Drunkenness is a sin that has such negative earthly consequences that we are told not to even associate or eat with a person who gets drunk regularly.
1 Corinthians 5:11
you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
Those are some pretty stern words for us in our society where drinking and drunkenness don’t seem to have much of a negative stigma at all except for possibly in the case of drinking and driving.
Ok, so we have only examined a few of the Scriptures that pertain to alcohol in the Bible, but generally speaking we can see that while
it may not be a sin to have a drink of alcohol,
it is a sin to be drunk.
Now as with any teaching, we have to not only know what the teaching is, but how best to apply it to our life and our circumstances.
This is why we can get different people and different churches doing and teaching different things.
So I understand that there is leeway within this teaching for people to come to different conclusions between moderation in drinking alcohol and choosing to totally abstain from it altogether.
Regardless of where we find ourselves, we need to understand that within this range, we need not divide as Christians.
Paul tells us in
Romans 14:1
Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.
Keep that in mind as we continue on to learn how we might be able to make the best choice for ourselves in regard to this issue.
To help us do that, I think it is helpful to get us thinking in the terms of
Questions to ask ourselves
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Asking questions can help us as individual Christians be able to come to the best decision in regards to the question, Should I drink alcohol?
I think as a general rule, asking these questions will help us in every area of life where God has given us freedom. It will help us to avoid
The Legalism of living only for rules and
The Licentiousness of living apart from any code of moral conduct
After all, authentic Christianity is about living in relationship with Christ so we might have eternal life and the abundant life.
Both
those who seek out legalistic rules to live by and
those who are licentious,
pervert authentic Christianity and the grace and freedom and choice that comes with being in relationship and replace it with either
rules that keep you in bondage to a list or
“rights” (as in I have the “right” to do whatever I want”) that keep you in bondage to sin.
To avoid those opposite ends of the spectrum lets ask ourselves some questions to help us make wise choices.
So, first, when making a decision in regards to alcohol, we should ask
How will drinking Alcohol affect Me?
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This is an important question because we can see that too much alcohol is sin and it will lead to bad consequences.
Listen to
Proverbs 23:29-35
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. 31 Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly!
32 In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange sights and your mind imagine confusing things.
34 You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging.
35 "They hit me," you will say, "but I’m not hurt! They beat me, but I don’t feel it!
When will I wake up so I can find another drink?"
Drinking that leads to drunkenness produces bad consequences for us and puts us in places that we cannot make wise decisions.
Even though others may be able to see the bad results of our drinking, we become blinded to them.
So we need to be asking ourselves not only how will drinking affect me in the immediate sense, but also we need to ask the questions,
will me having a drink lead me
down a path that leads to sin?
to a place where I am unable to resist temptations for more?
To a place where I can’t see the affects that others are telling me that alcohol is having on me?
I want you to ask yourself these questions that I found in some different resources that help to determine if alcohol is or could be a problem for you.
Answer these questions.
Have you ever lost time from work because of drinking?
Has drinking hindered the harmony in your home?
Have you ever felt remorse after drinking?
Have you ever hidden your drinking from others?
Do you ever drink alone?
Do you crave drinking at times when you are not in a position to be able to have a drink?
Do you drink to escape worries?
Have you been drunk in the last 6 months?
Does your personality change when you are drinking?
If you are a drinker, is your personality affected when you are not drinking?
That is only 10 questions.
At one site I visited, they asked 20 questions and it said that
“if you answered 3 of these questions (out of the 20) with a Yes it is a definite sign that your drinking patterns are harmful and possibly considered alcohol dependent or alcoholic.”
Accessed 9/22/2007
http://alcoholism.about.com/od/tests/l/blquiz_alcohol.htm?lastQuestion=19&answers=1&submit=Next+Question+%3E%3E&ccount=7
Satan will try to get you to think how you might feel in the moment, and cover over the negative consequences of having a drink for you.
“Hey, life is hard. Go have a couple.”
“there is nothing wrong with having a couple of drinks.”
If you are person who has been negatively affected by alcohol in the past, don’t let Satan deceive you.
Avoid alcohol altogether if it will have a negative affect upon you and lead you to sin.
Jesus said
“if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” (Matthew 5:30)
If Alcohol is a problem for you, then choose to avoid it completely so that you are not led astray by it and can enjoy the better life offered in Christ.
Resources for help on back of outline
If you need some help in doing that I have listed on the back of your outline the website for Celebrate Recovery and a couple of local churches you have celebrate recovery programs.
It is a Christian program that seeks to help people to support one another and have accountability to overcome addiction issues.
With God’s help, you can experience freedom and hope over the bondage that alcohol can bring.
Well maybe having a drink or 2 doesn’t affect you in a way that will lead to sin.
We need to also be asking
How will drinking alcohol affect My Brother?
