“Do not suppose that abuses are eliminated by destroying the object which is abused. Men can go wrong with wine and women. Shall we then prohibit and abolish women?”
-Martin Luther

Alcohol is something I’ve been wanting to write about for a while now but just never got around to it until I saw a link in a friends’ blog to an article which pushes for total abstinence from alcohol. I began to be motivated again to write on this controversial subject and give my thoughts on it. Some things I’ll say will be a reaction to the article, so you might want to read it first: http://www.baptistpress.com/bpnews.asp?ID=23576. The article was written by a dude named Daniel Akin. Before I start, I have to point out that he writes from a very respectful standpoint as one who agrees that alcohol should be totally abstained from, but does not think Christians should look down on other Christians who do drink. Most of what I have to say about his article is a critique, but not of his character. I want to show him respect and honor him as my brother in Christ even if we do happen to disagree.

The 2006 SBC Alcohol Resolution

At the annual Southern Baptist Convention meeting in June, a resolution was passed which officially stated the convention’s attitude on alcohol. In it, they express that they are in “total opposition to the manufacturing, advertising, distributing, and consuming of alcoholic beverages.” In other words, don’t drink it, it’s wrong. I’ll say this up front: when it comes to alcohol, I’m a moderationist. I do not in any way, shape, or form believe alcohol is evil. It can be used for evil, yes, but the drink itself is not. I’ll defend that more later on but I wanted to get that out of the way. I’ll say something else up front too: I don’t hold this view so I can drink and not feel guilty. I don’t drink. I’m sure there’s some great alcoholic drinks out there, but I’ve personally never found one. So my reason for writing isn’t to encourage people to drink. Nor am I writing solely to defend those Christians who do choose to drink. I think this is an important topic to discuss because 1) Alcohol can be very dangerous, and 2) I believe that alcohol is a springboard into the weightier matters of the Christian life, namely the freedom in Christ. The SBC resolution calls this a “misinterpretation of the doctrine of ‘our freedom in Christ.’” Uhh, is it? It’s a misinterpretation when we get drunk and say “Oh dude, it’s cool, I’m free in Christ!” I’ll say it loud: getting drunk is a sin. There is no excuse for doing it, and it’s pretty sad if we use freedom in Christ to commit sin.

Here are the reasons the SBC took its stand against alcohol. 1) Research confirms biblical warnings that alcohol use leads to physical, mental, and emotional damage (they cite Proverbs 23:29-35). 2) Alcohol has led to countless injuries and deaths on our nation’s highways. 3) Family breakups can be directly or indirectly associated to alcohol use by one or more members of a family. 4) When used as a recreational beverage, it has led people down a path of addiction, which sometimes branches out into drugs. 5) Some religious leaders advocate alcoholic consumption based on a faulty understanding of what it means to be free in Christ. Now, I’m going to get to blasting these points later. But my goal isn’t to prove somebody wrong. A few entries ago I talked about singleness and dating, and how singleness was a gift and marriage was a gift. I said that those who just date so they can date, that is, they want a boyfriend/girlfriend but aren’t even thinking about marriage are robbing God of his gift, be it singleness or marriage. I’m of the firm belief that it’s a terrible tragedy to call a blessing of God a curse. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20) The connection between that and alcohol is this: I believe alcohol, when used appropriately in moderation, not abused, is a gift from God. If that is true, then woe to us for condemning it. The verse I’ll springboard this whole entry on is found in Psalm 104:14-15: “You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.”

A couple months ago I listened to the first several minutes of a sermon by some Baptist preacher reinforcing the church’s need to abstain totally from all kinds of alcohol. I’ll say this in the context of alcohol but it can apply to other stuff I’m sure, but I have little real tolerance for people who seem to have more allegiance to their denomination than to the Word of God. Doing something or not doing something because of your denominational affiliation isn’t good enough for me. This guy kept backing up his points because of how the Baptists have “always” done it. I find this weak for the point already mentioned above, that man-interpreted denominations are fallible. Secondly, church history is not so kind to the prohibitionist mindset as many Christians would like to believe it is. Take a look at some examples:

Fun Facts about Alcohol in Church History

> The Puritans: clean, wholesome, boring, and intolerant of the slightest drop of alcohol, right? Wrong. More beer was loaded onto the Mayflower than water. The first Thanksgiving didn’t have cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, or pumpkin pie. But there was beer, brandy, gin, and wine.

> In 1789, the first Kentucky whiskey was made…by a Baptist minister.

> Religious services and court sessions were often held in the major taverns of Colonial American towns.

> Martin Luther’s wife was supposedly an excellent brewer. In his letters to her when they were apart, he would tell of his desire to come back home and have some of her beer.

