The Christian Alcoholic

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler,  and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

Proverbs 20:1

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19

Recently I have become more and more aware of people in the evangelical church who dabble with alcohol. I have also noticed cases where the little dabble takes the form of endorsement and the active condoning of almost any form of hard drink. This kind of lifestyle goes counter to the teaching of the Scripture.

Ah, I hear you say, but what about the first miracle of Jesus in Cana where he turned water into wine? If you read the story in full, you will not see any reference to Jesus either drinking the wine that was miraculously made, or suggesting that His followers should. Some in the church have hung their hat, and their argument on this miracle because it happened, and not because of the message in the story. The message is summed up in the words of Jesus’ mother Mary, when she said: “Do whatever he tells you”. Is Jesus telling His followers to make wine? Is He suggesting His followers should drink wine? No! The message is one of obedience, and one we would do well to follow ourselves.

The apostle Paul chose to abstain from some things he knew he could do, but he didn’t do them because the resulting example would have been contrary to the message of the Kingdom. But let’s go back to the title. We know that an alcoholic does not go out of his or her way to end up like that. We also know that every alcoholic starts out with a single drink. Are Christians exempt from this law of nature? Are there no alcoholics who risked it and lost big time? The statistics are the same. The risk and percentage of alcoholism is not determined by religion, social class, job, or gender.

So, here is my problem. Armed with this public knowledge, why would anyone take that first drink? Let me take it a step further. Why would any Christian, church leader, or pastor think that the example set is a good witness, even if they don’t succumb and become another sad alcoholic who risks losing a lot, and may even everything that is important to them, and to those who look up to them? Even Paul didn’t do some things because he could. Can any of us put ourselves on a higher plane? The apostle said it this way:

I don’t understand why I act the way I do. I don’t do the good I want to do, and I do the evil I hate. And if I don’t want to do what I do, that means I agree that the law is good. But I am not really the one doing the evil. It is sin living in me that does it. Yes, I know that nothing good lives in me—I mean nothing good lives in the part of me that is not spiritual. I want to do what is good, but I don’t do it. I don’t do the good that I want to do. I do the evil that I don’t want to do. So if I do what I don’t want to do, then I am not really the one doing it. It is the sin living in me that does it. Romans 7:15-20