Alcohol: "Less Degradation and Misery"

Happy new year! "We'll tak [sic] a cup o' kindness yet, for auld lang syne." The Christian Chronicle couldn't wait to get the year of 2020 off to a grand start by highlighting another issue on which they try not to take sides (thus taking a side). [Those who sit on the fence do not realize that Satan owns the fence (Matt. 12:30)!] The title of the first article on page 3 is: "To Drink or Not to Drink? Christians Differ on Question."

They did not use the same title in some of last year's issues, but they could have. For example, they might have had the following ones:

"To Accept Homosexual Members or Not to Accept Homosexual Members? Christians Differ on Question."

"To Put Women in Leadership Roles or Not to Put Women in Leadership Roles? Christians Differ on Question."

Whether they state it or not, this is precisely the way they treat most of these subjects. And if they haven't already, they might as well add this one, too:

"To Use Instrumental Music in Worship or Not to Use Instrumental Music in Worship? Christians Differ on Question."

If someone is looking for a Biblical argument, he would be disappointed. If he expects a stand for the truth from The Christian Chronicle, he is delusional. So, what does this article have to say?

It begins with an anecdote about the author of the article, Bobby Ross, Jr., visiting a congregation in the northeast (what he describes has happened in Tennessee, also) where the congregation's ministers, elders, and their wives had a Saturday evening meal, replete with bottles of wine! Most of us might have responded by saying, "Is this some kind of sick joke?" or "What in the world (and it is worldly) are you doing?" Bobby, however, just tried not to look "too uncomfortable." Whoa, now, there's a statement!

Doing his best Jimmy Carter imitation ("Personally, I'm against abortion, but…"), Ross makes it clear that he came from a family that does not drink, and he does not personally drink. Then he says:

Increasingly, though, I encounter fellow Christians who do imbibe—stressing that they do so in moderation and arguing that the Bible teaches against drunkenness (such as Galatians 5:21), not drinking per se (3-4).

Yes, and I increasingly find congregations adding instrumental music, allowing women to teach men, and accepting homosexuals. They cannot be fellowshiped.

Does it seem like everything is up for grabs? One half expects in the near future to hear that some Christians practice abortion. How can brethren not see that certain things are not of the Father but of the world? Homosexuality, fornication, and living in adultery comprise some of the lusts of the flesh. Some covet to be like the denominations around them by adding instrumental music and having Christmas pageants. Many women, out of pride, want to exercise leadership that God specified for the men to have. Has someone removed 1 John 2:15-17 from the Scriptures?

Do we need to go all the way through the Bible in order to show the folly of drinking alcohol, starting with Noah after the Flood? "Oh, but he got drunk; we don't condone that." Really? Who has ever known of someone who got drunk without drinking? "Well, but not everyone who drinks gets drunk." True, but the nation's fifteen million alcoholics (according to the Internet) didn't have as a goal becoming one, either. (Only 8% receive treatment.) Is anyone willing, before taking the first drink, to sign a statement saying, "I will not become an alcoholic"? Don't these facts reveal a flaw in the logic of those who desire to drink alcohol?

"Beer With Jesus"

Ross mentions that a country songwriter, Thomas Rhett, cowrote a song called, "Beer With Jesus." The entire song is an affront to the Lord, but since Ross only mentioned one verse, we'll stick with it:

If I could have a beer with Jesus
Heaven knows I'd sip it nice and slow
I'd try to pick a place that ain't too crowded
Or gladly go wherever he wants to go…

Here we will state the obvious. If the writer really wanted to go where Jesus wanted him to go, it would not be a tavern to socialize. What verses of Scripture in Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John make Rhett think Jesus wants to sit down and have drinks with him? When Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, he did not take Him to a tavern to have a brewski. He only drank water while talking to the woman at the well. The attitude expressed in this song is reminiscent of the one expressed in Psalm 51:21b, where God tells the people, "You thought I was altogether like you…."

Also quoted is "an elder" from a church in Springfield, Missouri (the East Moonshine Church—oops, the East Sunshine Church). He says he "shepherds" 20-somethings "over beers at various establishments" (4). He thinks that's how they "relate," and that they see it "as a part of ordinary life." Really? How did they get to this point? Not by hearing sound, Scriptural sermons. Their website invites folks to a Christmas Eve service where they have a number of trees on the stage and numerous candles as well.

