The key to dealing with doctrine and
Christian ethics is to remember that sinful man, Christian or otherwise, is not
a reliable guide. Imagine if God left us
to ourselves with no inspired word to guide us into his heart and mind. We wouldn’t just have different
denominations, but one’s Christianity would truly be a private affair as each
individual would be left to determine for themselves what faith required. I would likely be forced to plant the First
Church of Chad Kaminski with me as the only member.
Yet, by God’s grace and infinite
wisdom, he has given us his word. Psalm
119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.” Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."
It is so easy for the believer to not
read his or her Bible and simply believe what seems right to them or what they’ve
been told by someone else. In the book of Acts, the Bereans are praised for not only being open minded, but
for verifying everything by scripture. Acts 17:11 says, "The people here were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, since they welcomed the message with eagerness and examined the Scripture daily to see if these things were so." They cared enough about knowing the truth of God that they were willing to not only discuss matters of faith, but they double checked everything with God's word. Let us do so now.
In the Old Testament, the presence of
wine was seen as a blessing. Genesis
27:28 says, “May God give to you— from the dew of the sky
and from the richness of the land— an abundance of grain
and new wine. Deuteronomy
7:13 says, “He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will bless your descendants, and the
produce of your land—your grain, new wine.”
Deuteronomy 11:14 says, “I will provide rain for your land in the proper
time, the autumn and spring rains, and you will harvest your grain, new wine,
and oil.”
Consequently, the absence of wine was seen as a curse. Deuteronomy 28:39, 51 says, “You will plant and cultivate vineyards but not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. They will leave you no grain, new wine, oil, young of your herds, or newborn of your flocks until they cause you to perish.”
Consequently, the absence of wine was seen as a curse. Deuteronomy 28:39, 51 says, “You will plant and cultivate vineyards but not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. They will leave you no grain, new wine, oil, young of your herds, or newborn of your flocks until they cause you to perish.”
Wine is described as a good gift of God. Psalm 104:14-15 says, “He causes grass
to grow for the livestock and provides crops for man
to cultivate, producing food from the earth, wine that makes man’s
heart glad— making his face shine with oil— and bread that sustains man’s
heart.” Ecclesiastes 9:7-9 says, “Go,
eat your bread with pleasure, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for
God has already accepted your works. Let your clothes be white all the
time, and never let oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the wife you love all the days
of your fleeting life.”
Wine is seen as an important image of
joy and celebration and victory when the Messiah comes. Isaiah 25:6 says, “The Lord of Hosts
will prepare a feast for all the peoples on this mountain—a
feast of aged wine, choice meat, finely aged wine.”
And Jesus’ first miracle was to turn
water to an over-abundance of wine, foreshadowing the coming banquet prophesied
by Isaiah, while pointing to Jesus as the host of that future banquet. Matthew 26:29 says, “But I tell you, from
this moment I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I
drink it in a new way in My Father’s kingdom with you.”
On the eve of his death, Jesus sanctified a cup of wine as the "New Covenant in my blood." (Luke 22:14-23) Yet, as with any good gift that God
provides, our sinful hearts can use it for evil. So though wine is seen as a blessing, drunkenness
is evil.
Drunkenness alters our minds so we have
no self control. Ephesians 5:18 says, “And
don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled by
the Spirit.” Titus 2:3 says, “In the
same way, older women are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not
addicted to much wine.” 1 Timothy 3:2-3 says,
“An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife,
self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, an able teacher, not
addicted to wine.” 1 Timothy 3:8 says “Deacons,
likewise, should be worthy of respect, not hypocritical, not drinking a lot of
wine.”
It is not only clear that drunkenness
itself is a sin, but it also leads to more sin.
Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, beer is a brawler, and whoever
staggers because of them is not wise.” Drunkenness leads to destruction and
addiction. Proverbs 23:29-35 says, “Who
has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has conflicts? Who has complaints? Who
has wounds for no reason? Who has red eyes? Those who linger
over wine, those who go looking for mixed wine. Don’t gaze at wine because
it is red, when it gleams in the cup and goes down
smoothly. In the end it bites like a snake and stings like
a viper. Your eyes will see strange things, and you
will say absurd things. You’ll be like someone sleeping
out at sea or lying down on the top
of a ship’s mast. ‘They struck me, but I feel no
pain! They beat me, but I didn’t know it! When will I
wake up? I’ll look for another drink.’”
Unrepentant drunkenness is very serious
in scripture. 1 Corinthians 6:9 says, “Don’t
you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be
deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or anyone
practicing homosexuality, no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally
abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom.”
It is obvious that alcohol is in the
realm of Christian freedom. Yet it is
also obvious that some should not drink.
Maybe they struggle with drunkenness or they are born with a proclivity
to drunkenness or a personality that tends toward addiction. Therefore what the Bible says about
drunkenness is reason enough for many to avoid even a single drink.
Since
this falls under the umbrella of Christian freedom, how should we behave under
that umbrella? Romans 14:14-23 says, “I
know and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself.
Still, to someone who considers a thing to be unclean, to that one it is
unclean. For if your brother is hurt by
what you eat, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy that
one Christ died for by what you eat. Therefore, do not let your good be slandered, for
the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and
joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever serves Christ in this way is acceptable
to God and approved by men. So then, we must pursue what promotes peace
and what builds up one another. Do not tear down God’s work because of
food. Everything is clean, but it is wrong for a man to cause stumbling by what
he eats. It is a noble thing not to eat meat, or drink wine, or do
anything that makes your brother stumble. Do you have a conviction? Keep it to yourself
before God. The man who does not condemn himself by what he approves is
blessed. But whoever doubts stands
condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from a conviction, and
everything that is not from a conviction is sin.”
In other words, our conscience is not
infallible, but if your conscience says it’s wrong, even if your conscience is
misinformed, then violating your conscience with that behavior would be
sin. Therefore, if your conscience says
drinking alcohol is wrong, then you should not drink.
Secondly, love should control your use
of freedom. Paul exhorts us to love one
another in our thoughtful use of freedoms.
Choosing to drink around someone whose conscience is being wounded, or
who is being drawn into something that they’ve spent years to get freedom from
is not loving. Our freedoms should not
control us, but our love should control our freedoms.
And finally,
God is the centerpiece of the Christian life, not your drink. God’s good gifts are meant to point us to God,
therefore worship God, not the good things that God gives us to enjoy. If a nonbeliever came to your house where you
enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, would they leave thinking, “Wow, they sure
love their wine,” or would they leave saying, “Wow, they sure love their God.”
Romans 14 allows for a difference of
conviction on the use of alcohol because the church’s foundation of unity is not
built around our views of this issue. We
just read Romans 14:17, “…for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking,
but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Therefore we can be convinced one way or the other in our own
minds about this issue while being charitable to one another as we grow
together in the same church.
As a postscript, when our church
decided to make this change to our covenant, we made sure not to add any
wording that made it sound like we were promoting a certain use of Christian
freedom. In other words, we are not encouraging the use of alcohol for our members or anyone else. And of course, we stand against the use of illegal drugs, as well as the use of drugs beyond a doctor's prescribed instructions.
But we are calling for that which God commands: love, sobriety and an addiction free life.
But we are calling for that which God commands: love, sobriety and an addiction free life.
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