Christians and Alcohol

You’re over at a friend’s home and they offer you some wine with dinner.  You’re a Christian.  What do you do?

Surprisingly, the Bible has quite a bit to say about this sort of situation.

First, let’s look at the issue of whether Christians can drink alcohol at all.  Eph. 5:18 calls drunkenness debauchery, so we can be sure we shouldn’t get drunk.  But, can we drink at all?  Of course, if you’re an alcoholic, the answer is a definite “NO!”  That’s just common sense, but what about the rest of us?

There are plenty of examples of saints drinking wine in Scripture, but some say drinking wine was necessary because the sanitary conditions were so bad they couldn’t drink the water.  “Today,” they say, “is different.  Sanitation is of a much higher quality, so we don’t need to drink wine and shouldn’t for fear of possible drunkenness.” 

I really don’t think that argument holds water.  Luke 7:33-34 says John the Baptist didn’t drink wine, but the same passage indicates almost certainly that Jesus did.  We can get two points from this short passage.  First, if John didn’t drink wine, wine wasn’t all there was to drink.  We also see that Jesus almost certainly drank wine.

Some deny the examples of New Testament Saints and Jesus Himself drinking wine.  They say it was really grape juice.  I don’t think Luke 1:15; 5:39 and several other passages could be interpreted as grape juice.   So, that argument is unsupported by Scripture.

At the wedding at Cana (John chapter 2), Jesus turned water into wine.  Was it real wine?  The master of the feast certainly thought so and so do most commentators.  So, we have to ask ourselves if drinking wine was sinful, why would Jesus provide it? The next question is should we?

Romans 14:21-23 (NLT2)
²¹  It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble. ²²  You may believe there’s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right.
²³  But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.

A lot of Christians believe drinking alcohol is sinful behavior.  For them, then, according to this passage, drinking is truly wrong.  God would see it as sinful if they drank alcohol.

Based on some passages I’ve mentioned, though, many Christians believe God is fine with our having a glass of wine in the evening to relax or with dinner, a beer with friends or on a hot day.  The Bible allows for that.  However, the Bible doesn’t allow for stumbling a brother or sister who thinks drinking is wrong.  The Christian who is drinking is the one responsible for the decision and result not the brother or sister who is stumbled. Scripture doesn’t seem to make an allowance for the stumbled brother’s interpretation of biblical teaching.  I believe it also doesn’t allow us in principal to drink in front of an unbeliever who thinks Christians are hypocrites if they drink.  They might be standing in the way of that person’s decision to accept Christ.

 “So, am I supposed to be a closet drinker?” you might ask.  That’s up to you.  I have a beer on a hot day or once in a while in the evening.  I’ll have a glass of wine from time to time.  Personally, though, I almost never drink in public.  Though a beer might go well with a steak or wine with fish, it isn’t worth taking the chance someone who knows I’m a Christian might see me and stumble in their faith or on their path to Christ.  I had a Christian friend who believed drinking was allowed biblically but refused to drink. His reason? He thought he might hurt his witness to another believer.  After all, just how important is that drink?

To summarize, let me give my opinion on what we’ve looked at here.  The Bible allows for drinking in moderation.  Once you feel the intoxicating effects of alcohol, you’ve gone too far.  It also tells us not to drink in front of a brother who might be stumbled by it.

So, this is the gist of the arguments for and against Christians drinking.  Please decide for yourself.  Don’t play the “Holy Ghost Police” and criticize those with a different view. Do your own research and pray about it.