> John Calvin had as part of his pastoral compensation pack included around 250 gallons of wine to be enjoyed by him and his friends.

> Puritans again: was the first permanent structure at Plymouth Rock a church or a brewery? Brewery.

> Saint Gall, famous missionary to the Celts, was a very famous brewer.

The church in its history has enjoyed alcohol, no question about it. So what has happened? Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle observes:

“As feminism grew in America during the turn of the 20th century the women’s suffrage and prohibition movements were the practical results of a feminine piety that came to also dominate the church as more women became pastors and the church became more feminine. Some denominations began to condemn alcohol as sinful and the Methodist pastor Dr. Thomas Welch created the very “Christian” Welch’s grape juice to replace communion wine in 1869. The marriage of Christianity and feminism helped to create a dry nation that put out of business all but the largest brewers who were able to survive on near beer and root beer which explains why today American beer is largely mass produced, watered down, light on calories, and feminine in comparison to rich and dark European beers. The resurgence of micro-brews is helping to overcome the great loss and resurrect the art of brewing.”

To be fair, just because the church HAS enjoyed alcohol in the past doesn’t necessarily mean it’s ok. That’s not a good argument. The church has done many wrong things in history. But just because we live in the “here and now” doesn’t mean we’re not also doing some things wrong. I think the history of alcohol in the church speaks volumes though.

Prohibitionism

Prohibitionists believe that alcohol is evil and that drinking is a sin. Let’s tackle it first. In the verse I quoted above, it says that wine is given by God to gladden the heart of man. Jesus, our very example, drank wine. In John 2, Jesus’ first miracle was making wine at a wedding. In Matthew 11:19, he is accused of being a glutton and a drunkard because he ate a lot of food and he drank a lot of wine. If Prohibitionists are correct in their thinking, then Biblical examination yields the fact that God is evil because he created alcohol and that Jesus sinned because he drank it.

1 Timothy 4:5-6 says that “everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” Question: did God create wine? Yes. Playing devil’s advocate with myself, I asked “Well what if wine is just man’s corruption and perversion of stuff God did create?” I think that’s a good question, but if that were true I seriously doubt the Bible would say that God gives wine to gladden our hearts. God creates stuff, and all that God creates is good. Furthermore, looking again at Psalm 104:14-15, it says that God causes “the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.” Admittedly, God doesn’t create wine in the sense that it’s just laying around. It has to be cultivated, it has to be fermented. This passage says that he gives us the stuff to do that though, along with stuff to make food, oil, and bread, but no one is pushing for the prohibition of oil, food, and bread.

One question I have for the prohibitionist is this: if alcohol is an evil, why would Paul instruct Timothy to drink it? In 1 Timothy 5:23, he tells Timothy to use a little wine for his stomach and frequent ailments. Some might say “That’s for medicinal purposes. That’s different.” But is it? When did it become okay to forfeit your purity for the sake of your physical life? The history of the church is built on the blood of saints who refused to do just that. What does it profit to gain the world and forfeit your soul? If wine is evil, Paul would not have instructed Timothy to drink it for ANY reason. In Hebrews 12:4, we’re instructed to resist sin to the point of shedding our blood.

Drunkenness is always condemned, but often not by itself. It is OFTEN paralleled with gluttony. Proverbs 23:21 says “for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags.” Matthew 11:19 – “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.” Deuteronomy 21:20 – “and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’” It is paralleled with sexual immorality (Romans 13:13, Revelations 17:2). Logically speaking, you can’t use verses that speak against drunkenness as grounds for saying your shouldn’t drink alcohol at all. This is crucial to understand, because if you’re comfortable doing that, then you must become comfortable using verses condemning gluttony and sexual immorality as ammunition for the total prohibition of sex and food.

Divine Secrets of the Yayin Priesthood

Another big problem for the prohibitionist is the fact that wine is often a sign of God’s blessings and a metaphor for Godly things. It’s described as a wonderful gift from God. In Deuteronomy 14, God says that if the Israelites distinguished between clean and unclean animals, tithed, and were obedient to the Lord then they could take the leftover money “and spend [it] 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.” Ecclesiastes 9:7 says to “Go, eat your bread in joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.” Chapter 10 verse 19 says that “wine gladdens life.” Here’s something that gets me: wine was often used in sacrifices to God. Also, in Isaiah 55:1 God uses wine among other things to describe the gift of mercy and salvation: “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, but and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” If wine is evil, why would God profane himself by having an evil thing sacrificed to himself? Why would he liken his glorious gift of mercy to the terrible evil that is alcohol? This is a horrendous rape of his glory, yet one that prohibitionists must come to terms with.

Continuing, Jeremiah 40:12 describes the improved conditions of Jewish life free from oppression by saying that the “Judeans returned from all the places to which they had been driven and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah. And they gathered wine and summer fruits in great abundance.” Compare this with verses like 2 Chronicles 31:5, Nehemiah 5:18, Ezekiel 27:18, and we begin to see that abundance of wine is seen as evidence of God’s favor. It’s a blessing. The coming Messianic era is described with abundant pictures of wine as we see in Amos 9:13-15 and Isaiah 25:6-9. Wine also symbolizes Godly wisdom (Proverbs 9:2-5) and romantic love (Song of Solomon 5:1). Again, why would such beautiful, God-given things be likened unto such an evil thing as alcohol? Think about that for a second. Then think about 2 Corinthians 6:14- “what fellowship has light with darkness?” Prohibitionism of alcohol falls flat in light of Scripture.

A great Old Testament illustration of this is in a couple places. Leviticus 10:8-10 – “And the LORD spoke to Aaron, saying, ‘Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean.” Also look at Ezekiel 44:21 – “No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court.” This is a prohibition of alcohol, yes, but it’s not universal. Priests were to refrain from wine when performing their duties. Leviticus 10:10 shows the reason why: they need to be sober in order to distinguish between unclean and clean things. These passages would’ve been great places to condemn alcohol altogether. But it only says to abstain when performing their duties which implies that it’s okay to drink at other times. And to combat the tortured “alcoholic/non-alcoholic wine” arguments before they start…if this is not alcoholic, intoxicating wine God is talking about here, then why abstain from it AT ALL, on the job or not?

Abstentionism

Alright, let’s tackle this one. Abstentionists believe that alcohol isn’t evil but that because it’s so abused, Christians should avoid it altogether so as to keep themselves safe and to keep others from stumbling. It’s the whole “let’s not cause people to stumble” stuff you hear. So, it sounds a little better than prohibitionism although I believe it’s much more dangerous, and I’ll explain why later.

While prohibitionism crumbles under scriptural evidence, abstentionism crumbles under practicality. Just because something is abused does not make it evil. But that’s why prohibitionists and abstentionists claim, yet they don’t seem to be making a case against food since it leads to gluttony or sex because it leads to sexual immorality. Why? Because when it comes to alcohol we bring our own preconceived convictions into the equation and let that be the source of gravity by which all Scripture orbits. Reality check: we’re required to preach what the Bible SAYS is true, not what we want it to say is true. Abstentionism doesn’t work is because it’s stupid. Anything can be abused. We don’t condemn food because some people eat too much of it. We don’t condemn sex because some people abuse it. We don’t cover up the sky because people worship the stars and the sun. We don’t burn down all trees because some people worship nature. 1 Timothy 6:10 says that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Should we then abolish all money? No, because it’s not money that’s evil, but the love of it. Why should alcohol be an exception to this rule? Here’s a good one. What has been the most abused thing in the history of the world? I’d be willing to put money down on my guess. What do you think it is? Here’s my guess…….the tongue. Can you begin to imagine the horrors of the entire history of the world that have unfolded because of what someone has spoken? It may be an insult. It might be the orders of a tyrannical dictator. Imagine the millions if not billions of lives lost because of a person’s tongue. This doesn’t even take into account the probably greater number of those who’ve been hurt either temporarily or long-term by someone’s word. James 3 addresses this big-time. Should we then abolish all talking? No, cuz that’s stupid, and that’s why this position fails. It just gets ridiculous. Of course it’s not absurd to abstain from sin, but as I’ve already tried to stress, alcohol is not a sin. Drunkenness is. Like all the other stuff in this paragraph, getting drunk is an abuse of something good. Logically, you’ll have to abstain from everything, because everything can become an idol.

Abstentionists will often talk about not causing anyone to stumble as the basis for abstaining. Mark Driscoll makes an excellent point concerning this. He asks the question “Ok, WHO is going to stumble?” Give a concrete, living person and not just some random, made-up, mythical, netherworld person. Who is going to stumble because of you drinking? Romans 14:13-23 is probably THE passage about Christian liberty, at least for me especially with regards to alcohol. The whole point of this section is that things in and of themselves aren’t evil. It’s how we USE them. We should above all else act in love, and if you’re dining with a recovering alcoholic, even though alcohol is permissible for you, you should abstain from it in his presence. This doesn’t just go for alcohol. It goes for all things. I’ll come back to this passage later.

