In Sunday’s sermon, we heard Peter tell us that we need to sober up (1 Peter 1:13). In my view, he’s speaking about the temptation to get spiritually drunk on the things of this world, and also the temptation to get literally drunk on alcohol and other substances. I got a few questions about how Christians should approach alcohol, so this week we’ll explore biblical texts that will help us avoid the unbiblical extremes many people take on this issue, usually in response to their past experiences.
The Effects of the Past
Some people grew up in homes where alcohol abuse was just a normal part of everyday life. They came home and didn’t know whether dad would just be drunk, or angry drunk. Or they themselves were the substance abusers, putting themselves and their families through years of pain. Now that they have been freed by Christ from the effects of alcohol abuse, they fully abstain from drinking and expect all other true Christians to do the same.
Others grew up in homes where they never saw alcohol once. It was a tool of the devil, like cigarettes and school dances and Disney movies. They were led to feel shame just for passing by the alcohol aisle at the supermarket. Now that they have been freed by Christ from legalism, they love to flaunt their new-found liberty, mentioning in casual conversation as often as possible how much they love a good Kona Fire Rock Pale Ale or a Black & Tan with Newcastle.
I was blessed to grow up in a home where alcohol wasn’t a big issue one way or another. My parents never drank, but they also never vilified those who did. This grace-centered upbringing made it possible for me to get all the way through high school without drinking a single sip of alcohol. Then I made it through college with only two sips of beer under my belt. I never drank an entire beer until I was a few years into youth ministry. There’s nothing that’ll drive you to the bottle like fifty teenagers! But still to this day, I’ve never been intoxicated.
A Gift from God
I base my moderate use of alcohol on the consistent biblical view of alcohol as a gift from God. Psalm 104 says that God gives “plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the heart of man.” Jesus’ first miracle was to turn water into “the best wine” (John 2:10), and seeing that the banquet-master in Cana assumed the guests would be drunk by the end of the feast, it does not make sense that wine in biblical times was watered down to the consistency of grape juice, as some claim.
When Moses was giving the Israelites the last commands of God before they entered the promised land, one commandment was to take a tenth of their grain to Jerusalem once a year to offer it to God. But if they lived too far from Jerusalem, then God wanted them to sell their grain for money, and do this:
“Spend the money for whatever you desire–oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household. And you shall not neglect the Levite who is within your towns, for he has no portion or inheritance with you.” (Deut. 14:26-27)
In other words, “Take your offering money, and instead of putting it in the offering box, take your family out to Morton’s Steakhouse, and order up as an explicit act of worship. Make sure you order a few bottles of the best wine on the menu. Oh, and if there’s a Levite priest around, take him along too. Because he can’t afford Morton’s, and we all know about priests and their wine, right?”
The Danger of Pride
There are some Christians who have very good reasons for abstaining from alcohol (as we’ll explore in later posts). But for many, it is simply an issue of pride. They feel holy and righteous because they are able to deny themselves the pleasures that so many other people seem so powerless to avoid.
Paul wrote to the Colossians about this issue:
If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. (Colossians 2:20-23)
We might seem holy and wise if we deprive ourselves of every single pleasure on earth, but Paul says that by depriving yourself of things that aren’t necessarily bad, you’re just stoking the flame of your pride. Anytime you set up an extrabiblical system of rules and regulations to try to follow, you’re going to end up in one of two places… either with pride because you follow these rules and other people don’t, or with false humility because you can’t do it.
Everyone has their own list of rules that define what it means to follow God. For some people, it may mean keeping yourself pure by avoiding alcohol. For others, it may mean living simply by never buying a new car. For other people, it might mean never watching an R-rated movie.
The irony Paul highlights in this passage is that when you try to starve your fleshly nature, you’re actually feeding your fleshly nature. It’s like drinking salt-water. The more you drink, the thirstier you get!
Wine is a gift of God that is given for our enjoyment. But as with all gifts of God, it’s possible for us to turn it into an idol that leads us away from God. More on that in the next post.