"Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange sights and your mind imagine confusing things. You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging. "They hit me," you will say, "but I'm not hurt! They beat me, but I don't feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?" - Proverbs 23:29-35 (NIV)
"Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses." - 1 Timothy 5:23 (NIV)
I received an e-mail from a listener last week wherein he/she felt compelled to inform me of his/her decision to stop listening to the radio program due to my comments on drinking during the show last week. They felt I was guilty of being a stumbling block to anyone listening when I mentioned it was not scripturally forbidden to have an alcoholic beverage in moderation as long as do so doesn't cause a "weaker" brother to stumble.
I've shared my thoughts and feelings on this subject many times over the years and every single time I've approached the subject of the permissibility of drinking under the "Statute of Liberty" clause in scripture I am always challenged, criticized and in some cases accused of many heinous things that I won't get into here.
It goes without saying that in Fundamental, Evangelical, American Christianity drinking is considered one of the seven deadly sins. Make no mistake, alcoholism is a very real problem that adversely affects literally billions of people both here and across the world. Having said that, I have discovered a very simple truth over the years. Namely, people who have either been a victim of or participated in alcoholism are (generally speaking) vehemently against anyone teaching that it is OK with God if you have a "little wine". In other words, scriptures are translated more by our intellect and experience rather than the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit of God. Jesus didn't tell us to lean on our own understanding of things and let our experiences guide us into all truth. He said the Holy Spirit would guide us into all truth.
My purpose in bringing this controversial subject up is neither to cause people to stumble nor to "stir things up" as the listener opined in his/her e-mail. My purpose is to get God's people to think about some of our taboos and sacred cows. As we have discussed in previous programs, legalism and liberalism are two extremes that are tearing the body of Christ into pieces. People get very emotional about their opinions and beliefs, particularly when it deals with a subject like this one. When emotion gets involved, rationale and common sense go right out the window...every single time.
Such is the case with the subject of drinking. I would ask the question to anyone who believes any form of drinking is a sin: where exactly is the passage of scripture that commands complete abstinence from any and all alcoholic beverages? I'm constantly amazed at how many of God's people believe the bible teaches complete abstinence from drinking. You can read the entire Bible from now till the rapture and you'll never find one single verse of scripture commanding that. You'll find a ton of scripture commanding us to "Be not drunk with wine..." (Ephesians 5:18) but you won't find any scriptures commanding abstinence.
I've quoted two different passages of scriptures above that seem to contradict one another. In Proverbs you have Solomon's warning against abusing alcohol. Again, Proverbs isn't commanding abstinence; it's warning against abusive use of alcohol. I know many will disagree with that statement so I'll ask you this, if God's will for us is to never touch any alcoholic beverage of any kind then why did the apostle Paul advise his son in the faith to take a little wine for medicinal purposes in 1 Timothy 5?
I've actually heard people try to explain Paul wasn't talking about literal wine but rather the "fruit of the vine" which meant grape juice. In fact, I know many brethren that teach that every time wine is mentioned in scripture it is actually talking about unfermented grape juice and not the alcoholic variety. This teaching is a prime example of letting opinion and bias dictate the interpretation of the scriptures. Just a quick lesson: people in the Middle East know the difference between wine and grape juice. When you see the word "wine" in the Authorized King James Version of the Bible it means an alcoholic beverage made from fermented grapes not Welch's.
But I digress. Consider, if Paul's single verse to Timothy were the only verse in the Bible that described a prominent New Testament Christian using wine one could easily argue that a watered down drop of wine for medicinal purposes is permissible but no more. But then there's Christ.
It's difficult to be accused of being a "wine bibber" if you're not imbibing in wine. Christ drank wine, served wine (yep, the Lord's Supper contained wine, not grape juice as some like to believe) and even made wine in a most miraculous fashion. If alcohol is verboten then why is the Son of God associated with this sinful liquid no less than 4 different times in scriptures?
The point to all of this is not to get God's people to run to the bars to get their drink on. I couldn't care less if any of God's people drank or not. That's not the issue. The issue is ignorance of the scriptures and the judgmental attitudes of some in the Body of Christ. I find it amazing that people have no problem engaging in activities that the scriptures emphatically forbids when they unjustly accuse, judge, condemn and emotionally/spiritually execute one another over issues the Bible does NOT forbid...like drinking a "little wine".
In case you need any further help with this, let me leave you with this sadly true story of a friend of mine. This brother went to France to serve as a missionary. After a year of service there the church-grapevine was ablaze with rumors and tales of his alcohol abuse. After months of scandalous rumors and a full investigation by his home church he returned to the states in disgrace wearing the scarlet letter "A" for "Alcoholic" and eventually dropped out of church service altogether.
The rumors of his alcoholism started when a "weaker" pastor visited him on the field and took offense at his use of wine during meals. Naturally, when this pastor returned to the states he fired off a letter to the missionary's home church informing them of this heinous activity and further informed them of his decision to withdraw supporting funds for the mission effort in France. After all, he reasoned, how can a Bible-believing church support a man who is living in direct contradiction to the clearly taught Word of God that we abstain from all appearance of evil?
The missionary's home church began a full investigation and learned that this servant of God had indeed been drinking wine while on the mission field. Pressure to return home to receive treatment for alcoholism was immediately issued and before you knew it, this faithful brother in Christ was demoted from missionary to pariah within the church community.
The truth of the matter is the brother was not an alcoholic. He was simply following the customs and culture of the people he was attempting to minister to; customs that were permissible by scripture, I might add. In talking with him many years after this event took place he explained to me how insulting it was to the French people he visited if he turned down their offers of wine. "After all," he explained to me, "those people drink wine like we drink iced tea." So, in an effort to win the lost at any cost he joined his French brethren in a "little wine" during meals. Unfortunately, because of the scriptural and cultural ignorance of God's people a soldier in the Lord's army was taken out by "friendly fire".
My purpose in this discussion is to do my part to educate and illuminate God's people with the glorious light of God's word. This kind of ignorant judgmentalism is what has earned us the reputation of intolerant, unforgiving, unmerciful basket-cases in the eyes of the world. It is a reputation that I hope to see changed as more people turn away from ignorant emotional interpretation of scriptures and grow in the grace and power of God.
So, to recap: it is forbidden by God to get drunk, because it is excessive abuse. It is not forbidden, however, to use alcohol in moderation as long as we are not using our liberties to cause a weaker brother to stumble (1 Corinthians 8:9). I'm not advocating abuse of any kind. Just understand that we can and do abuse every single thing that God has placed on this planet for our good and even our pleasure. We abuse food, sex, medicine, money, drink and even our liberties. None of those things are forbidden; we're just instructed not to abuse them.
Holy Spirit needs to guide us into all truth on issues like this one. We can't lean on our own understanding of these controversial gray areas of scripture. We can't let our past experiences negatively affect our attitudes and opinions of these matters. Let God show you the truth concerning his glorious liberty and I promise you, the truth will absolutely set you free...
...not to get blasted on the weekends but free to serve God with no man-made restraints, no man-made obstacles and no man-made rules and regulations that God never placed nor intended for His children. This is the point for raising this issue this weekend. I hope you'll tune in and participate in the discussion.
Stay tuned, true believers...
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