"Christians" like these are whom The Christian Chronicle cites as sources. This "relevant elder" continues to impart gems of "wisdom":

I see it more as understanding what is important and what is not in relationships, and things like whether or not one drinks alcohol is secondary to the importance of relationships (4).

Would the same hold true with mafia hit men or abortion doctors? Is one's occupation secondary to the importance of relationships? Is that over the top? Jesus mightily impressed a woman married five times and currently living with one not her husband, but He did not do it in the context of approving of her behavior. The Springfield Shepherd is. In fact, he imbibes along with those who enjoy drinking. What an example!

Another guy says he encourages Christians to abstain, but he does not make drinking a fellowship issue. Why not? Encouragers are important, but people need to be taught from the Bible why they should not drink! One would think an alcoholic would know that.

The Other Side

In order to provide a semblance of fairness, the Chronicle does have two quotes from the other side—but no Scriptural arguments. One is from Cecil May, who commented: "I have seen too much human wreckage caused by alcohol to have even one good word to say about it" (4). Amen! A sister from New Mexico states the problem of alcohol well:

I have seen child abuse, sexual abuse, spousal abuse, drunk driving that kills too many and much more from it (4).

This is reminiscent of a fictional speech made in a book written by Daniel Sommer, called Hector Among the Doctors. The book was written in 1896, when there was considerable opposition to the ravages of alcohol. At a Fourth of July public celebration, Hector was asked to speak. The following is from the book:

"But what does it mean to have our jails, work-houses, almhouses, penitentiaries and insane asylums so full that in many places they must soon be enlarged? What does it mean to have more dram shops in this town than there are churches and schools taken together? What does it mean to have more saloon keepers in your town than you have preachers and school teachers combined? What does it mean to have double as many arrests for drunkenness in your town last year as you have professed conversions to Christ? What does it mean to have three cases of murder in your county in one year, all of which are directly chargeable to strong drink?"

"Now you are talking right," said a man in the audience whose son was a drunkard.

Another of the audience who wished to break the force of what was being said asked this question: "If it were not for making whiskey what would we do in this country with all our grain?"

"Do you wish that question answered?" inquired Hector pointing directly at the man by whom it was propounded.

"Yes, sir," was his response.

"Then," said Hector, "I would say that you might raise more HOGS and CATTLE and less DEGRADATION and MISERY." …

"Not long since I had a talk with the judge of your court, and he informed me that ninety per cent of the cases brought before him are directly or indirectly chargeable to strong drink" (245-46).

Whether the statistics are the same today as in 1896 is not the point. The fact is that everyone is (or should be) aware of the devastating effects of alcohol. Knowing what the possible consequences of drinking are ought to be enough of a reason for a Christian (or anyone else) never to start consuming alcohol, and brethren need to look at Biblical teaching, but before we do, let's observe the way the Chronicle article ends.

Jesus and Wine

Usually, the conclusion of an article contains a summary or a final argument of what the writer wants the reader to leave with. This one ends with a quote by another elder from Wisconsin. What does this spiritual "giant" have to offer?

He points to Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding feast in John 2. "Do we believe, if Jesus felt drinking wine was a sin, he [sic] still would have obeyed his mother's wish?"

This approach is so cliched that only a wine-drinker would make it. This muddled thinking is the same as that in Miranda Lambert's song, "Heart Like Mine."

'Cause I heard Jesus he drank wine
And I bet we'd get along just fine
He could calm a storm and heal the blind
And I bet he'd understand a heart like mine

Oh, He understands the heart of a lush, all right—just as He does the hearts of boozing "brethren" in Missouri and Wisconsin. To try to justify the drinking of alcohol by what Jesus did is sacrilege. This idea is brought forth by those who have seared their consciences. First, the Greek word oinos means either fermented or unfermented alcohol. Second, if Jesus made alcoholic wine for wedding guests who had already consumed considerable amounts of it (John 2:10), then He contributed to what, in some cases, must have been drunkenness. Yet, God tempts no man (James 1:13). What Jesus supplied was the pure juice of the grape.

Those who do not know what they are saying shouldn't be: