I have decided to enter the fray of a subject where in our current church culture it seems that even angels fear to tread (or at least pastors) and that is the subject of the Christian and the use of alcoholic beverages.

I know…I know…You really don’t want to hear it and you probably already know where I am headed, but I ask you for your indulgence and patience for just a few moments before you start your dissertation on the Christian’s freedom, not putting my convictions on you, and of course; Paul telling Timothy it’s OK to use wine. Will you at least hear me out and then you can go back to dealing with your stomach issue as you sip your wine cooler?

I confess…I am disappointed. The truth is that for the last several years I have been storing a notebook full of personal anecdotal tales about the use of alcohol in Christians’ lives. If I may, let me give you just a thimble full of what I have accumulated (The names were changed to protect the embarrassed):

1. Sitting with a group of pastors at a meal as one tells the story of being on a foreign field and drinking so much at dinner before service that night that he was drunk when he went to the pulpit. He laughingly concluded that it was “the best sermon he had ever preached”. I watched as the table laughed along with him.

2. The Pastor on Facebook who brazenly posts pictures of a dinner party where he and his guests are freely shown drinking.

3. The Christian family, I personally know, who post their pictures on Facebook showing their inebriated state while on vacation.

4. The Pastor and wife who routinely hide their liquor cabinet when their Bishop comes to their church or members who are “weaker believers” visit their home.

5. The church leader who was called to an emergency meeting at the church, but comes in drunk as he was sitting at home in privacy crossing the lines of supposed moderation where no one could really see.

6. The Overseer of a Christian Ministerial Fellowship who proudly posts on his blog site that he enjoys a “great steak and a good glass of wine” and reports in his blog when he has found one.

7. The Pastor at a meal who reflected easily to me, “This generation just doesn’t get the no-drinking rules of former generations. There is no sense making an issue out of it. It just alienates them”.

8. The cell group of a local church that meets in a bar at Happy Hour so they can study the Word and unwind with a beer or glass of white wine.

9. The church musicians who regularly play at the bar and imbibe on Saturday night until they are “buzzed” and “blasted”, only to play the praises of God in the sanctuary on Sunday morning.

10. The church member who desires leadership in your church but is aggravated over your alcohol abstinence policy for leadership and begrudgingly accepts the conviction only to hide his private imbibing at home until he is corrected and leaves your church to become an "elder" at another church down the street and is allowed to drink freely.

I guess I will stop there. The notebook is rather full and I suspect you are getting my point. Is it proper for a Christian to drink alcohol? Is it a sin? Is it just a matter of conscience? Is it to be left to only those the Holy Spirit convicts? What does the totality of Scripture say on the subject?

Let me start by acknowledging a couple of things:

1. I was raised up ostensibly in the holiness movement so I probably do have a built in bias and conviction on this subject. That neither makes my conclusions wrong or right, it simply tells you something about how I was taught. I will at least disclose it to you.

2. Christians have differed on this subject all through history and yes; I know that Luther had a few beers at the local tavern as he talked theology with his students. I also know that Spurgeon smoked a pipe and C.S. Lewis liked cigars. I also saw a catholic priest once down a couple of bourbons and waters. I am not sure what all that proves, except that I recognize that Christian people have differed on this subject.

3. I understand that true moderation with regards to alcohol may not be a heaven or hell question. I understand that the disciples and Jesus drank wine that had some level of alcohol content in it. I am confident all of them made it to heaven; so please don't give me the tired phrase of, "You're judging me and I know what the Bible says about judging". The whole purpose of this article is to apply the WHOLE BIBLE to our current culture accurately.

There are basically THREE positions Christians have taken on this subject:

1. PROHIBITIONISTS– These people believe that drinking alcohol for any reason at any time is morally wrong and should be absolutely prohibited. We tried this as a nation in the 1920’s and it just escalated crime. Of course, God hates sin and I can assure you that the fruit of drunkenness and lack of self-restraint is highly problematic with regards to Kingdom living, but we have to admit that he allows the possibility of sin to exist. Even in the garden, the fruit of vine was there to tempt. We may not appreciate that fact, but God allowed it to be so.

