Why Christians Should Not Drink Alcohol

Why Christians Should Not Drink Alcohol. That is the topic we'll discuss today right here on the Christian Worldview Radio Program where the mission is to sharpen the biblical worldview of Christians and to share the good news that all people can be reconciled to God through faith in Jesus Christ.

I'm David Wheaton, the host of the program, and our website is thechristianworldview.org. Well, thank you for joining us today as we discuss why Christians should not drink alcohol. Now, take note that the program title does not say why Christians shall not drink alcohol, but rather why they should not drink alcohol.

So what's the difference? Well, shall not is an all-encompassing prohibition like the Ten Commandments. Shall nots with regard to murder, adultery, lying, etc. Should not is an exhortation to be wise and very cautious. In other words, it is better and safer for Christians to not drink alcohol because of the spiritual, physical, and testimonial perils, and we'll get into that in the program today. Now, once upon a time, American evangelical Christians steered clear, mostly, of alcohol, and today it has become mainstream with an evangelical church. Our guest today, Lisa Anderson, director of Boundless and Young Adults for Focus on the Family, wrote a recent column entitled The Latest Buzz Around Christians and Alcohol, and she describes the scene in evangelicalism today of mom parties getting together with their kids and sipping wine and church events advertising pub crawls and beer and wine tastings and Bible studies with brew.

These kinds of things are becoming increasingly more prevalent. So we hope you'll enjoy and gain from this program today as we discuss why Christians should not drink alcohol. Let's get to the first segment with Lisa Anderson.

Lisa, it's great to have you back on the program. I really thought you wrote an insightful article recently entitled The Latest Buzz Around Christians and Alcohol, and I just want to start out by quoting a couple paragraphs from your column. You talk about your family background, then you say, I believe that a correct interpretation of scripture prohibits drunkenness, not drinking. I grew up in a alcohol-free home and it was just fine. I respected my parents.

I didn't feel like I was missing out. Then you go on to say, but here's what I think is weird. Lately, I've seen a lot of Christians get super pumped about alcohol. I'm hearing more people talk about it and I'm seeing more people drink it more often and in greater amounts. It's not that alcohol is in their lives, it's that it's become more central to their lives. It's a focus of many of the things they do.

And then you give a few examples. You say, one of my friends was part of a play group of Christian moms and their kids. The kids played while the moms drank wine. The gathering never happened without booze. Example number two, I've seen church events advertised that are centered around drinking, pub crawls, beer and wine tastings, or brew nights, coupled with small group Bible studies or hymn sings. Example three, I've been to several parties hosted by Christian friends that had alcohol as a main event, coolers of drinks, an open bar, alcohol involved games and more. Then you go on to say, alcohol is being used more and more as a coping mechanism.

It's become more acceptable to need to go out for margaritas after a long week at work or have a glass of or bottle of wine because I got dumped or I have a tough conversation or task coming up or I'm lonely or bored. A fellow believer told me he always drinks at least a little bit at parties because he likes himself better that way. Now, as I read those paragraphs in your article, Lisa, I thought I had to keep on going back to see, now, is she talking about Christians or is this just general society?

And I go back and you're talking about Christians and I think specifically evangelicals. So why has drinking become much more prevalent and a focus for evangelicals? I think it's weirdly become kind of a cultural thing in the sense of, you know, for some people, it's become the pendulum swing of, you know, a person like myself who grew up in a teetotaling household where really both of my parents believed that it was not right for Christians to drink under any circumstances.

And like I say in my article, I happen to disagree with them, but I see a lot of great reasons for Christians to not drink. But you mentioned I live in Colorado. Colorado is known as a beer brew capital, craft beers. I mean, there's just a lot going on here around beer and alcohol and stuff. And I think people buy into that. They get into the culture. They get into it as a hobby, which I know a lot of people do related to wine and beer. And so then it just kind of becomes this argument of, well, you know, we're going to be relatable to people or it's just a fun thing to do. It's something to be knowledgeable about. It's something to just kind of show that you can be a Christian but not be one of these legalistic, quote unquote, weirdos.

