The Sanctuary

Archive for August, 2009

Of course you had to have known there would be some friendly opposition to my views, interpretations, and beliefs. So, in the search of Truth, and in an effort to be fair to those who have so graciously read my previous post on the subject of alcohol, and have responded generously, I am willing to share their thoughts as well as my “II Opinions” on the matter. NOTE: If you have not read the previous message, please do. Everything will make more sense, if you have all the information.

Let me remind you that this message is not to create division among believers. I am not preaching a message of judgement, but one of freedom. It is freedom to let go of the not-forbidden, and embrace the good, pleasing, and perfect (Rom. 12:2). I am merely asking us all to take a introspective look into our hearts…our desires. With that being said…

Here is the correspondence between my friend and I:

Mary,

I read your note, and I wanted to respond to it. Your note was very thoughtful and filled with many cogent details. I’d like to respond, however, because I disagree with your conclusions and would like to offer you some food for thought from the other side of the aisle on this issue.

First off, no Christian has to drink alcohol, except for Communion, if one’s church uses wine. If you don’t want to drink, you don’t have to do so. My wife doesn’t drink, not because she thinks it’s wrong, but because she hates the taste. She’s not sinning by not drinking.

However…

1. The Bible actually records that God gave us wine to make us happy: Psalm 103:15 shows that God gave us wine “To gladden the heart of man”. Now, “wine” here can’t possibly mean grape juice as grape juice has nothing in it to make one happy in the sense that this verse means.
MARY: If you haven’t looked it up already, Psalm 103:15 doesn’t make any reference to wine/alcohol.. I believe this could have been a typo from my friend, but I have yet to find the phrase he was refering to. If anyone does find it, please share. In response though, grape juice is rich, sweet, and flavorful, and it is one of my favorite fruit drinks…it definitely has the potential to “gladden [my heart].”

2. In the OT, God told the sons of Israel that drinking wine and strong drink was an acceptable way to obey God’s commands. If you look at Deuteronomy 14, God tells his children that if the way to Jerusalem is too far away for them to carry their tithes to, they can sell what they would tithe then come to Jerusalem with that money. Note that one of the things that they can do with that money is: “spend the money for whatever you desire–oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household.”
MARY: I have reason to believe that “wine” is referring to a grape drink or the writer would not have used “strong drink” after it. I don’t have any background information about this particular verse, but I could see how it may cause the reader to believe that it is ok to desire “strong” drinks. Then, I would have to go back to asking, “when is enough, enough?” In order to avoid falling into sin (drunkenness), shall we test our limits to see how much alcohol we can take?

3. Jesus used wine to institute the Lord’s Supper. He didn’t use grape juice or grape paste (as I heard one commentator say), but wine. If He allowed wine to be used in one of the sacraments, one would assume its use is not prohibited.
MARY: Although, we are commanded to partake in “communion,” I haven’t seen any reference to it being alcoholic wine. The references I’ve found in regards to the “communion” have all described Jesus taking the “cup.”  The phrase “take this cup” is one that is used many times in the Bible, and although this particular one can be taken literally, they most often refer to a sacrificial act. Eating a sacrifice was deeply connected to unity and fellowship with God. Old Testament Jews would eat part of the sacrifice as a way of restoring their unity with God, against whom they had sinned (Deut. 12:17). This really puts the Lord’s Supper into context, because Jesus is the sacrifice. So, to remember the sacrifice and the believer’s restored unity with God, we eat the bread and drink the cup. All that to say, Scripture does not indicate what Jesus drank, but we can be certain that he wanted us to understand the significance of remembering what He did for us, and why.

4. Paul commanded Timothy to drink wine. Paul says to Timothy, “No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments” (1 Tim 5:23). Here the apostle Paul says that Timothy should use wine to help calm his stomach. He tells Timothy to use wine as a health remedy. 
MARY: 1 Timothy 5:23 “No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.” It is true that Paul told Timothy to use a little “oinos” for his stomach and other ailments. However, a personal message, to one man, who [may have] suffered from drinking discusting, bacteria-filled water, in a culture that didn’t have the medical advances that we are blessed with today doesn’t advocate the entire body of Christ to drink. Also, Paul tells Timothy not to drink onlywater, and tells him to add a little wine. This seems to be a better arguement for Tylenol than alcohol.