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Paul in 1 Corinthians 8, in speaking about meat sacrificed to idols, tells us to consider the affects of our actions on our brothers and sisters in Christ.
1 Corinthians 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.
Well Paul is talking about meat sacrificed to idols, not alcohol. Well, he applies the same principal to dinking in Romans 14 and 15.
Romans 14:21; 15:1-2
21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.
15:1 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
As Christians, we need to consider how our actions might affect those around us.
If I am able to have a drink now and then without myself being negatively affected, I need to consider those around me and if they might somehow be caused to stumble into sin because of my drinking.
We should ask ourselves,
Does someone I am with have a drinking problem?
Does someone I am with have a problem with other addictions?
For you parents, your kids are watching and learning from your actions.
You need to ask what your drinking is teaching them?
Am I teaching them that
if life is hard, have a drink and things will be better?
Having a drink to make me feel good is more important than the affect it may have on others, including them?
Or are you teaching them that
Even though Alcohol is not necessarily bad in itself, we should think about the affects of our choices on ourselves and others.
This is why Laura and I have chosen to forgo our freedom to drink alcohol.
We care about other people because God cares about other people and would not want to see anyone stumble into sin because of our actions.
Illustration – college buddy wedding
If by sacrificing this freedom that is so far from essential to a joyful life, we can better minister to others, that is but a small sacrifice for the eternities of our kids and others that God puts in our life.
This is also why we ask our elders not to drink.
Being an elder is about serving others, not ourselves, so we have this as an expectation.
Elders are asked to not drink alcohol. While we recognize the biblical mandate for elders is to not be given to drunkenness, we also recognize that drinking in our society has become a major problem. Therefore in keeping with the Romans 14 mandate not to be a stumbling block, we ask all elders to abstain from alcohol so as not to hinder the ministry.
The ultimate question we need to be asking ourselves is
How can I Glorify God?
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This is our primary purpose in life. To bring glory to God.
When we are fulfilling our purpose in glorifying God with our life and choices,
we are going to be experiencing the best life.
The good life is not dependant on having a drink.
Too often we are asking the wrong questions because we think things or actions will bring the good life.
Too often we are asking, how close to sin can I get and not be sinning.
How many drinks can I have without sinning?
That is a question that
holds us back from experiencing the best of life and
sets us up for a
life that is always lacking and
life that is ready to be deceived by Satan.
I believe we see a picture of this in the life of Lot even though it is not about alcohol.
It is about the mentality of what is going to provide the good life,
This world and the things of this world or
God
Lot wanted the good life, but he didn’t think enough to ask God to direct him toward the good life.
That is what we do many times.
In fact, I think sometimes we are afraid to ask God for His guidance because we think He may guide us to make a choice that we think will make our life less enjoyable.
So we don’t ask, we don’t seek.
So Lot doesn’t ask God, He sees Sodom and goes that way, but he doesn’t go into Sodom. We find that he only pitches his tent near Sodom.
Lot had looked and thought he saw what would bring him pleasure and joy.
Good land,
a fun loving city.
Everything a heart could desire.
He probably thought, Well I will just stay in the land by Sodom. I can have some good well watered land and occasionally head into Sodom for some enjoyment.
“God, I am not going to drink to the point of sinning. I am just going to get close without sinning.”
He got on a path that led to a place that he ultimately did not want to be, because the next time we see Lot, he is no longer near Sodom, but
he has a house in Sodom and
his kids are totally given over to the ways of Sodom
and that eventually leads to the destruction of his whole family,
all because he just wanted to get close to Sodom, close to sinning, but not be actually sinning.
Don’t let that be you.
Ask questions.
Seek to glorify God in your decisions.
Instead of asking how much can I drink and not be sinning, ask
Lord, how might I glorify you and truly live!
God has provided all things for our enjoyment.
Don’t pervert God’s blessings and freedoms to indulge the sinful nature.
Instead ask God to lead you to fulfill your purpose in Him and find what real life is all about.
Maybe you are here today and the things I am talking about today are totally new to you.
Perhaps you have always thought Christianity is about not enjoying life.
Christianity is about enjoying life fully.
Satan and this world has deceived us into thinking that real living is found in doing anything we want.
Real living is found in fulfilling our purpose in glorifying the Lord.
If you want to begin on a journey to real living, that all starts with, receiving the gift of eternal life found only in the person of Jesus Christ.
To do that, we recognize our own sinfulness, that we have sinned against a holy God.
Believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, that He in fact is God in the flesh.
Believe that He died for your sins and that He rose from the dead 3 days later.
When we believe that and acknowledge that to the Lord, we have salvation and are on the path of Real living.
Romans 10:9-10
if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
If you are here struggling in life, or have never thought about some of the issues we have talked about today concerning alcohol, Commit to asking those questions we talked about today and asking God what you should do to glorify Him.
Let’s pray and if you need to receive Christ, then pray with me now.
Pray.
