Brothers and sisters in Christ, whatever your current position on the matter of drinking wine may be, I pray that you will hear me out and read the full body of this article, and please let me know your thoughts, if you wish.
I'm a member of a Southern Baptist church in Southwestern Virginia. I enjoy listening to ministers such as Charles Stanley and Adrian Rogers and J. Vernon McGee... and thank God for the dedication of these men and others like them that teach the brethren. Even after they have gone on to be with our Lord, Rogers and McGee can still be heard on the Christian radio shows, and their messages are as profound as ever. I also enjoy Church of God minister Perry Stone, very much. He's a wonderful man of God and I look forward to his teachings each week on the Trinity Broadcasting Network. Jack Van Impe is another great Bible teacher whom I enjoy very much.
But all of these ministers would likely have a problem with me, I am sad to admit. You see, I drink alcohol. I am not an alcoholic, and never plan on being one--but I do drink wine, and even on rare occasions, beer.
Most ministers who have read and understood their Bibles will admit that drinking alcohol, in and of itself is not sinful. The sin comes when one becomes drunk on alcohol. But ministers in Southern Baptist circles as well as Pentecostal Holiness and Church of God churches will harshly condemn drinking any alcohol at all. They base this on the fact that we may cause a brother to stumble by our bad example.
And this is actually true. We can cause a brother to stumble by setting a bad example before him. If I were to have fellowship with a brother in Christ whom I knew had had trouble with alcohol in the past, I would not drink in his presence. In the same way, I would not eat pie in the presence of a diabetic who I knew was prone to giving in to temptation. I would not eat steak in front of a vegetarian who believed, in his heart of hearts, that eating meat was a sin against God.
In the same way, since my father died of cancer in 1990, I have been a bit (often, more than a bit, I should admit) affected by anxiety and fear when discussions involving cancer come up. Most of my brothers in Christ know this, so they try to avoid such subject matter when fellowshipping with me. This health anxiety is a matter of weakness in me, and I hate it. Sometimes folks who don't know me will bring up discussions about cancer and I'll have to do my best to take my Lord's hand and try to be calm. But when I fail, I find myself feeling fearful and anxious. And since worrying is sin (in effect, worrying is doubting God)... I have been caused to stumble by someone who did not even realize what they were doing to me. I am the one with the weakness, however, and I should not blame someone who unknowingly triggers my fears with innocent conversation. So my point is that we can cause others to stumble sometimes without ever realizing what we've done.
For a recovered alcoholic, he may wish there was no alcohol in the world, and that people would never drink in front of him. In the same way, I wish there were never any conversations about cancer--I wish folks would never talk about it. These conversations sometimes cause me to stumble.
So in order to do our best not to cause a brother to stumble, we must have at least some basic knowledge of who we are fellowshipping with. But this does not give us much to go on when we are out in public, say, at a restaurant, among strangers. Do I drink alcoholic drinks in restaurants? Sometimes, yes, I do.
One might ask: "Well, what about the guy at the table across from me? What will he think when the waitress sets a glass of wine before me?" If you are to argue that I should not drink wine in public because I may set a bad example to someone who happens to be watching what I am doing, do you say the same of eating meat? God says that He has made all meat clean, as He told Peter in the vision in Acts chapter 10. However, some folks still believe it is wrong to eat either all meats, or at least certain meats. If I am enjoying a nice pork roast sandwich in a restaurant across from a newly converted Messianic Jew, I may cause him to stumble. Should I not eat that pork sandwich? Or my bacon with my eggs because I never know when my eating may offend someone?
I think the obvious answer to all of the rhetorical questions cited above is "no." I should enjoy my pork sandwich and my sausage and my bacon. If someone else comes into the restaurant and looks upon my platter and judges me, it is he who has sinned, not me. I have not knowingly and intentionally caused him to stumble.
And so it is with drinking wine. If you walk into my favorite restaurant and find me imbibing an alcoholic beverage and I am not drunk from its consumption, and you whisper to your companions words to convey your disgust with my behavior, you are the sinner in this circumstance.
