Per Christum

Can Christians drink alcohol? Should Christians drink alcohol? For many, these are important questions.

Today I was in the Post Office, and a friend of mine who works there asked me what I thought about drinking. He was reading a book about “character” that argues that Christians should not drink alcohol, and that nobody who drinks should ever be a preacher. Just for the record, my friend does drink alcohol, even though he was required to sign a statement when he joined his church that he would not drink or smoke. I could tell he was troubled by what he read, so he asked for my opinion, so I gave it. I thought I would write a little bit about how we should respond to those Christians who believe any consumption of alcohol is sinful.

In answer to my friend, I said that there is one very important Christian preacher/proclaimer who would be disqualified based on these standards, and that is God-incarnate himself, JESUS! I couldn’t believe it. This author, and those who say Christians should not drink period, are greater than their master. Jesus drank and turned water into wine, yet this author has the guts to say that drinking alcohol renders one essentially non-Christian.

In the area where I live, most evangelical Protestants would never believe there is such thing as a mortal sin, but if there were one, consuming alcohol would probably be it. I remember growing up thinking that Christians didn’t drink alcohol at all, and feeling saddened when I saw people I knew from church drinking. Even recently, a family member was telling me that Christians shouldn’t drink period, and I said, “well, Jesus drank and turned water into wine,” and the response was “that isn’t a very good argument.” I laughed inside thinking, “You mean we are better than Jesus on this issue?” In this case the American Protestant cultural sin of drinking has been transformed into a Christian sin. Supposed “bible believers” and biblical literalists overlook the obvious positive Biblical references to alcohol consumption, to the point that many won’t even use wine in communion. European conservative Protestants don’t see what the fuss is about, showing that this extreme tea-totalering is a recent (19th century on) American phenomenon. Even the early Puritans got tipsy at their ordinations!

You don’t believe me? Check out this Code of Conduct at Liberty University. Drinking alcohol gets you 30 hours of community service time and a 500 dollar fine. In terms of severity of punishment, consuming alcohol is more criminal at Liberty than racial harrassment and threatening bodily harm, all of which will only get you 18 hours of community service and a 250 dollar fine. Fortunately if Jesus goes to Liberty and decides to perform the miracle at Cana, he can always find some money in the mouths of local fishes to pay his 500 dollar fine.

Let me be clear: drunkenness is a sin, and being actively involved in the “party culture” is like being involved in a perpetual near occasion of sin. Catholics (despite the stereotypes many have about our views of alcohol) believe that alcohol has many bad effects. If you are hanging out in bars every weekend, acting promiscuously, neglecting your family, and so forth, then you should probably stop drinking, or else cut down drastically. If you are an alcoholic or abusing alcohol, then yes, you should stop drinking period. However, despite the severe cases, only about 10% of all people abuse alcohol, according to the stats I got in college. In other words, for morally responsible Christians, there is no reason to deny yourself that occasional glass of wine or bottle of beer.

While I believe the Biblical evidence against alcohol itself being sinful is overwhelming, there are some common arguments that some American Protestants use in favor of making alcohol a sin.

First, they say that drinking alcohol may cause a brother who can’t handle alcohol to stumble. Therefore it is best to avoid drinking, lest you help tempt another Christian. However, how many Christians stop eating steaks because it may cause a gluttonous brother to stumble? How many Christians remove the TV from the house, because it may cause a slothful brother to stumble? How many Christians quit going to R-rated movies when so many Christians are addicted to obscene images? It seems to me that alcohol gets singled out here.

Second, many say that consuming alcohol is unhealthy, and we should treat our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit. Actually, according to scientific studies, alcohol in moderation is healthy. Drinking in moderation is even healthier than totally avoiding alcohol. Thus drinking in moderation is actually better for our body-temples than total abstinence. Another problem is that many Christians who use the “our bodies are temples” argument don’t practice this principle consistently. How many Christians have stopped eating red meat, fried foods, and white sugar because these foods are unhealthy? Hearing a Christian say drinking is unhealthy while he is finishing his 5th plate at an all-you-can-eat buffet is a bit contradictory.

Third, many say that Jesus didn’t really drink wine. Some say the Greek word oinos means not wine, but grape juice. I have yet to encounter a scholar who agrees with this. Either way, these folks have obviously not lived in the Mediterranean region, because grape juice wouldn’t last a day in the warm weather. Plus, why would Paul say in his Letter to the Ephesians that we should not get drunk on oinos if oinos simply means grape juice? Admittedly, the anti-alcohol forces correctly say that Jesus probably used watered-down wine, rather than the full-power stuff. Of course, he still used wine, whether full-strength or not.

Fourth, many say Jesus and his followers had to drink wine, because the water was dirty. Now that we have clean water, they say, we have no need to drink alcohol. However, I always ask, “why didn’t Jesus just turn the water at Cana into clean water?” Instead, he turned water into wine. In fact, at Cana, the good wine had all been drunk, showing that this was one good party, because the guests were already tapping the bad stuff. Jesus didn’t overturn tables or bust up a bunch of wine jars, but instead made the guests more and better-quality wine. While he didn’t make green beer or the regular brown beer (pictured on the left), he certainly showed that social drinking is not evil.

Basically, the total ban on alcohol practiced in some American churches is not biblical, nor historically Christian, but a ban resulting from 19th and 20th century American cultural moralism. This being said, we must always remember that alcohol does cause problems, and those who abuse alcohol or who are alcohol dependent should get help. Plus, just as we don’t like folks telling us we can’t drink in moderation, we must be sensitive to those who have chosen to completely abstain, and we should never put pressure on someone to drink alcohol. The Church only tolerates alcohol insofar as it is not used sinfully, and whether someone drinks is up to the person (a person could even just receive the host at communion). Whatever your personal views on alcohol, don’t make using alcohol in moderation a sin, and if you want to be “greater” than your Master, take it up with your Master. Just remember: he is God, you aren’t.

Let me leave you with a verse from Deuteronomy 14:26:

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.