How About A Drink?
This topic is near and dear to my heart. In part because I've had an unhealthy history with it (hopefully a later bloggable), but also because I believe there's also a relative lack of understanding of what it means to be a Christian and alcohol consumption. Should a Christian drink or not? Ever since becoming born again, I’ll sometimes have a drink and other times not. The question of drinking versus not drinking as a Christian isn’t doctrinal. It is individualized.
Let’s dive in.
Clearly my answer is that we are allowed to drink alcohol. And no, I didn't set out to justify this. I am also aware, as I would HOPE most people are, that all through the bible people who were blessed by God and anointed to do God's work drank alcoholic beverage. But most importantly, Jesus did the same. But in order to dissect this, we'll start by looking into the life of John the Baptist.
John the Baptist is the front runner of Jesus best known for his baptisms for repentance of sins. Also, that he ate locusts and wild honey and spent a lot of the time in the wilderness. Hard pass personally on that diet but that’s how he survived. However, what I'm more interested in here is the origins of John the Baptist. Lets learn about his parents Zacharias and Elizabeth.
Luke 1: 5-6: There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. '
...then came the prophecy to Zacharias about the fact his wife Elizabeth would have a son.
Luke 1:13-15: 'But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. '
Paying close attention, we read that his mom and his dad were considered righteous before God walking in ALL the commandments and ordinances. Please note that the word considered is italicized because biblically speaking, we don't actually earn righteousness by what we do. We get credited this by God through faith. However, this is a topic for a different day. The angel instructed that the child was not to have wine or strong drink (we can just assume that's the heavier stuff as implied by STRONG). If it was a sin to consume this, then why would the angel have to specifically instruct his parents to have him NOT drink that? After all, they walked in ALL the commandments and ordinances of God. They also both came from a lineage of priests suggesting their lives were governed by the word of God. Wouldn’t they have automatically enforced this? I also want to point out, Mary, the mother of Jesus DOES NOT get these specific instructions.
As in most cases, I'd prefer some red-letter text (things Jesus has said) for the icing on the cake.
Luke 7:33-35 'For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by all her children.”'
To sum up the scene here, Jesus is talking to the pharisees (religious party that were gatekeepers of the law) who will eventually carry out the plan to crucify Jesus. In this scene, we are reminded that God sent John ahead of Jesus to pave the way. But Jesus in this text, is comparing and contrasting himself with John. Though they’re ultimate goal is the same, they present differently. In modern times, we might label John a more pious or devout Christian. But Jesus lived a life quite opposite of John. AND NEITHER WERE ACCEPTED. This stands to reason in a sense that, if today, John and Jesus stood side by side, we’d also make the mistake of considering one person “super” religious versus the other. If it wasn't okay to drink, Jesus would not have engaged in it himself which he admits to doing here. Unfortunately, both Christians and non-Christians alike make the same error. We have preconceived notions of what a Christian should or should not be doing without any biblical evidence to support them and then we uphold this as truth. This can have a negative effect on both parties as I’ve come to realize in my walk.
However........this isn't the free pass we think it is drink to your heart’s desire. The same verse tells us what the issue is. Being a glutton and winebibber (a habitual drinker of alcohol) is an issue. He also caps that by noting that “wisdom is justified by all her children”, meaning those who do things with wisdom will be justified by the way their life presents. My mom has always told me growing up that too much anything is no good. Sounds like the conversation is veering towards a rant about discipline but I'll cut this discussion here because I think wisdom is knocking.
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