“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

-The Apostle Paul to The Church at Rome

It should come to no surprise that my coworkers drink. The ones that I spoke of in Bible Q&A Part 1. Those that profess the name of Christ with one side of the mouth, then spew forth filth with the other. One talks about his bar in his home. The one that sheds tears talking about the goodness of Christ loves to stop for a six-pack a few times a week. The one that speaks of God all the day long loves Vodka. And he wants you to not forget it either. It is common to find those that confess The Messiah enjoying an alcoholic beverage. Not just my coworkers, but across the field. After all, as they say, “Jesus turned water into wine”.

Christians that drink alcohol have one problem. They are ignorant as to the Demon they are messing with. Do they enjoy the taste? Or are they simply partaking for the sake of the social aspect? Once, when I was working for FedEx, I was riding with a fellow driver. He was a proud attendee of a satellite branch of Steven Furtick’s Sunday Morning House of Fun. He had told me that he was part of a life group for young men as himself. He often brought his German Shepherd to the bar with him, much to the enjoyment of the other patrons. I would imagine that they would speak of God’s love and encourage one another as they sipped upon cold glasses of craft beer. Or whatever poison they chose. “But what’s wrong with that?” one may ask. After all, Jesus turned water into wine. More on this momentarily.

The debate rages. On one side it is said that biblical wine is exactly what you think it is. Fully fermented and would welcome intoxication just as well as its modern counterparts. On the other side it is said that wine is nothing more than grape juice, or diluted wine, and that the “strong drink” that The Word warns against is the true undiluted version. But who is right? Who cares. The argument for Christianity and alcohol goes beyond the surface of what is in the glass. It is an argument that many are unwilling to address. Allow me to arrest your thoughts for a moment. Allow me to take you down the rabbit hole.

Believers forget in today’s world that there are rules to the engagement of our faith. Namely in speech and action. I covered speech in my last Q&A. Action speaks louder than words is more than a cliché. Why are these two facets so important to our faith? 

“But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’”.

-The Apostle Peter

First, we are to be the example to a broken world that there is a renewed life beyond the chains of spiritual death. That, like the garment and dietary rules of ancient Israel, we are set apart and unique. Our lives should prompt the question of the unregenerate “What makes you different than I?”, or “Why are you not broken like us?” or something to that effect. This opens up the door to The Gospel. Our life should reflect Christ. Our verbal response to our life should deflect to Him. Many secular people of this world do not expect to see professing Christians buying a case of Coors, walking into a bar, or throwing back some wine at Olive Garden. They expect a less tarnished behavior than their own. This not just applies to speech and alcohol, but being smothered in ink, our lack of attire, and smoking. Sometimes we refer to this behavior as “Holiness”. The word that brings discomfort to many a modern day Christian. To follow the wide path of the world when their eyes are upon you birth two phrases: “Fake Christian” and “Christians are hypocrites”. Both of which bring a great disservice to the Name of God. At the point that you are dragging His name through the mud it becomes irrelevant to whether you are drinking grape juice or “strong drink”.

“It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.”

-Romans 14:21

Second, we are to not cause our fellow believers to stumble. I remember a story that my former pastor once shared with me. He was a fan of non alcoholic beer. One night he and his wife were at dinner where he was enjoying said beverage. A family from the church approached him. As the adults were engaged in conversation, he couldn’t help but notice that one of the children kept staring at the beer. You see, in the eyes of this child he only saw a glass of beer. He did not know the difference. It must’ve been a great disappointment to stumble upon the revelation that your pastor drinks alcohol. Conviction came upon this pastor from this incident and he immediately turned from enjoying the uselessness of drinking an “innocent” beverage that disguised itself as that of the world. Needless to say they both are of this world. One is the poison. The other is the mimic. One time in our home church many years ago my sermon found itself on the subject of alcohol. A friend made an interesting observation. Many Christians drink a little. A glass of wine. Maybe a beer or two. Permissible because Jesus turned water into wine. Right? But what if your children see your mild drinking habits. What if they look forward to the day that they can have that glass of wine like mommy, or that Bud like daddy? Then the day comes. They drink a little here. A little there. But one eventually isn’t enough. They desire more. More. More. They toe the line. Then they fall. Congratulations! You have planted the seeds for your child’s alcoholism. You too will be held accountable before The Throne. The both of you. Or more. All because Cana was your scapegoat.

The fact is that the eyes of the world are upon you. Both the regenerate and the unregenerate. Looking upon you for the Christ example. Whether it is for guidance, or for the purpose to catch your hypocrisy in the act that they may condemn His Holy name. A condemnation already brought out by your desire to tiptoe with sin and conform your mind to the ways of this world. 

But the rabbit hole goes beyond this. Allow me to introduce you to what lies in the pit. Comfort dies here.

“And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit”

-The Apostle Paul to The Church at Ephesus

Christian. Who are you fooling as you swirl the chaos in your mouth? Is it truly “innocent”? The truth is that when you drink alcohol your are messing with something that you should not mess with. As you tip your glass, you tip your head to what stands at the end of the road. The silhouette in the distance that captures your gaze. The Demon called Alcoholism. You may say “I only drink but so much! I’m not an alcoholic!” as you juggle control. But what if there is a slip in judgement? A good time that tarrys longer than it should? A loss of self control? A defense that is down? Then what will you do? Much like the attractive young woman that flirts with the married man, it’s only a matter of time before Temptation pushes him into her bed. Your second glance is a nod to the adultery that lies ahead. What’s the difference?

Every nod that you give to that Demon is an acknowledgment to his destruction. To his potential. It is a nod to the man that has just lost his job. It is a nod to the mother that is absent. To the husband that just beat his wife. To the father that just told his son that he hates him. To the girlfriend that just cheated. To the neighbor that just got raped. To the family hit head on and to the orphans left behind. Go ahead and take a sip. Make sure you wink at him while you do. Go ahead and toe the line of self control as you rely on your own pride and strength to keep you from falling. Go ahead and drag the name of God through the cemetery as you visit the grave of your Holiness. Go ahead. 

But what more do I know? I have only been down the path. I have only been on the receiving end of the Demon’s hate. I have felt the dark side. I had bound my neck with the noose by the words of the one bound by chains. Oh how we hurt the ones we love. But what more do I know?

Just remember you stand at the beginning of the long hard road into Hell. And it’s a hard long road out. Mind the feet that walk in your careless footsteps.

“Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

-James 4:4