Walking in the Valley A bi-weekly column, featuring one Christian's (a)musings on life's journey by Barbara Dahlgren

I'll Drink To That! Column for the weeks of January 16-30, 2007

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Before the holidays I listened to a radio-preacher tell people it was a sin to drink alcoholic beverages. This educated, well- respected minister seemed pretty well versed in the Bible and has a fairly large following. I found his message most disconcerting. It always bothers me when Christians try to support personal philosophies biblically. This tactic tarnishes the credibility of the Christian community.

Now, I’m not suggesting we take tequila shots every time we see the word “winebibber” as we read the Bible; although, this might encourage some to search the scriptures. But to condemn those who drink a glass of wine with dinner goes to the other extreme. And that seems to be the problem with people – they tend to go to extremes. Many who drink aren’t satisfied unless they are drunk; many who don’t drink aren’t satisfied unless they convince others they shouldn’t drink either. We tend to make our standard, God’s standard. What we like, God likes – whether it be music, clothing, hairstyles, food, or drink. Thus we make God over into our image, instead of the other way around.

God has given us many blessings. But every blessing can be a curse if not used properly. The following can be blessings or curses, depending on how they are use: food, sex, money, and, yes, wine, beer, and other forms of fermented beverages. Not everyone who eats is a glutton. Not everyone who has sex is an adulterer, fornicator or pervert. Not everyone who drinks is an alcoholic. The sin lies within abuse of the blessing – not the blessing itself. Why else would wine be spoken of as both good and bad in the same texts in 1 Samuel 1:14, 24 and Joel 1:5, 10?

Martin Luther summed it up well: “Do not suppose that abuses are eliminated by destroying the object which is abused. Men can go wrong with wine and women. Shall we prohibit and abolish women? The sun, moon, and stars have been worshipped. Shall we pluck them out of the sky?”

The vast majority of scriptures mentioning fermented drinks take a positive view. This minister failed to mention any of them. For example, they were used:

• In offerings (Exodus 29: 38-41; Numbers 28:7)
• For tithe paying (Deuteronomy 18:4)
• In worship (Matthew 26:27; 1 Corinthians 11:25-26)
• In celebrations (Genesis 14:17-20)
• To gladden a person’s heart (Psalms 104:14-15)
• In the Lord’s supper (Matthew 26:29; Mark 14:25; Luke 22:18)
• For thanksgiving and honor to God (Proverbs 3:9-10)
• As blessings (Genesis 27:28; Joel 2:19, 24; 3:18; Amos 9:13-14)
• For medicinal purposes (Proverbs 31:6; 1 Timothy 5:23)

He preferred to cite the death statistics for drunk drivers, scriptures focusing on wine being a mocker (Proverbs 20:1), alcohol being the root of our problematic society (Proverbs 23:31-32), and drinking leading to drunkenness (Isaiah 5:11). These are all true. Being drunk is bad. It’s condemned in the Bible. It’s a sin. If a person chooses not to drink alcohol, he has that freedom in Christ and impressive statistics to support his position.

Fortunately the speaker had the good sense not to say the wine mentioned in the Bible was not really fermented but just grape juice, and when Jesus turned the water into wine it was a “watered” down wine (pun intended) and not potent.

However, he did try to slam dunk his thesis with my two personal favorite reasons not to do anything – abstaining from all appearances of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22) and not causing someone to stumble (Romans 14:20). These are great scriptures people emphasize out of context when they have no other biblical backing for their point of view.

Does he not know that from the inception of Christ’s birth, Christianity has been steeped in “appearances” of evil by the world’s standards? A virgin gets pregnant giving the impression of immorality, Christ drinks wine leading some to call him a drunkard, he associates with sinners offending many, he wastes costly ointment to wash his feet that could have been sold to help the poor – the list could go on.

And as far as causing someone to stumble, read all of Romans 20. It is the deliberate action of flaunting one’s belief in someone’s face that causes the offense. It’s that “in your face” action that God warns against. A drinker could easily trip into this pit fall, but so could a non-drinker with an “I’m more righteous and holier than thou” attitude because he chooses not to drink. The kingdom of God is not about meat or drink.

Christianity misses the mark when it doesn’t give the freedom in Christ for people to make these decisions. We can’t rewrite scripture to say, “You have heard it said in the Bible that wine is okay to drink within moderation and drunkenness is wrong, but verily I say unto you, that all drinking is wrong and a sin.” That is not what the Bible says.

Is all this rhetoric leading up to a license for us to go “tie one on” for the Lord? I think not. The point is: if you are a Christian who chooses not to drink alcoholic beverages, do not condemn another Christian who chooses to drink them. The point is: if you are a Christian who chooses to drink alcoholic beverages, don’t condemn or flaunt it in front of Christians who choose not to drink.

Is it a sin to drink wine and such? Not according to the Bible! But drunkenness and gluttony are. And here are some other sins to watch out for: judging others, condemning others, being quick to call someone a sinner, and setting up your standard as God’s.

Now, I’ll drink to that! (But I won’t tell you if I’m having wine or grape juice!)

Be sure to visit this page often to read the next edition of Walking in the Valley. You can write to the author at bdahlgren@wcgsouthbay.org.