To Drink, or get Drunk

Here’s a hot topic for you: Christian Drinking. Is it acceptable for a Christian to drink alcohol, even just a little? Well, I was thinking about this not long ago, and that evening, at a men’s bible study I sometimes attend, we discussed the very issue. I was surprised to see some Scriptures on the subject I had never seen before, and I also feel more certain about the Bible’s teaching on the topic.

There are many arguments on both sides, and I’m sure you’ve heard them all before. There are very convincing verses in Proverbs 23, which warn against even looking at wine, and the horrible state a person is in if they go down that path. Then there are verses that talk about “Take a little wine for your stomach”, and the fact that Jesus served “wine” at the Last Supper. Then the “tea-totalers” come back with the old “there were two types of wine back then” position. (Which I think is probably true, btw.) Though these are important things to consider, I want to focus on a couple things I had not considered before.

Isaiah 5:22 – “Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:”

             Without going into too much detail, I think this verse is telling us that mighty men, men of strength, do not drink. That is to say, they do not drink strong drink. (Notice it says “drink” not “get drunk.”) You want to drink, go ahead, but you won’t be a mighty man. That is something I had not considered before.

Proverbs 20:1 – “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.”

              It is very easy to be deceived by alcohol. Better to not even go close. It’s not wise to be deceived by those traps.

Proverbs 23:31-32 – “Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.”

              Do you really want to play with a poisonous snake? Sure you can hold it, you can play with it, and it might not bite you. But if it does……it is really going to hurt! (God is really good about analogies, isn’t he?) 

Romans 14:21 – “It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.”

              Can we possibly justify something that will make another brother weak? What about the testimony to the world?

I think it is safe the say that the overwhelming attitude of Scripture toward alcohol (strong drink) is one of extreme warning and danger. While it might not say “Drinking is a sin”, it certainly does warn strongly against getting even close to that stuff.

And then some would say “But Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana.” Well, I would say that it was probably nonalcoholic fruit of the vine (also called wine), not juice that had already started to decay and destroy. But the Bible doesn’t say that. However, considering the rest of the Scriptures warnings against drinking (not just drunkenness)……Do you think Jesus would have provided something to people that may have offended a weaker brother, or caused someone to stumble into drunkenness? Do you think Jesus would have given them something that would hinder their might and strength? (Isaiah 5) Saying that he gave them fermented, decaying wine is like saying he would have given them a poisonous snake and said “Here have fun playing with this, but don’t let it bite you.”

So there you have it. I dive once again into controversy. Let me know if you see holes in any of this logic, or in my interpretation of Scripture. I hope this has helped you to think through this issue carefully.

OH, and here is this weeks sermon notes:

Examples from Israel: Part 5 – Murmuring to Destruction