And that's where I'm saying, you know what, none of us wants to be labeled as legalistic or a weirdo. But at the same time, we are called to be sober minded, we are called to be sensitive to the Spirit, and we're called to be wise in all of our interactions and our dealings both with people and with substances. Lisa Anderson with us today on the Christian Real View, the director of Boundless and Young Adults for Focus on the Family, also the host of the Boundless show and the author of The Dating Manifesto.

You can find out all about that at their website, boundless.org. Lisa, have you observed more for millennials, let's say, 18 to 30, 35? Or is it even the older generations now, 40s, 50s, 60s of evangelicals who are partaking in drinking alcohol more commonly now? I would actually say it's across all generations, which I found kind of surprising. In fact, when I published this article on Boundless, knowing that my audience is mostly 20 and 30 somethings, I thought, now I'm going to get a backlash and it's going to be like, Lisa's trying to be our mom and tell us all this stuff.

And it was actually quite the opposite. It was a lot of young adults who said, yeah, you know, why is there this pressure to think that you have to have alcohol at a party or at a reception or at, you know, you have to go out for drinks after work and stuff. And really it's a lot of the millennials who I think are setting the example and saying, it doesn't have to be about this. Many of them said, you know, yeah, personally, I just don't, I don't drink.

It's just not, it's super expensive. Your inhibitions kind of get checked. They just see the problems with it, I think overall. And so there's a lot more caution there. Whereas I think the older generations tend to be a little more reactionary and say, okay, well, we don't want to be the fuddy duddies.

Maybe our parents told us to do something or not do something. The moms group, stuff like that. I think we're seeing that more trend towards the Gen Xers and beyond even.

I've definitely heard about those kinds of situations as well, becoming more common. Again, Lisa Anderson, the host of the Boundless show and works for Boundless with Focus on the Family with us today. Reading her article, the latest buzz around Christians and alcohol, we have it linked at our website, thechristianrealview.org. Want to read another paragraph. You say again, drunkenness is a sin. And I'm not saying drinking is, but line drawing isn't the issue here. We focus on quote, not being drunk. And in our minds picture someone passed out in an alley or hanging over the toilet at a frat party. We justify getting quote tipsy because quote, that's not really drunk.

We pat ourselves on the back for staying overnight at a friend's house after drinking because quote, better safe than sorry. The Bible says a lot about sin, you write, but the Bible also says a lot about other things that come into play when drinking alcohol. And here are these three things you mentioned like you to talk about things like self control, wisdom, and idolatry. Maybe you could explain what you mean by those three things.

Yeah, sure. I mean, I think first of all, self control, a lot of people will think of of things like alcohol when they think of self control and this idea of, well, I'm self controlled, meaning I'm not just going out partying and being like some kind of college student. But the fact is we're called to have self control in a number of areas of our lives. Self control is actually listed as a fruit of the spirit means it's something to be sought after and pursued. And one argument I make, David, at the end of the article is let's not just say, oh yeah, the one thing Christians need to focus on is alcohol consumption.

There are at least two or three things in my own mind that are much more of a struggle for me than alcohol and I need to fill in the blank with those things. So anything that is where we are out of control, where we are not under the influence of the Holy Spirit and God's gospel through God's word needs to be cautionary. You know, we are told in Titus 2 to live self controlled upright and godly life. Then I would say, you know, wisdom.

Are you in the word of God taking direction for your daily life from the things that we know are true and unchanging and that comes straight out of God's word. So we have to have wisdom in areas that brings in sensitivity, like say the scriptures that talk about we shouldn't be a stumbling block to others. So we have to take that into consideration. We have to realize that for others, other believers, it may be a true offense to them.

We have to be sensitive to that. And then finally, straight up idolatry. If something is controlling your mind or your actions and it has a wrongful place in your heart or in your affections, that is idolatry. Anything that should only be occupied by Jesus Christ alone.

If something else is there, meaning you've got to have that drink to calm down after a long week or you need to have that drink to be more fun or a more interesting person, then there are wrong motives there at play. And you know, I just want to use as an example, like I just said, anything else. For me, I need to look and say, what's happening with my smartphone? Like for me, that's a great example where I could draw all the parallels of why is it when I hear that buzz, I have got to check my phone. I've got to be on social media. It has taken a wrongful place in my life.

