Alcohol (Part 2)
Posted By Aaron Marcelli on January 19, 2012
Because of all the feedback and questions I got on facebook the last few days I want to add more to the conversation I started in my last post. In it I brought up the subject of alcohol and tried to shed light on the Biblical meaning behind the words translated wine and strong drink in the Old and New Testament. I concluded that the Bible condemns drunkenness but not moderate uses of alcohol (aka social drinking).
I did not come to this conclusion uninformed or as an attempt to justify my own lifestyle. I have never been a partier or a regular weekend drunk. As a matter of fact I actually did my research on this topic because it was designated to me by my professor in a preaching workshop class during college. At the time I was on staff at a Baptist church where drinking alcohol would have got me fired. At that time I had never had a drop of alcohol. Sufficient to say, I studied the subject of alcohol with absolutely no bias.
I don’t think the same can be said for most people who argue a position of complete abstinence. Most of them are emotionally tied to the issue and are or know someone who had an addiction or abuse problem in the past. They have tear-jerking stories about a loved one who ran themselves into poverty and destroyed their family as a result of alcoholism. These stories are sad and are great evidence as to why the Bible condemns drunkenness. But this reasoning is built more on emotional appeal than actual, Biblical truth. People in these situations are no more able to be impartial than someone who knew a hunting accident victim is on the subject of gun control. To them the subject is personal and because of that they are no longer able to discuss it logically.
This is a case where experience is a horrible source for opinion. Because one person had a bad experience with alcohol is not just cause to condemn everyone who uses it in an appropriate way.
Can alcohol be used for wrong? Absolutely!
The same can be done with our words, our music, computers, guns, etc. Many of the Bible passages that condemn drunkenness also condemn gluttony, but no one’s arguing that food is sinful. We cannot condemn everything that has the potential to be used for bad – especially when it is something the Bible does not condemn. Doing so is legalism and leads to self-righteous churches that condemn watching television and protest funerals.
Your conscious may not allow you to drink alcohol with a clean conscience. This may be the result of your past, your personality, or your upbringing. But enforcing that self-imposed standard on others is wrong. (Just as insisting everyone should drink would be wrong).
Drunkenness is sin. Demanding everyone completely abstain from alcohol is legalism. Both are condemned in the Bible.
Alcohol, like many things in life that can be abused, are to be partaken of with moderation.
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