2. ABSTENTIONISTS– These people believe that the wise and prudent position is to abstain from the use of alcoholic beverages based on its destructive character and degenerating effects it has on a Christian’s testimony (not to mention more than a few Scriptures that can be used to clearly underscore God’s disapproval of it). This is where I land.

3. MODERATIONISTS– These people, in the precise biblical framework, believe that alcohol can be consumed in moderation provided it is not abused to the point of drunkenness. (Of course, is that practically possible? They would say, “Yes”.) I know a gentleman who is thoroughly convinced that he can hold a Budweiser in one hand and his Bible in the other hand, and still proclaim he is a Christian. If this person was standing on the corner with a few friends drinking a beer and you saw them, how would you distinguish who was the Christian and who wasn’t? Perhaps wait and see which one is bowing their head and gives thanks for the beer. (Just kidding…I am messing with some of you!)

There is no question that the Bible clearly condemns drunkenness and the practice of it jeopardizes one’s salvation or questions whether one has truly been converted at all (depending on whether you like Calvin or Arminius). To justify drunkenness is simply being ignorant of the overwhelming Scripture to the contrary. I will say again…the PRACTICE OF DRUNKENNESS IS FORBIDDEN IN SCRIPTURE.

But…the question remains, why abstinence? Why do I as a Pastor both PRACTICE AND PREACH that this area is one Christians need to consider abstaining in? I have come up with at least 23 reasons for me:

1. I have found 75 warnings in the Scripture condemning both the USE of alcohol and the state of drunkenness. There are more Scriptures addressing this topic than the subjects of lying, adultery, swearing, cheating, hypocrisy, pride, and even blasphemy.

2. As a pastor I have listened to church members lament the destruction alcohol has brought to their households and families and grieve over the testimony their brothers and sisters in Christ leave them as they drink with carelessness before their eyes and the eyes of their children. In other words, drinkers are blowing their testimony with many whether they care or not.

3. Despite the “so-called” beneficial effects of moderate alcohol use, it is equally substantiated that alcohol kills brain cells and delays our thinking, reactions, and self-control. As a Christian I desire to remain on the alert “in season and out of season” and alcohol is counter-productive to that end.

4. Because in Bible times the average person did not strap themselves and their children into large metal boxes weighing a couple of tons and propel themselves inside those boxes at speeds regularly beyond 100 feet per second within a few feet of other people doing the same thing; therefore, the stakes of risking impaired judgment by alcohol use back then is nowhere near the same as we face today. Alcohol has the potential to greatly impair my reaction time and my discernment. It is not wise to put it in my system and operate heavy machinery which includes driving a car.

5. Because so many choose to operate their lives and their automobiles in an inebriated state and cause over 60,000 deaths a year on our nation’s roads, I do not want to be a part of something that has caused so much pain and heart-ache for so many people.

6. The alcohol industry promotes responsible use of the beverages publicly, however privately they lobby for lax laws concerning the use of their product. I refuse to support with my money an industry that practices such blatant hypocrisy.

7. I recognize that a person who never takes a drink of alcohol will never become an alcoholic. I believe the loving thing to do is to model abstinence myself and not lead people to their destruction.

8. Alcohol use has been linked to: Brain damage, addiction, blurred vision, slurred speech, bleeding throat, heart disease, stomach ulcers, liver damage (failure), intestinal cancer and ulcers, impotency, and osteoporosis. I choose to be healthy.

9. As a Christian I have the Holy Spirit and do not need “wine to gladden the heart”.

10. When Paul told Timothy to consume wine for his stomach ailment, one can only assume (accurately) Timothy practiced abstinence.

11. Timothy followed and imitated Paul in the faith; therefore we can assume accurately that Paul practiced abstinence as well.

12. Any alcoholic beverage over the 8%-12% proof category today would be in total violation of what was available in biblical times. Therefore, mixed drinks, margaritas, pina coladas, vodka, bourbon, gin, rum, whiskey, and the like would all easily fall under the prohibition of “strong drink” in the Scripture. We are fooling ourselves if we think our social drinking of mixed drinks is somehow condoned by God.

13. The alcohol content of biblical wine was so low that often people would have to drink and purge in order for the stomach to handle the volume of wine it would take to get drunk. The drinking of wine in the Bible was alcoholically far less than the wine and beer we have today. In fact, in biblical times they often mixed the wine with water diluting it even more. To suggest what we do today is the same thing Jesus and His disciples did is basically comparing apples and oranges.

14. Alcohol is a factor in so much crime, domestic violence, and as an entry drug to illicit drug use, it seems prudent to avoid it.

15. Nowhere in the Bible is abstaining from alcohol use frowned upon or looked upon in an unfavorable way. People who abstained from wine where commended and shown in a positive light over and over again in the Scriptures.

16. I am a parent and someday a grandparent and I plan to model that a life that is free from alcohol is more fun, rewarding, and joy-filled.

17. I do not want to be tempted to run to anything except the Lord in stress-filled times. Jesus is not nearly the crutch alcohol is to most people.

18. As a Pastor (and to be candid a Christian) I am committed to demonstrating a testimony that is as much as possible offense free and clear. People will not point to me drinking a beer and use that as an excuse to avoid the claims of the Gospel.

19. People who try to avoid the issue by comparing the moderate use of alcohol vs. the sin of drunkenness as the same as the eating of food vs. gluttony do not get the real issue. People who don’t drink alcohol don’t have to die of thirst; yet people who don’t eat will die from abstaining from food. I find this argument for drinking to be intellectual deficient.

20. I believe alcoholism is a sin and not a disease. You cannot “catch” the sin of alcoholism if you never touch it in the first place.

21. Why would I ignore the warnings from Scripture concerning its use if I wanted to live a life above the status quo?

22. Any time God called His people to a higher or more circumscribed walk with Him, especially with those that would be leaders and influencers, invariably He put an alcohol prohibition on their lives. Christians are to be “salt and light”.

23. If pastors and people feel that it is right to drink (even moderately) then they should clearly disclose this to their friends, congregants, and watching world. If everything we do is to be done for the glory of God, then it should be done proudly and without secrecy. For many, their secrecy betrays the inner working of the Holy Spirit which is convicting them of their action. I choose to live free from conviction and any judgment.

There you have it…

I seriously doubt too many minds have been changed since the beginning of this article. I “get” the era we are currently living in and I understand that for many 21^st century Christians, and especially the Charismatic version, they will find the few verses that seem to indicate moderate use as being approved by God and then twist those verses to party this weekend and they will go on their merry way. Their connection to alcohol is really stronger than their commitment to reach people and be an example to them. Don’t confuse them with any facts or searching statements concerning their example. They are “free”. They have a “verse”. They won’t be “burdened” by others convictions. “If God told you that…fine, but He hasn’t spoken to me about this.” "You're judging me again". The list goes on ad nauseam.

For me…it’s disappointing.

It has truly become the Corinthian mess where we are more committed to our own liberty than we are to whether our brothers and sisters stumble over our witness. For me, it simply is another indicator of our American self-centeredness. We want, what we want, when we want it, and we want it judgment free.

I remember many years ago being away at a conference with my wife and as we were headed back to the hotel late after eating dinner one night and we bumped into another pastor “attendee” exiting the bar with a cocktail in his hand to go back to his room. He was "out of town" and could freely partake without any repercussion of a potential church member catching him. It was as if the conviction he had in his home state was now suspended because he had crossed the state line.

I just shook my head. I find myself still shaking it a lot today. On rare occasions I may teach or say something about this in my sermons, but I understand that in America, by and large, it falls on deaf ears and seared consciences. On occasion I wonder if I am just the last of an archaic model of ministry; or, am I to be a voice that God might use to usher in His Glory because we take holiness seriously? I have to admit, I get tired of watching people flock to those ministries where their personal liberty is rarely if ever challenged.

I have decided that I am going to keep my perspective on alcohol. Somehow I don't think me stopping by a neighborhood bar after a tough day of ministry to pop a "cold one" would really be advantageous in my witness to a watching world. I suspect it would either be used to justify other's abuse of drinking or to illustrate Christian's inconsistencies and hypocrisies. Either way, it isn't worth it to me. My conviction has served me well for nearly 34 years now. I have no regrets. I personally don’t feel like I have missed a thing (except perhaps a hangover or two, not to mention vomiting, blood poisoning, etc.). In fact, the Bible tells me that God has always used peculiar and uncommon people.  

That’s good to remember…I can qualify for that.