And I am needing to take steps to break its hold on me and my time and my attention. Anything can come into play there. And this is just one example of that. Well, explain Lisa Anderson with us today in the Christian Real View, the director of Boundless and Young Adults for Focus on the Family.

Their website is boundless.org. You mentioned Lisa, some of the common objections to people will say, what do you mean Christians should not drink? You'll get these objections like, well, you're just being legalistic.

I have Christian freedom. Or Jesus, he turned water into wine. He made an alcoholic beverage. Or drinking doesn't necessarily mean drunkenness. You can have one drink. Or it's about being social with other people and relatable and even evangelistic. This is an evangelistic tool to drink with others who I'm trying to reach with the gospel. Or Christians and other parts of the world drink. It's much more cultural for Christians to drink, let's say, in Europe and other parts of the world.

Pick a couple of those and how you would respond to those common objections. The example of, well, I have to, my non-Christian friends, I have to be relatable to them. Well, now we're taking power away from God himself and the Holy Spirit, because I think God can pretty much do what he wants to do and accomplish what he wants to accomplish without us having to make concessions in the realm of lifestyle or decision-making or whatever. No one is going to come to God anyway unless the Holy Spirit draws him. So let's let him do his work and not think that we have to be or act a certain way in order to accomplish that. You know, even Paul himself, he even said that he had to keep short accounts with the Lord and constantly be checking his own heart and repenting of attitudes and decisions and behaviors. He said, my conscience before the Lord, I feel like I'm straight with him, you know, we're okay.

But at the same time, God has every right to judge me and I allow him to do that. Okay, you're listening to an interview with Lisa Anderson. She is the director of Boundless and Young Adults at Focus on the Family. Their website is boundless.org. She's also a radio host of the Boundless program, author of The Dating Manifesto.

You can find out much more about that by going to boundless.org. We have much more to get to on this topic today of why Christians should not drink, not shall not, but should not drink. We're going to get into lots more points as to how to be wise with regard to alcohol and things maybe for you to consider that you have never considered before, both for people, Christians, who actually do drink, what they should consider, and attitudes for people who don't drink, how they view people who do.

So hopefully this will be helpful today here on The Christian Real View. We're coming up to our first break, so we'll take our first break and then we'll come back and discuss much more. We're also going to be announcing two of our events. Well, we are announcing actually two of our events coming up in September. The Christian Real View Speaker Series, our next one is Sunday, September 15th, and then the Christian Real View Golf and Dinner event, Monday, September 16th. We'll be telling you much more about that during the ad breaks, and also in the coming weeks on the program, but get those on your calendars. We'd love to see you there.

More after this. David Wheaton here to announce two events this coming September. First, on Sunday, September 15th at 7 p.m. at Grace Church Eden Prairie is the Christian Real View Speaker Series event on how social justice is impacting the church and the gospel, featuring Daryl Harrison, an insightful and biblical teacher and writer on this important to understand topic.

No cost, no registration. Then the next day on Monday, September 16th is the Christian Real View Golf and Dinner event at Woodhill Country Club in Waseda, Minnesota. You can register for golf, which includes dinner, or register for the dinner event only.

This is always a special day and evening. Again, the Speaker Series event is Sunday, September 15th, and the Golf and Dinner event is Monday, September 16th. To find out more, call us at 1-888-646-2233 or visit thechristianworldview.org. The best way to stay connected to the Christian World View is to sign up for our free weekly email and annual print letter. The weekly email is delivered to your inbox each Friday and contains the preview for the weekend radio program along with links and resources associated with it. Upcoming events and the previous week's program are also included. The annual print letter is delivered to your mailbox in November and contains a column on a current topic and our catalog of resources. Both of these free resources will keep you up to date and sharpen your world view. To receive the weekly email or the annual print letter, go to thechristianworldview.org or call us toll-free 1-888-646-2233.

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I'm David Wheaton, the host. Our website is thechristianworldview.org. Just encourage you to go there to sign up for our free weekly email. That keeps you connected with the program. You get the Christian World View short takes every week when you do that. You get all the information on the ministry and so forth, audio of past programs at our website. You can get resources. There's just a lot to do at our website and the email is the best way to stay connected with us.