5. Christian history shows us that, until the advent of teetotalism in the 19th century, Christians drank. Men like Luther and Calvin, giants of the faith, drank alcohol. In fact, Calvin was paid partially in casks of wine for the purpose of entertaining his house guests. 
MARY: If Luther and Calvin jumped off a bridge, would you? There are many “giants of faith” throughout history that I disagree with. I love C.S. Lewis, but I don’t believe that he had everything all figured out. Same with Luther and Calvin. Although, I respect them and thank God for their wisdom, I would not base my core values on their testimony alone. We are told to test everything against the Truths of the Scriptures. And as far as Christian history goes, it has also shown some of the most brutal and un-Christlike acts. Point being, we can often learn what not to do from our history.

6. The Temperance Movement is, in large part, the reason for many in the American church viewing alcohol as an evil. This movement started in response to the fact that in the 19th century people drank too much. But instead of calling people to repent of drunkenness, they called people to stop drinking all together. Instead of speaking to the hearts of the people, they took their drinks from their hands. They focused on the behavior instead of the heart, a fatal mistake. The irony of the Temperance movement is that temperance does not mean abstention but moderation. They corrupted the meaning of the word!MARY: I don’t believe [drinking] to be evil, as you say. However, I don’t believe the Bible teaches that it is something we should strive to do. Why would God use alcohol to “make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean” (Lev. 10:9)? Why would the Bible, time and time again, warn us of the dangers? If alcohol is so godly, why aren’t there more references for us to drink? The wrongness that I believe in, lies in the disregard for the abundant information that weighs against it and the refusal of the Bride to let it go.

As far as the movement is concerned, I have no question that they probably over-corrected the problem. However, it wasn’t even a consideration in my conclusion. To clarify -it wasn’t the Church who told me to stop drinking (most are definitely on the side of “personal conviction”), rather, I believe, it was the Holy Spirit and God’s Word. I used to drink regularly, and in abundance. I didn’t have a drinking problem or anything like that, but when I started following Christ, something told me that it was wrong. As I searched for scriptures to confirm what the Spirit was telling me, the information that I found did just that.

7. Saying that alcohol can be abused does not mean that its proper use is forbidden. Adultery and fornication are abuses of sex, but that does not mean sex, in its proper context, is wrong. In fact, it’s a good thing. One can use fire to burn down houses, but that doesn’t mean that using fire to keep yourself warm on a cold night is wrong.
MARY: I agree, “the loveof money is the root of all evil” not the money itself. The forbiddeness of “strong drink” was, again, for priests and royalty (leadership). Since the scripture clearly indicates that Jesus was/is our High Priest, he could not have partaken or it would make God’s Word void. The scripture also calls us priests and kings. Therefore, it makes logical sense that we should not partake.

8. By your logic, I expect to soon see articles on not drinking coffee. Coffee has caffeine and is a diuretic. Coffee is a legal drug that is used for effect only. Moreover, drinking coffee is not mentioned in the Bible at all, so should you be drinking it? How about soda? McDonald’s French fries? Ice cream? Brownies? You see, we can keep going until we only drink water and eat gruel. A horrible existence, no?
MARY: Well there’s an idea! Ha ha. Seriously though…I don’t advocate drinking/taking excessive amounts of caffeine (or any substance for that matter). I believe we are called to keep our bodies as healthy as possible with our diets and excercise (anti-idleness). That is a spiritual act of worship. Additionally, caffeine is definitely not a depressant, and studies have failed to show its link to aggressive behavior. I don’t have to worry about getting behind the wheel if I have a couple sodas or icecreams or brownies. Most importantly, my decisions aren’t affected by its consumption. I can be sure that if I take excedrine for a migraine, I will still be able to make good decisions and it won’t affect my manner in a negative way.

At any rate, those are some thoughts of mine. Thanks for posting your comments on Facebook. Please feel free to dialogue with me about this topic and to excoriate any of the points I made.

Again, I ask that you take all of the evidence into consideration, study the Scripture for yourself. Decide for yourself. Thank you for taking the time to read my post. A special thanks to my friend, who cared enough to send me a well-thought response, and allowed me to post our conversation. I love you all in Christ Jesus, and I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Mary