The reason I feel this is such a dangerous position is that in light of what Scripture says, some people still choose to abstain. Now, there is NOTHING wrong with that. That’s fine. The problem is when they begin to feel that by abstaining they’re holy. Harold Lindsell, an abstentionist says “Since the body of the believer is the temple of the Holy Spirit, it is not difficult to conclude that abstinence is to be preferred even though there is no express prohibition in Scripture against the use of alcohol in moderation.” THINK about what he just said. Do you understand the implications of that statement? He’s essentially saying that Christians should do this even though the Bible doesn’t say to. Think on this one too. Paul Gilchrist (abstentionist) writes “From the example and teaching of Jesus and the teaching of Paul, it cannot be certainly concluded that total abstinence was a requirement in the New Testament church.” As Kenneth Gentry notes, “if it were not a requirement in the apostolic church, why should it now be a requirement? Scripture is our final authority in the realm of ethics and morality.” These two abstentionist statements are dangerous because they’re essentially encouraging us to become holier than Scripture itself!

Everything has the potential to lead us away from God, but not everything is evil is it? Just because something can be used wrongly does not demonize it. This is why I’m opposed to the SBC Resolution no. 5 mentioned at the beginning. I’ll list the “Whereas” section of the resolution now which gives their reasons for taking a stand against it:

WHEREAS, Years of research confirm biblical warnings that alcohol use leads to physical, mental, and emotional damage (e.g., Proverbs 23:29-35); and

WHEREAS, Alcohol use has led to countless injuries and deaths on our nation’s highways; and

WHEREAS, The breakup of families and homes can be directly and indirectly attributed to alcohol use by one or more members of a family; and

WHEREAS, The use of alcohol as a recreational beverage has been shown to lead individuals down a path of addiction to alcohol and toward the use of other kinds of drugs, both legal and illegal; and

WHEREAS, There are some religious leaders who are now advocating the consumption of alcoholic beverages based on a misinterpretation of the doctrine of “our freedom in Christ”;

Here’s my quick rebuttal, line by line. Line 1: DRUNKENNESS leads to physical, mental, and emotional damage, not moderate consumption. That passage in Proverbs is not describing a moderate drinker but a drunkard. Line 2: No, DRUNKENNESS has led to those fatalities. That’s why we have laws about drinking and driving, not against drinking itself. Line 3: DRUNKENNESS has broken up families. Besides, many things have broken up families. Many spouses have had extramarital affairs. Should we then prohibit sex in general? Line 4: Drinking CAN lead to an addiction to alcohol. Key word: “can”. Not “will certainly.” And yes it can lead to drugs, but it doesn’t have to. Many people start drugs on their own without the aid of alcohol. Line 5: We ARE free to drink so far as we don’t abuse it and get drunk and if we’re wise about it (Romans 14).

The whole resolution is based on the faulty logic of abstentionism. Take a look at Ecclesiastes 10:17 – “Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility, and your princes feast at the proper time, for strength, and not for drunkenness!” What is being commended in this verse with regards to alcohol? A hint: it’s not abstinence. It’s sobriety!

The Superior Wisdom

Daniel Akin finishes his article with a challenge: “I challenge anyone to show me the superior wisdom of drinking ‘in moderation,’ as opposed to not drinking at all.” Here we go…

1. Well it gladdens the heart of man. You can be made joyful from it without getting drunk. Psalm 104:14-15 points this out as does Ecclesiastes 10:19. See also Zechariah 9:15, 10:7 and Judges 9:13. One of my roommates told me when I first moved in that he sometimes likes to have a drink when he gets home from work to help him relax. And you know what? He has never been drunk in his life. I’ve lived with him two years now and can tell you he drinks with integrity. Both my roommates do.
2. Health is a benefit. The SBC Resolution claims it has negative health effects. But the truth is that while DRUNKENNESS has negative health effects, moderate drinking does the reverse. Studies confirm that moderate drinkers tend to live longer, healthier lives than do alcoholics or out-right abstainers. They’re less likely to suffer hyptertension, high blood pressure, peripheral artery disease, Alzheimer’s, and even colds. It also helps reduce the risk or can straight up prevent diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, bone fractures and osteoporosis, kidney stones, digestive ailments, stress, depression, poor cognition and memory, Parkinson’s disease, hepatitis A, pancreatic cancer, macular degeneration (which can cause blindness), angina pectoris, duodenal ulcer, erectile dysfunction, hearing loss, gallstones, liver disease, and poor physical condition for older people.