We also have a Facebook page as well if you're a Facebook user. Today on the program we are discussing the topic why Christians should not drink alcohol and our guest is Lisa Anderson, the director of Boundless and Young Adults at Focus on the Family. We have just a short segment left with her and then we'll get into some follow-up discussion on this topic. So what are your parting words for Christians who are struggling with or thinking about this particular issue of Christians drinking alcohol? My argument isn't about what can we do? Where can we draw the line?

What is permissible? It's really more about what is really wise here and what as mature believers how can we make right decisions in this and walk forward boldly and set an example for other generations. What's your parting word to those who don't drink alcohol as to what their perception of others who do should be? This is why I felt kind of compelled to write this post because as you know David and you know my family a little bit, I really have lived and been on both sides of this issue and now feel like I really have kind of, I hold it loosely as far as the nuts and bolts, jot and tittle of everything. I think there's this need for us, those who have very strong convictions around alcohol, to operate in a sense of grace towards other believers who choose differently on this issue. You know I make the point in the article there are Jesus-loving, committed, gospel doctrine-centered believers on both sides of this issue. So I would say we need to offer grace towards believers of all kinds truly by setting an example in our own lives and saying here's just what my conviction is, this is what I'm about.

You can lead forward I think in that example of being loving while also speaking truth. Well Lisa we thank you for coming on the Christian Real View, it was a good column, it's thought-provoking. I think something that as alcohol becomes more prevalent for Christians, you wrote a lot of good things to very much keep in mind and so we appreciate that and for all your work at Boundless and for coming on the program today.

I appreciate the opportunity to chat with you. Okay that was Lisa Anderson everyone, again their website is boundless.org. You can by the way read that article that we discussed today, the title is the latest buzz, a double meaning there, around Christians and alcohol at our website. We have it linked thechristianworldview.org and I'm very glad she wrote this article because Boundless is a ministry of focus on the family that reaches young adults you know 20s, 30s, 40s and so forth and I think this is a real temptation for a lot of people but particularly for that age coming out of college and so forth and I think it was a good column for them for all of us to be circumspect with regard to this issue. Now for decades theologically liberal mainline denominations whether the United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, the Presbyterian Church USA, some of these big-time mainline denominations that are now liberal theologically have held no such conviction against you know staying away from alcohol this hasn't been part of their radar at all they're just they drink. Now that wasn't the case though with evangelicalism at a time let's say decades ago you know when maybe the the split from between fundamentalism and evangelicalism happened, a fundamentalist would still hold to the to the the conviction that you should stay away from alcohol, but when that split happened to between fundamentalism and evangelicalism which I'm just going to roughly say was more in the the first half of the 20th century evangelicals I think many of them still held that kind of conviction although they were much more willing to use worldly means and not be bound by what they perceived as the legalistic stances of fundamentalists they were much still much more bound by the conviction of you know alcohol is better to stay away from but over time and up till now now that has changed and I'm sure you probably noticed it in your own if you go to an evangelical church of course the the tent of evangelicalism is very wide now means a lot of different things to different people but more you know kind of bible-based evangelical churches you probably noticing that alcohol is alcohol is becoming much more prevalent in certain demographics within your particular church and this is a very bad development by the way for evangelicalism this will only end badly for many many Christians and their children and other people that Christians in the evangelical world no longer believe that alcohol is something to be to be really distanced from and then the question is for what what what is what is the point of something like this what is the point of engaging in alcohol for something that's actually not necessary at all so we'll go back to our question if God doesn't give a shall not on drinking alcohol why should Christians should not drink alcohol I remember I heard a pastor say once when he was preaching he says we want to be as explicit in truth and in tone as the bible is no more we don't want to be any more adding truth to the bible or adding a a sterner or softer tone to whatever the issue is the bible hells bible says but we don't want to be the last either so in other words what does God's words say and how is it said that's what that's the line we always find on things we don't want to soften the truth and we don't want to harden the truth too much we don't want to soften the tone any more than the bible does and we don't want to harden the tone any more than the bible was we want to be as explicit in truth and tone as the bible is no more and no less so that's what we're going to try to do as we go over some of the considerations about why Christians should not drink alcohol so here's what the bible says we're going to look at a number of different passages some different things that I think can be helpful to understanding where we should land on this particular issue of course the most probably the most well-known passage in the new testament on this issue comes from Ephesians chapter 5 the most black and white let's say portion of scripture on this issue with regards to alcohol comes from Ephesians chapter 5 let's start in verse 16 therefore Paul says to the Ephesian believers therefore be careful how you walk not as unwise men but as wise making the most of your time because the days are evil so then do not be foolish but understand what the will of the lord is okay next verse very next verse verse 18 do not get drunk with wine for that is dissipation but be filled with the spirit speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody with your heart to the heart to the lord always giving thanks for all things in the name of our lord jesus christ to god even the father and be subject to one another in the fear the reverence of christ and there's just so much in that particular passage and I often use this when I speak to young people on when you go off to college the three pillars of peril the battle for the body is sexual immorality the battle for your spirit is drugs and alcohol and the battle for your mind is the world view on campus humanism but it's that second one the battle for your spirit why is alcohol a battle for your spirit I often tell them have you ever noticed another name for alcohol what do they call alcohol they call it spirits now isn't that interesting that alcohol is called spirits and the point is is that when you drink alcohol and controlled by alcohol it is now controlling your spirit you cannot be filled or influenced or be or be governed by the holy spirit when you are in being influenced by liquid alcoholic spirits and so the the point of this passage here is be careful be wise don't be foolish the way you live and it also says don't get drunk there's the black and white thing don't get drunk and drunkenness occurs the moment alcohol influences your mind and actions the moment alcohol influences your mind and actions that is the moment at which maybe you're not falling over drunk but you are now being under you are now under the influenced that's why they call a dui driving under the influence it doesn't say driving drunk it says driving under the influence of alcohol so it incurs the moment in alcohol influences your mind and actions you are on the way you are now not are now not being controlled fully by the Holy Spirit anymore if you're a Christian, you're now being controlled by liquid spirits. I read a post online, an article online from Healthline, just a regular secular health blog or website online, it said, being tipsy because that's what Christians will often say, well I got a little tipsy. We'll see what tipsy is according to Healthline. Being tipsy is the first sign that the alcohol you're drinking is having an effect on your body.

There you go, you're under the influence. This tipsyness begins when alcohol enters the body's bloodstream and starts to affect the functions of the brain and the body. When a person becomes tipsy, number one, they appear more talkative and more self-confident. Number two, they are more likely to take risks in their shorter attention span and poor short-term memory and a person has a greater risk of injury when they are tipsy.

So you can even see after a couple drinks, and it may be different for anyone, maybe one drink for you, maybe three for someone else, when you become tipsy don't consider like, oh I gotta be falling, I don't get drunk, falling over drunk, you know like Lisa was saying, throwing up in the toilet. No, that's not even what the scriptures saying here is don't get drunk, don't be influenced by alcohol, but be filled instead with the Holy Spirit as Christians should be. Okay next, next segment we're going to get into why there is such an attraction to drink alcohol. For something that's not necessary, after all there's lots of other beverages you can drink that aren't alcoholic, why do people, why do Christians drink alcohol?

What is the point of it? And then what about the impact it has on other people when you drink? We'll get into that. That's all next coming up on the Christian Real View radio program as we talk today about why Christians should not drink alcohol.

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Monthly partners can choose to receive resources throughout the year. Call 1-888-646-2233 or go to thechristianworldview.org. Thank you for your support. All right, back on the Christian worldview radio program. I'm David Wheaton, the host. Our website, thechristianworldview.org, where we have now, I think we have information on our fall events, mid-September events, the Christian worldview speaker series. That's going to be Sunday, September 15th, Grace Church, Eden Prairies, Daryl Harrison. We're very much looking forward to having him come.

He's extremely insightful and biblical on this issue of social justice, how it's impacting the church and the gospel. He's going to be here and we're looking forward to him. That's a free event, no registration, no cost. That's on Sunday, September 15th.

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Lots of people do just come for the dinner and we usually have a very enjoyable evening there. Daryl Harrison will be interviewed at that one as well too, so he'll be at both events. That's why we did them back-to-back. So you can find out more about those on our website. I encourage you to mark those down on your calendars.

In the meantime, September 15th and the 16th. Okay, today in the program, why Christians should not drink alcohol. We've talked first in this follow-up to the interview with Lisa Anderson from Boundless that focused on the family, just about the the Bible's clear, actually prohibition.

Now this isn't just an encouragement. This is a prohibition against drunkenness in the Bible. And we talked how drunkenness is not just maybe what we think it is all the time. Drunkenness is anytime you're influenced by alcohol. As it says in that particular passage in Ephesians 5, don't get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Holy Spirit when you're sober, or the second that you're influenced by alcohol, now you're pushing the Holy Spirit to the side and you're being influenced by those liquid spirits.

Now, just as a little rabbit trail here, I think it's very interesting. The Bible always, God, God's Word always does things for a reason. Verse 18 is, don't get drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit. Next verse, verse 19, speaking to one another, it goes into music. Speaking to one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart, being drunk to music, I'll just say this as a little rabbit trail, isn't a little aside, that is the power of music. Music has the power to influence, I think probably to almost, I don't know if to the full extent, but let's just say to some extent, as alcohol does. That's how powerful music is and how we need to be circumspect, not only to alcohol, but to what kinds of music we listen to as well. What kind of music we imbibe, to borrow a term, as well. So just keep that in mind.

Back to the topic here. Let's go down now to another passage on drunkenness or drinking, let's say drinking alcohol. In Proverbs 23, you've probably heard this one as well. It says, Proverbs 23 starting in verse 29, who has woe, who has sorrow, who has contention, who has complaining, who has wounds without cause, who has redness of eyes. In other words, who has all these terrible things happen to him? Who is this person?

Who is it? Verse 30, those who linger long over wine, those who go to taste mixed wine. And then it says this, verse 31, do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly, at the last it bites like a serpent and stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things and your mind will utter perverse things and you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea or like one who lies down in the top of a mast. They struck me, but I did not become ill.

They beat me, but I didn't even know it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink.

In this passage, I think communicates the allure of the sophistication in the self-centeredness actually of drinking alcohol. In other words, there's this sophistication that I'm old enough for this. I'm a mature adult, I can do this. I'm relevant to kind of what's going on around me. I'm not an outlier, I'm not on the fringes, I'm not a teetotaler.

I can handle this. I'm in the know with regards to what wines go with what foods. I'm sophisticated and I'm on my own. I'm not saying that's everyone who drinks, but there's certainly that mentality. There's that peer pressure to this, even not just when you're 19 years old and going off to the college campus, by the way.

There is this subtle peer pressure, maybe not so subtle peer pressure, even in adulthood, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s. If you hold a gathering at your house and you don't drink and you don't serve alcohol, what's wrong with you? Are you some freak? What are you, some legalist?

Some person that, you know, what are you afraid of or something? It's just crazy. Speaking of the golf and dinner event, we do our golf and dinner event as a non-alcoholic event for a lot of the reasons we're discussing today. Not because we think the Bible says, thou shalt not drink, because we think the Bible would, wisdom would lead us to believe, conclude that you should not drink. And so that's why we hold that. And you know what's interesting? We get many favorable comments, actually, from people who are like, yeah, thanks.

Thanks for doing that. Even from unbelievers at the club, when we first talked to them about this, that we're not going to do an alcoholic event. I mean, that's a big loss of revenue, potential revenue for them. Money is made. Money is to be made when alcohol is served. People will pay a lot of money to drink alcohol, but the surprising thing to us was the club, and I'm not sure exactly why, I'm just surmising this, they were like, no problem, that's fine. I think partly the reasons could be is that when people come to these kinds of events and their alcohol is being served and they drink too much, you know what causes a problem for?

The club. They're dealing with a bunch of people who are under the influence and the event goes south. And so just a little sideline example that, yeah, some people might perceive or see you as being an outlier, but some people are going to think that's a smart thing to do, and those people are probably people who have negative experiences with alcohol in the past. So alcohol has this lure of sophistication and autonomy, but there are endless examples of those who have been overcome by it. Not only people in modern day, even pastors overcome by it, but look at the examples of Scripture, like Noah. Noah, after the flood, comes out of the ark and he gets drunk, and there's this big scene about one of his sons uncovering his nakedness.

He was doing things he should have never been done if he hadn't been drinking. There's the example of Lot, Abraham's nephew. He escapes God's judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah. He goes out, only his two daughters with him, and he gets drunk, and then he impregnates—a terrible story in Scripture of incest— impregnates both of his daughters and the resulting consequences over the generations for that.

You remember Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Eli, I think it is. They were priests, and they went into the tabernacle, and they were known as burning, quote, strange fire. They were worshiping God the way they wanted to worship God, according to their own designs. And yet what does it say about them? That they were constantly eating and gluttonizing and drinking alcohol. Tons of examples, both in modern day and in Scripture, of the negative side of drinking alcohol. Okay, now to the next point. We've gone from, thou shalt not be drunk or influenced by alcohol, to why people get involved in it, the bad examples of it.

Now we get into kind of what's the point of it. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. All things are lawful for me, Paul writes to the Corinthian believers, the church that was in disarray. All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable.

All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. And he gives the example of food. Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food.

That's the purpose of it. But God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. In other words, your body's been made for a purpose, and it's not made to have sexual intimacy outside of marriage.

The body is not made for that. And Paul says, I will not be mastered by anything. All things may be lawful for me, may be fine for me to eat and drink, but I will not be mastered by anything. In other words, the Christian, through the power of the Holy Spirit, should not have to drink or eat or do anything, especially something that is controlling you. So if you're someone who is a believer, and you drink, I think you should ask yourself this question. You should test yourself, according to Paul's words here, about not being mastered by anything. If you drink, see what it's like for you not to drink for one month or a couple months. What is that like to you? Are you feeling totally fine about that?

That's just no problem at all. If that's the case, you're probably not even close to being mastered by it. But if you're struggling to go a week, and boy I'm trying to do this, this is a little harder than I thought to go a month, to go two months, you should be able to go as long as you want without taking a sip of alcohol.

Then you know you're not being mastered by it. But I think the fact is that most people, a vast majority of people who drink, probably would struggle with going a month or two or three months without drinking. I received an email from a friend of mine before this show, and when he saw the topic he said, it has been my experience that people who hate these types of programs love alcohol more than they think. To those folks I say, if you told me to give up like let's say celery for a year, I would have no problem with that. So why don't you give up alcohol for just one month?

And then when you when that when there's a resistance there, you suddenly see that their their lack of mastery over it is exposed. Then he went on to say, my father was a world class drunk, and this is what you will hear from people who have really experienced alcohol in a bad sense. My father was a world-class drunk, a brilliant man who was shackled to a bottle and threw and threw everything away to pursue his first love, which was tragic. He chose scotch over his beautiful wife from my mother, which was a terrible choice. I've seen the power of alcohol.

Whatever it offers, it isn't worth it. Boy, if we don't listen to that admonition, I don't know what we will listen to. That's someone who's experienced it firsthand, and yet we have one more segment coming up for a little more persuasiveness as to why Christians should not drink alcohol.

More coming up on the Christian Real View after this. I'm David Wheaton. Get ready for your summer reading with the lowest prices of the year on My Boy Bend and University of Destruction, both written by David Wheaton and owned by the Christian worldview. Readers have been touched by My Boy Bend, a moving story about David's close companionship with a yellow lab that culminates in an encouraging message about God's grace in our most trying times. And if you know a high school or college student, you'll want to read and give them University of Destruction, your game plan for spiritual victory on campus.

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Again, the speaker series event is Sunday September 15th, and the golf and dinner event is Monday September 16th. To find out more, call us at 1-888-646-2233, or visit thechristianworldview.org. Final segment of the day here on the Christian worldview radio program as we talk about a sensitive topic to a lot of people, why Christians should not drink alcohol. A lot of things going on in the world we could talk about this week, the D-Day celebrations, 75th anniversary of the invasion of Europe that saved the world from Nazism. That's a very important topic. Lots of other things we could do. We chose to do this this week. I think it's an important topic as well as well for Christians as this becomes increasingly prevalent within evangelicals to drink wine and drink beer, beer tastings with Bible study and moms groups with kids and sipping wine. I mean it's just it's becoming, I've seen it, lots of people see it, you've probably have seen it.

