Christians and Alcohol: Reacting and Relating

I had every intention of getting this post up on Friday; I even started writing. But I didn't finish. Thanks again for your patience.

Alright. So far we have looked at how our context views alcohol and the personal sin that is associated with consuming or abstaining from alcohol.

In light of our previous discussion, let's talk about how Christians should react to alcohol and relate to other Christians if they themselves are drinking alcohol or they see other Christians drinking alcohol.

Many Christians weigh their experience concerning alcohol prior to their acknowledging of Scripture. This can be detrimental. There is no reason why, as Christians, we should ever appeal to experience prior to Scripture. So, often times there will be a Christian who says, "Well, I've never abused alcohol" as a justification for drinking and another Christian who says, "If you had the experiences that I have had, you wouldn't drink alcohol either." Neither of these statements should carry weight for the Christian in reacting to alcohol.

As we saw in our last discussion, drinking alcohol is not a sin, but drunkenness is. This is the objective truth concerning alcohol for the believer based on Scripture. Experience does not govern these thing.

But there is an aspect of the alcohol conversation that we must consider which is based on experience; not the experience of the individual consuming alcohol, but the experience of those who might see that individual consuming alcohol. There are Christians around us who have been deeply affected by alcohol; alcohol may have torn their family apart or even their own life. It is absolutely imperative that we, as Christians, seek the needs of others over our needs. What we can and cannot do concerning alcohol and what constitutes sin for the individual does not trump the consideration we must have for our brothers and sisters. These fellow believers may or may not understand the objective truth concerning alcohol expressed in Scripture, but the understanding of objective truth does not remove the fact that there may be deep emotions tied to the subject of alcohol. We are commanded to be like Christ and therefore must emulate his servant attitude in this. Paul writes,

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

-Philippians 2:1-7

Therefore:

1. It is not sin for the Christian to drink alcohol.
2. It is sin for the Christian to drink to the point of drunkenness.
3. (1) and (2) are objective truth, based on Scripture.
4. It is wrong not to consider those around us when engaging in what may be a very sensitive issue because by not considering those around us we may be causing them to sin. Let us resolve like Paul "if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble" (1 Cor 8:13).

If you are willing to die on a hill for your right to drink alcohol, it is time to evaluate yourself and your motives. Are you seeking to follow Christ at every turn or, like the rich young ruler, are you not quite willing to give up some things? I pray it's the former.

In conclusion, we are inclined to say that our reaction to alcohol must be based on objective biblical truth. We also must say that our relation to others must exceed any right that we may think we have concerning alcohol. We cannot drill our brothers and sisters in Christ saying, "Drinking alcohol isn't a sin;" this would not be putting their needs higher than our own. Sure, consuming alcohol is not prohibited in Scripture; this does not give Christians warrant to forget the second great commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Mt 22:39). Unfortunately many do.

In the next post I will give a tool that I have found to be helpful in practically living out some of the themes expressed here. Also, in the near future we will discuss further the idea of abstinence from alcohol as sin.

_____________________________

Earlier in this series:
Christians and Alcohol: Prolegomena
Christians and Alcohol: In Context
Christians and Alcohol: Consuming, Drunkenness, and Abstinence as Sin