Ask any real fundamental Christian if smoking is a sin and they’ll likely tell you yes. The reason? “Because your body is the temple of God and you should keep it healthy.” Speaking of which, a lot of Christians who hold this view don’t seem to have a problem eating more than their share. There are some FAT Christians out there. I don’t say that to be mean, but simply to challenge much of the Church to stop believing to whatever lie it is they’ve heard that obesity is permissible. Since when did gluttony become a better sin than smoking or drinking? Heck, at least gluttony made the Seven Deadly Sins. Anyway, if it’s true that we should stay fit and healthy because we’re the temple of God, why NOT moderately drink in light of the evidence above?

Romans 14

“I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean…It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves” (Romans 14:14, 21-22). There are “weak” Christians and “strong” ones. It’s not wrong to be weak. Not a sin or anything. A weak Christian in the context of alcohol would be someone who would not be able to drink alcohol without violating their own conscience. A strong Christian would be one who can gratefully consume alcohol moderately. “Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him” (v. 3). Romans 14 doesn’t define eating or drinking as sin but rather our ATTITUDE concerning our consumption. For example, a strong Christian might encourage a weak Christian to take a drink of alcohol for the purpose of destroying any pride they might have from “never having had a drink.” That’s wrong though. The strong Christian is sinning. Verse 23 says “whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” You’re encouraging that weak Christian to sin by violating their own conscience. I’ll use another example, something I’ve actually done before. Every now and then I’ll be somewhere public and out of the corner of my eye see a girl who my peripheral vision convinces me is smokin’ hot. When my flesh wins, I turn ever so slightly to catch a glimpse of her and lust. But there’s a problem. That hot babe is really some middle-aged lady who ain’t at all attractive. Seeing her as unattractive, I do not lust over her. Woohoo, I won! I didn’t lust! No I may not have lusted, but I still sinned. I had lustful intent.

Alcohol may not be evil, but if you can’t drink it with a clear conscience, DON’T DRINK IT. While I think prohibitionism is dangerous because it’s contradictory to what Scripture says, and abstentionism dangerous because it just isn’t practical, I don’t think those who choose not to drink are in any error. My concern isn’t whether you drink or not, but rather WHY you don’t drink. And lest you think I’m pushing an agenda here, I’m not. I had a sip of beer recently and that’s the only alcohol I’ve tasted in probably three years. I just don’t drink it. Last year I was on a team at my church, and one of my commitments was no alcohol. I didn’t agree with that at all and still don’t, but I submitted myself to my church’s regulations. There’s bigger things than drinking. “Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God” (v. 20). Strong Christians need the weak, and the weak need the strong. None should look down on each other. I should not look down on someone who can’t in good conscience consume alcohol, nor should they look down on someone who can (vv. 1-12). Oh and incidentally, Romans 13 tells us to obey our governing authorities. If you’re an American under the age of 21, then it’s a sin to drink.

The whole reason I write about this….

is not to encourage people to drink. It’s deeper than that. I believe it’s a terrible tragedy to call evil what God has looked at and called “good.” We’re treading on ice when we’ve become holier than Jesus, a man who did drink, an act which caused his opponents to label him as a drunkard. I don’t think these pharisees weren’t opposed to Jesus because he ate and drank. Those accusations they made because they already opposed him. Similarly we can’t live by any preconceived notions about right and wrong. That must come strictly from what God says is right and wrong. If we live by our own judgments, we won’t live by God’s Word, and we’ll attempt to become holier than Jesus himself, and thus enters legalism and false religion. Kenneth Gentry wisely says “These widely divergent camps suffer from a common malady: subjectivism in determining the will of God. Unfortunately, even conservative fundamentalism often borders on this error in its ethical reliance upon ‘the leading of the Holy Spirit’ divorced from the Word of God- sign-seeking, special guidance by direct feelings and impressions of the Holy Spirit, and the like.” He goes on to say “Autonomous ethics are internally contradictory (because they are not true) and inherently evil (because they deny God).”

Legalism destroys the work that Christ did upon the Cross. He died on a Cross for your sins because nothing you could EVER do would be able to get you into heaven. A person is not made holy because they don’t drink, nor are they holy because they don’t say “fuck” or “shit,” or whatever. Your righteousness has nothing to do with that. I’m a righteous and holy man because Jesus died for me and rose again and forgave me from my sins and gave me his Holy Spirit. Now I’m promised eternal life.

And that offer is open to anyone…

With Love,
Scott

The Health stats were taken from http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/AlcoholAndHealth.html. See also: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/alcohol.html.

Two excellent resources for further study: 1) God Gave Wine: What the Bible Says About Alcohol by Kenneth Gentry, and 2) Mark Driscoll’s sermon “Good Wine, Glad Hearts” which can be found on his church’s website http://marshillchurch.org.