"But the Bible tells us all sorts of bad things about wine," some will say. "A man does well to avoid any amount at all." And I would agree, if you have been called of the Holy Spirit to abstain from alcohol, you should not drink it. Perhaps God knows that you might negatively influence a key person in your circle of family and friends. Perhaps you are a recovering alcoholic, or alcohol has given you trouble in times past. It is understandable that God would have you avoid such temptation, and God bless you for listening to His command for you.
But to make the jump from what is right and wrong for you, to conclude that such is also right and wrong for another--when there is no scripture to support your particular conviction--is not rightly dividing the word of truth.
"Well, how do you know when you're drunk? How can you be sure you are not sinning and not even realizing it?" comes the question.
And we always find answers in the Bible when we seek them. Proverbs 23 shows us what a drunk man behaves like:
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaints?
Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 Those who linger over wine,
who go to sample bowls of mixed wine.
31 Do not gaze at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup,
when it goes down smoothly!
32 In the end it bites like a snake
and poisons like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange sights
and your mind imagine confusing things.
34 You will be like one sleeping on the high seas,
lying on top of the rigging.
35 "They hit me," you will say, "but I'm not hurt!
They beat me, but I don't feel it!
When will I wake up
so I can find another drink?"
So this guy is obviously drunk it's fair to say, and appears to be an alcoholic, based on the last line of this passage. But let's look at another of the Proverbs, this one being chapter 31:
4 "It is not for kings, O Lemuel—
not for kings to drink wine,
not for rulers to crave beer,
5 lest they drink and forget what the law decrees,
and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.
6 Give beer to those who are perishing,
wine to those who are in anguish;
7 let them drink and forget their poverty
and remember their misery no more.
Here we see King Lemuel's mother telling Lemuel that since he is a king he should not drink wine, lest he forget what the law decrees. The implication is that King Lemuel might, from the effects of wine, forget what it is he should be keeping his mind on. Does this forgetfulness equate to drunkenness? No, it cannot mean drunkenness. We see in verses 6 and 7 an outright condoning of drinking wine and strong drink for the express purpose of forgetting! Since we know that God's word is inerrant, we cannot conclude that there is a contradiction between Proverbs 31:6-7 and Paul's words to the Ephesians (and of course, to the church proper) in chapter 5 of that epistle: 18Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
So, we see that there is a condition somewhere between being drunk, and being what is often called "tipsy." The obvious understanding of the word here is that one can actually imbibe enough wine to become forgetful, but still not be sinning. To read this any other way is to take reckless liberties with scripture, in my opinion.
So how do we reconcile this matter of drinking and abstaining, and what is sin and what is not sin?
The apostle Paul deals with this very matter in Romans chapter 14, one of the most important chapters in all of scripture, I would venture to say. Paul tells us in Romans 14 not to divide ourselves over doubtful things, or "disputable matters" as the NIV has it. Paul goes on to name some examples of disputable matters, such as which day of the week one regards as holy, and whether or not to eat meat. Paul says later in the chapter:
13Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. 14As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. 15If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. 16Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. 17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.
I think the key to understanding this passage is to realize that Paul is telling us not to pass judgement on one another based on what we believe is clean or unclean. If one believes that drinking wine is improper behavior for a Christian, then to him, it is indeed improper. However, note that Paul says in verse 16 that we should not allow what we consider good to be spoken of as evil. I believe that wine, yes, alcoholic wine, is good. See also the end of the passage in verses 22 and 23:
22So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.
Folks, that is POWERFUL scripture, and good advice for us all. One might rightfully tell me that I am acting in defiance of Paul's words, and that I should keep my opinions (about consuming alcohol in this case) between me and God. And that is indeed what I do, as a rule. But I did feel compelled in this instance to answer those who so self-righteously condemn a man for innocently drinking alcoholic beverages on occasion. "Innocently," yes, because if he does not drink to drunkenness, he has not sinned. And don't worry whether or not you yourself can tell for sure if this man is drunk on wine or not, because it is not your calling, and it lies without your realm of authority to pass such judgement. God knows if a man is guilty of the sin of being drunk.
I believe that God gave man wine to gladden his heart. I get such an idea from Psalm 104 verse 15, where we see that God makes:
wine that gladdens the heart of man...
Further, a careful reading of Numbers chapter 6 shows us the requirements of those who took the Nazerite vow. They were to abstain for a specified period of time from all products of the grape, including grapes themselves and even raisins. Grape juice ('liquor of grapes," the King James has it) is also mentioned here, which shows us that God knows how to differentiate between grape juice and wine easily enough (I mention this because many believe that wine in the Bible is often grape juice, and not alcoholic wine at all. Perhaps this is the case, but God does show in Numbers 6 that He knows how to state the difference). After a specified period of abstaining from grape derivatives the Nazerite was allowed to again drink wine (verse 20). So a reasonable reading of this chapter would lead a reasonable man to understand that the wine mentioned in Numbers 6 is fermented, alcoholic wine, and drinking it is not sinful.
Look too, to Deuteronomy chapter 14, where we see this very curious scripture:
26"You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household. (NASB) Note: The KJV also renders this "strong drink." The NIV says "wine or other fermented drink." Does this sound to you like God is prohibiting the use of wine and strong drink? It is also worth pointing out that this use of wine and strong drink cannot reasonably be construed as medicinal in this context.
Most of us are familiar with Paul's advice to Timothy to "Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses."(1 Timothy 5:23). Then Paul says of deacons in 1 Timothy 3:8 Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain.
Realize that this doesn't say that the deacon should be a teetotaller, only that he should not be given to "much" wine. We must realize that since Paul actually prescribed wine for Timothy's stomach and other infirmities, Paul cannot mean that one was not fit to be a deacon if he had any wine at all.
As for overseers or "bishops" as it is rendered in the King James, Paul tells them in 1 Timothy 3:3 that they should be: not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money (NASB). Some translations say "not given to wine," but the meaning remains the same when the original Greek is observed. What Paul is saying is that church leaders (overseers, bishops, ministers, etc.) should not be addicted to wine. Paul is not saying that they must completely abstain from wine, otherwise his advice to Timothy is contradictory--because Timothy was a church leader. Timothy wasn't drinking enough wine, and he was frequently getting sick (probably from unclean water which was common in that area).
Again, with all of this said, I do believe that the Holy Spirit will at times require different things from different folks. He may tell you not to drink alcohol, and God bless you for obeying His command to you. (Read Acts chapter 15 for an illustration of how the Holy Spirit might place individualized restrictions against certain folks based on their particular set of circumstances). But please do not point out what you believe to be sin in another man's life if you have no Biblical basis to fortify your position. You do yourself harm in God's eyes with such judgemental behavior; read again Romans 14:13 cited earlier...
We've looked at what the Proverbs have to say, and also at what the Apostle Paul has written, but what does our Lord Jesus Christ Himself say on the matter?
Does God believe that it is good to abstain from alcoholic wine? I think that He does believe that it is good to abstain, as The Word says in Luke chapter 1, verse 15:
15for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.
The above verse is a reference to John the Baptist. The Word says this is a man who will be great in the sight of the Lord, and it further mentions (though certainly not as a prerequisite to being great in God’s eyes) that this man will be commanded never to take wine or other fermented drink.
However…
When Christ references John the Baptist later on in the book of Luke, we see Him in chapter 7 say the following:
33For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.”
…so it appears that Christ Himself tells us that he did drink wine. They even accused Him of being a drunkard!
Look also at Luke chapter 5, where we see Christ saying:
37And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. 38No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. 39And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’ ”
So, it is very honorable and even “great in the sight of the Lord” to abstain from alcoholic drink. Does that mean that it is wrong for others to drink? Certainly not, as Christ Himself drank wine, and even mentioned the then and now well known fact that “old wine is better.”
So, what shall we do? I believe that those who have been personally convicted by the Holy Spirit to abstain from alcohol should obey that conviction. But let them realize that is an individualized restriction placed on them for reasons which may be known only to our Lord Himself. He placed such a restriction on John the Baptist, and we all know how great a man John the Baptist was. But the brother under such a conviction should realize that God does not count teetotalling among His commands to all men, and therefore he should be careful not to pass judgement on a man for doing what God has not forbidden him to do.
In Christ,
Dan
