Last week I addressed whether or not it is inherently sinful to drink alcohol. Scripture is clear in that it isn’t automatically a sin to drink alcohol. In fact, the Bible indicates that wine is often a blessing from God. This begs the question: If wine is not inherently sinful, are there times when it is? Unsurprisingly, there are absolutely times when drinking alcohol is sinful. Let’s look at some examples.
As clear as the Bible is on alcohol not being inherently sinful, it is as clear, if not more clear, that drunkenness is sinful. When the Bible gives us a list of sins, it often includes drunkenness. 1 Corinthians 6:10 is a good example of this. It says, “Nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” For more passages like this see, Isaiah 5:11, Romans 13:13, Galatians 5:19-21, etc. In addition to these types of verses, we have a direct command not to get drunk. There are more verses on this, but I will just use Ephesians 5:18. It says, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.”
Another time when drinking alcohol is problematic is if you are a leader who cannot afford to be incapacitated. Proverbs 31:4 says, “It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to take strong drink, lest they drink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of all the afflicted.” Now, I would be willing to argue that it’s not actually sinful in this case to have a drink. I think that this has a lot to do with how much an individual person can have before it starts effecting their thinking. For example, a single glass of a lower ABV wine is enough for my wife to feel its effects, while I can have a glass of wine and have no indications that I have consumed alcohol. Thus, it is unlikely that I would be sinning in this case by have a drink or two. I don’t even think that it would be problematic for my wife. She can feel that she has consumed alcohol at one drink, but her ability to think and reason is not incapacitated. Granted, neither of us are rulers, so this verse isn’t talking to us anyway.
We cannot talk about alcohol without discussing the concept of causing “weaker” believers to stumble (see Luke 17:1, Romans 14:13, and 1 Corinthians 8:9). There are people who can’t handle alcohol. And I don’t mean “I can feel it after one drink” like my wife, but rather “if I taste alcohol, I won’t be able to stop.” A church that I used to go to got “drunk” on their freedom to drink. By that I mean they would serve spiked punch at church gatherings (outside of Sunday services), but they wouldn’t even have a sign that says that there is alcohol in the punch. Unfortunately, someone who has been addicted to alcohol could easily have gotten some without knowing that there is alcohol in it, which, in turn, could cause said person to fall into drunkenness yet again. That is causing a brother to stumble. That is sinful. If I know that someone struggles with alcohol, I won’t drink it in their presence. I don’t want to tempt them in anyway if I can avoid it.
This does bring up an interesting thing that I would like to point out. While I was at Moody Bible Institute in Spokane WA, I noticed a trend. This trend was that those who were homeschooled, or grew up in a strict Christian household, tended to be the ones who got “drunk” on their newfound freedom. They often were the ones who were partying after school. This, of course, is a rebellion, but I think the actual issue is that they learned things that aren’t true and were not shown how to properly handle their freedom. Many who have issues with alcohol or have seen lots of examples of what happens when alcohol is over indulged, often go to the “don’t ever touch it under any circumstances” side of things. That alcohol must never be used and/or is sinful to drink. They then teach this to their kids. Unfortunately, this doesn’t actually align with Scripture on the topic of alcohol. In many ways, I find that to be an irresponsible way to teach kids. Is it not better to teach them how to handle alcohol in a Christ-honoring way instead of going against what the Bible says by saying that it is a sin? For example, I have a friend in his sixties who grew up with a dad who abused alcohol. The first time my friend tasted alcohol, he knew that he would be the same as his dad. Thus, he avoided drinking alcohol because he didn’t want that to happen. That all changed when he had kids of his own. He didn’t want them to have issues with alcohol. He wanted to be a good example to them on how to drink alcohol in a way that honors God. But he knew that without God’s help, he would turn into his dad if he drank. So, he asked God to take away the desire in him to overindulge. God did, and he was able to demonstrate to his kids (who are now adults) how to handle alcohol in way that honors God. To this day, he still can enjoy alcohol without the desire to overindulge. Now, I am not saying that every person who asks God to take away the inability to handle alcohol will get answered in the same way. However, I am saying that even though you might not be able to handle alcohol personally, you can and should still teach your kids (and others) how to handle alcohol biblically. Teaching/demonstrating how to handle alcohol well will always be better than an outright ban on it.
Therefore, drink and enjoy alcohol if you want to. But be careful that you don’t fall into drunkenness or cause your brother or sister to stumble.
As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions at ljandersonbooks@outlook.com.
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L. J. Anderson - Author and Blogger 