“Stop Wine-ing”

Thursday, July 04, 2019

     I have been having a never-ending debate with many of my friends about Christians and alcohol.  I personally abstain from all such things, but several of my friends think that is it okay to be drunk on Saturday, in church on Sunday, and believe they are going to heaven.  I also have a friend who believes as long as he is drinking in the privacy of his own home, not bothering anyone and not committing any other sins during this time, that it is okay to get drunk, and it is not a sin.  Please give me Scripture to finally put this to rest.  It's as simple as this.  If it's in the Bible, I believe it, and if it's not, I don't.  To me, there are no gray areas.  You're a Christian, or you're not.  You follow God's will, or you don't.  What do you think?

Sincerely,
Black And White

Dear Black And White,

God never specifically condemns all alcohol, but He does condemn ‘strong drink’ (Pr 20:1), drinking parties (1 Pet 4:3), and drunkenness (Rom 13:13).  Almost all alcohol that is consumed today would fall into the category of ‘strong drink’ because our alcoholic beverages are artificially fermented to increase their alcoholic content (unlike the wine of Jesus’ day – read “That’s Just Grape” for further details on the wine Jesus drank).  We would all do well to heed the words of Pr 23:31-32 and avoid alcohol as much as is possible.  Your friends are skipping some key verses regarding alcohol and they are sinning because of it.  It is NEVER okay to get drunk.

Share