I'd love to start a discussion on this topic! So controversial in the church today. (or maybe always!)
Is it okay for Christians to drink alcohol? (in excess, in moderation, or not at all?)
Please leave your opinion in the comment section, and if you feel more comfortable doing it anonymously, go ahead! :)
I don't say that a Christian who might have a glass of wine or something like that is wrong. I think we are talking moderation. But, I choose to completely abstain due to the controversial feel for this topic. We are told that we should do nothing to make another fall or stumble. I fear seeing me partake would cause another brother or sister in Christ to doubt my commitment to the Lord. I also say that there are some areas to just stay away from that are like playing with fire. Drinking is one of these areas for me. Why cause an addiction for myself or someone else?
ReplyDeleteI don't think there's a problem with Christians having a glass of wine, but I think Americans in general have trouble with moderation. We want to do everything above and beyond, and I've seen several friends who started out having a glass of wine with dinner who ended up drinking more and more.
DeleteMy family is full of alcoholics...functioning alcoholics, but still addicted to drinking. So, I abstain because I don't think I could be a casual drinker.
I had a friend who was a new Christian. She was working as a bartender as a second job to get out of debt. I never said anything to her because she was a new believer and had to be convicted for herself, not just following man-made rules. I had been praying about it, and I will never forget the day she called me because she had read this scripture.
Isaiah 5:22
22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine
and champions at mixing drinks,
She immediately quit her job, and God provided a better second job teaching GED classes at a local college. So, while I think wine is fine, this scripture (in my opinion) rules out mixed drinks for Christians. There are health benefits to wine, but I don't know of any for other drinks.
Finally, I think people in leadership positions should abstain for the reasons Paula mentioned.
To non-believers, we are hypocrites. So why partake in something that will push them further away?
ReplyDeleteI, in my opinion, see nothing wrong with having a glass of wine or a beer. But when one has the intentions to get drunk, that is when I see it as wrong. I personally at one point almost had an addiction, but I was not about to go there considering my family history with alcoholics. I'm scared to have a glass of wine after my baby is born, because for me it isn't just one glass. And my husband knows this. Best thing for me to do is to pray that God take that temptation away, since I cannot just stop at one...which is wrong and will give Christians an even worse image to non-believers.
I think there's an entire "lifestyle" associated with drinking, and when I see someone partaking of alcohol, unless I know for a fact they're a believer, my first thought is "I wonder if they go to Church.." or "I wonder if they're a Christian..." So, while the controversy will continue to rage until the Rapture about whether or not Jesus turned water into wine, Everyone with any sense about them knows that when someone sees an individual consuming alcohol, holding a beer in a photograph, or in line buying booze, there's an automatic assumption made about who that person is and how they live their life. We shouldn't judge others, it isn't our place, but as Paula says, in my opinion it kills a testimony without nary a word being uttered. To me, since it isn't worth the controversy, I abstain completely. One has to ask themselves, "What's more important?" I think projecting myself as the believer in Christ that I am is. If someone CAN'T simply not drink, then they have a problem, whether it be socially or otherwise. It's either a problem controlling themselves, a problem saying no to peers, or just a plain ol drinking problem. It's a weakness. Submitting to the desires of the flesh, and endangering your testimony simply to partake of a beverage, to possibly catch a buzz, or become a drunken mess who loses cognitive reasoning skills. Too much at risk, as I said. Not worth it.
ReplyDeleteIn everything I'm reading and in everything I've been thinking about for months on end now, the one thing that keeps coming into my mind over and over is 1 Peter 1:15-16 which says "But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy'." (NIV) No one preaches / teaches holiness in the life of a believer any more. Can the believer who is drinking still be holy in all their thinking and their words and their actions and their desires as they are drinking and in the hours afterward? Maybe with A glass of wine or A beer it would be possible. But it takes a really strong believer to stop there. It takes someone who is truly getting all their strength, all their self-worth, all their hope, all their happiness, all their peace in Christ alone. I think we as believers aren't asking ourselves the right questions any longer. We are asking ourselves how much can we "get away with" and still be ok with God. When we should be asking ourselves "Am I living holy as God desires me to live?" When we ask ourselves that question then it takes care of drinking and a whole host of other things in the life of a believer.
ReplyDeleteWell said...I completely agree.
DeleteI always thought of drinking as being a sin because that's the way I was brought up and there were acholics in my family. Then a co-worker who knew I was a Christian and who obviously drank asked me why Christians thought wine was wrong when Jesus made it. I'm so glad she did because it made me search the bible for myself instead of relying on what people said. At the time I had a stomach problem and there it was: drink a little wine for the stomach. I did and it worked better than the expensive drug I was taking. I realized it wasn't the wine that was to blame but the way people used it and the way others thought of it. A Christian has no right to see another drinking and judge them. Additions come in all things, food, drugs, gambling, etc. The unclean spirit that causes the lack of control is the problem. The other (bigger) lesson I learned was to go to the Spirit within me to interpret the scriptures, not the traditions of man. It liberated me in so many ways.
ReplyDeleteThe word that was translated into "wine" for the English language Bible was a generic word used for any beverage made from the fruit of the vine, not just the fermented kind. I'll leave it at that and you can research it further for yourself...
DeleteMy husband and I drink wine occasionally. We know that holiness is important, and we limit ourselves with how much we drink. But I can't imagine an unbeliever saying, "Wow, they don't drink. I want to be a Christian too!" I think, for us, it's a better witness to be able to drink responsibly. We can drink a little and stop there. We, personally, don't want to feel like we're "holier than thou". (NOT that we think that of those who choose not to drink, but we know that's how it can appear to some.)
ReplyDeleteYou can be a better witness because you can drink with the non-believers and simply know when to stop drinking? Really?
DeleteThose of us Christians that do not partake seem "holier than thou" because we don't drink? REALLY?
I think the bigger witness is to be among non-believers and standing out by not engaging in the same activities they engage in and STILL being a decent person and friend, so that they see that Christians aren't all zealots who just want to condemn the world. I think you're grasping at straws here....grasping for justification for a bad habit you don't want to stop. That's a dangerous path to travel........