Sipping Saints?....

Well, recently I have had a very intresting discussion with one of my beloved buddies. As you have probably guessed from the title of this post is had to do with Christians and drinking. Let's just say that he made some good points and I made some good refutations, so I decided to post some of it. Names have been changed to protect the guilty, er I mean innocent. :)

1) Jesus drank wine.

Okay, so let's make a few points clear. Back in ancient times water was brought to cities via aquaducts. The channels were lined with lead* so that the water would flow faster. Needless to say, by drinking this water the population in general grew weary of water so that it came to the point that water was considered dangerouse by the people of the early Roman Empire (when Jesus lived). Ergo the water to wine miracle.
*BTW, lead is poisenous.

The Greek word translated as wine can also be translated simply as juice, and in the Bible there is frequently a diffrence made between "wine" and "intoxicating drink". Therefore, there is a very real and very possible chance that Jesus was just drinking grape juice.

And finally, Jesus said he was God, yet we don't. Jesus dinned with prostitutes, but we don't. Jesus never married yet we marry. It's safe to say that there were somethings Jesus did that were done because he was the perfect and holy Son of God.

2) The Bible says that 'nothing that enters a man can defile him'.

Well, if you are going to quote that verse read the whole verse and get the context. Its all about washing your hands before you eat not drinking wine. Not just that but it misses the whole point of the conversation. This is not about being clean or dirty because in Christ we are all purified. What this comes down to is whether it is morally acceptible for a Christian who wants to follow God wholeheartedly to drink.

3) The Bible never calls it a sin

Just because something isn't spelled out as a sin doesn't retract from its immorality. Paul says, "Everything is lawful to me, but not everything is expedient/acceptible unto me...I will not be mastered by anything" and what that comes down to is plain, simple, old fasioned wisdom.

Is it wise to open a door to the enemy in your life? Is it wise to expose yourself to alcoholism, especially IF YOUR FAMILY HAS A HISTORY OF ALCOHOLISM!!!! Is it wise to threaten the safety and security of your self and your family by doing something for no good reason.

4) There are places in Leviticus and in Thessalonians and Timothy where it talks about wine, in an alcoholic sence, and encourages drinking.

First the Leviticus one. This is said in relation to widows as a means of releaving their distress over the loss of a husband. Second is Paul stating that he'll need some for his stomach and later he recomends the same to Timothy for his stomach. So what's going on?

Let's have another history lesson. In ancient times a very common practice was to soak medicinal herbs in wine and letting the essential oils dissipate into the drink. This was medicinal drinking not social drinking. Not only that but it was always done in small doses and infrequently, usually with some kind of physician overseeing the process. The widows would have been drinking anti-depressant infused wine while Paul and Timothy would both be drinking carmative (e.g. digestive system cleansing) wine. These are not the same as drinking for dumb reasons.

5) But a glass of red wine is suppose to be good for you.

Actually according to the FDA two glasses of red wine a night decreases your risk of heart desease. BUT, one cup of green tea does the same and it's not addictive at all, except for the minute traces of caffeine depending on how long you seep it. And one vegetabletarian (e.g. no meat lots of veggies and a few carbs) meal a day does four times the good the two glasses of wine do. So if this was REALLY about health then why do the people advocating this still eat meat three times daily.

And what's more my friend Phil ate at Carls Jr. and Taco Bell everyday so if this was really about health I'm no doctor but its logical sense that eating better would be far more helpful than beginning to drink.

There was more than this, but what it comes down to, in reagrds to the morality of Christians drinking, are three very simple priciples.

1) The Devil is not your friend.

This is basic doctrine 101, and I hate doctrine, so this pains me to quote it. But its true. Yet I think sometimes we forget that. Right now, he is planning, doing his best to ensnare and trap us, get us addicted to something, or caught in some kind of cycle of destruction.

When, and its only a matter of when, you get drunk, you loose control of yourself, your actions, and your words. And worse of all you think you're still in control but you're not. Its the same as when you're high on pot or dope or some mind altering hallucinigen, or even a cigar. You are in the EXACT same place as a person tampering with a oija board or tarrot card set or who is part of a seance. You have literally opened your soul for demonic opression.

So, just to be clear, Christians can't be possessed by a demon, but they can be oppressed, e.g. not controlled but influenced, by one. How do you open yourself to opression? Why, simply by exposing yourself to the occult and occultic practices or by willfully giving up control of your body to the enemay, which is what happens when you're high or drunk.

2) Why?

Seriously ask yourself this. Why do I have to drink? It's not medicinally worth the risk of addcition, its not socially worth the risk of humiliation when you're drunk, and its not spiritually worth the cost of opression. So, why do it? Instead of asking me "Well how come a Christian can't drink" I ask you to give me one good reason to start drinking if you are a Christian.

And please don't tell me its for evangelism. That's been the excuse for everyone from the poor STD stricken Indian missionary who just wanted to reach out to the prostitutes, to the slave owners who just wanted the slaves to inherit the earth by forcing them to be meek, to Mr. Ted Haggart himself and all his...stuff. Let's not kid ourselves, we reach out to the world not by imitating their behavior but by lifting up a standard and reaching down to help lift them up. I'm not saying condemn them, duh. But I'm saying we are salt and light BECAUSE WE ARE DIFFERENT!

3) The Sin

Oh yes, you thought I said it wasn't a sin, but there is actually a place where this does go into the realm of sin. If you have children and you drink you are sinning. Studies over the last century have repeatedly shown that children who grow up in a home where there is alcohol present, even in minute quantities, are more likely to start drinking at a younger age and suffer from alcoholism.

If you have children and you get drunk, you are held responsible before God for whatever actions and words you take while in that drunken stupor because it could have been avoided if you had simply had the foresight not to drink.

And, if you, either by your drinking example or by your drunken actions cause one of these little ones to stumble well you're in for more trouble then even hell can contain. You remeber sweet, mild mannered Jesus who skipped through the green meadows and preached sermons on love and forgiveness and the heart? Well, his response was that it would be better for you to have a millstone placed around your neck and be thrown into the sea then to face the White Throne someday when all your actions will be made known and you will have to face the consequences of your decision just to have a small drink.

In the end, I'm not trying to judge, but I come from a family with alcoholism on both sides and I have seen the scars where fathers have beaten their sons to a bloody pulp and mothers have disfigured their beautiful daughters while drunk. I have seen what drinking leads to and I can't believe people still sit around and discuss it like they would the latest release of a movie. This is serious and the point of this post is to get across the very serious nature of a very avoidible action.

Please don't feel like I am judgeing any of you who read this. If you have decided to drink, or if someone in your family has decided to drink, then I honestly pray that God protect you from meeting that end result. I am not in a position to judge anyone, and frankly don't want to. All I want is for you to ask yourself this question:

Why do I really want to drink and is it worth the risk to myself and my family?

BTW, if you feel diffrently about this topic or just havea diffrent opinion feel free to post. It's always good to hear more than one side of an arguement and the WHOLE point of this post is to generate discussion. I promise I won't flame you or sent a hitman to your home. Well, not unless you make a valid point . :)