That's a big change. I don't think it's going to end well, so that's why we're doing this program to to give some cautions and considerations with regards to drinking alcohol for Christians. We've gone over just some of the biblical verses, you know, don't be drunk, don't be tipsy, don't be influenced by it, what's the allure of it, examples that have been overcome by it and not be mastered by it. Now let's get into what the Bible says, the fact that you know Jesus turned water into wine and Paul told Timothy, here it is in 1st Timothy chapter 5, he told him don't no longer drink water exclusively but use a little wine, emphasis on a little, for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. And of course Jesus turning water into wine, I mean what's, I mean he seemed like he's making alcohol. Well back then, you have to realize the context of the situation, back then water wasn't reliable as it is today.

You couldn't go to the store and get clear, fresh, clean, bottled water or just water out of your tap. Back then it was much more risky to drink water that was in it. I read an online study Bible in this and it's in a time before modern refrigeration that says most people drank fermented juice because of the safety issue of drinking just water. It's possible Timothy sought to live as an example to complete abstinence from wine, thereby avoiding any questions about his use of alcohol Unfortunately this led to some sickness and Paul told him to drink some wine to assist. He was not to become drunk but could consume wine in the manner God intended such things to be used. While even Jesus turned water into wine in his first recorded miracle, other biblical pastors speak about the caution believers should use in drinking alcohol and the importance of considering the needs of others in this area, which then leads us to probably the most important thing to consider when we choose to drink alcohol. It comes from 1st Corinthians 8 in Romans 14. 1st Corinthians 8 says, but food will not commend us to God.

We are neither the worst if we do not eat nor the better if we do eat. You're not sanctified, more sanctified if you don't drink alcohol. That's the point to be to be heard here. You're not a you're not a Mahalia Christian if you don't drink.

Let's make that clear. But here's next verse, verse 9. Take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. Now he uses the example of eating food sacrificed to idols but the example of drinking alcohol could be exactly the same. For if someone, another person, another believer, sees you who has knowledge dining in an idol's temple or drinking alcohol, let's say, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols or drink alcohol? For through your knowledge, through your own conviction, he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. And so by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore if food or drink I'll add in causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat or add in drink alcohol again so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.

Real quickly, it says the same thing in Romans chapter 14. Let us not judge one another but rather determine this, not to put an obstacle or stumbling block in a brother's way. I know and I am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, in other words maybe it's not wrong to drink, you could insert that in there, but to him who thinks it is wrong, to him it is unclean. For if because of food, I'll add in drink, your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food, I'll insert drink, him for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil, for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking but it's righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

1st Corinthians 8 Romans 14. The biggest reason why I think Christians should not drink alcohol is this one, because you may have incredible self-control, you may never drink to the point where alcohol influences you in the slightest way or even slightly alters your spirit. You may have full liberty but when others see you drinking alcohol, maybe it's your spouse, maybe it's your kids, maybe it's your extended family, maybe it's other Christians, maybe it's unbelievers, anyone else, perhaps someone who has struggled with alcohol, you are paving the way, you are kind of opening the door to say, oh so-and-so is doing, that looks okay, you're paving the way for them to drink and then to drink too much and then to sin.

Really that is I think probably even the biggest reason of all because of our influence, our testimony, our example to other people. So to try to sum this up, I was trying to think of one compelling reason to drink alcohol and I couldn't think of one. Are you thirsty? Well there's lots of other choices. Do you enjoy the taste of it? There's lots of other choices of good tasting things to drink. Are there health benefits to it?

I don't know of any health benefits to drinking alcohol that can't be mirrored by taking something else. Do you see other Christians doing it? Therefore it's okay.

Well they're not the standard. Do you think it's an evangelistic tool? Do you mean you think that alcohol has to be used, that the gospel and God's Word is not powerful enough and that having a drink with someone, that's going to help your evangelistic?

Really? Just because you think, or do you think it's just not wrong, the Bible doesn't clearly prohibit the consumption of alcohol? Well it doesn't either prohibit the smoking of cigarettes or anything else, but do you do that too? I mean that's something that's bad for your body.

Why would you want to do that? It doesn't help. So there are many compelling reasons not to drink alcohol because it easily leads into sin against God. It's the expense, it's the examples to other, but I can't even think of one compelling reason to actually do drink alcohol.

But let me just give a little qualifier, a little disclaimer here at the end of the program. If you have heard the whole program today and still continue to drink alcohol, please know that you are not going to throw me off by doing so. You're not going to lead me to drink. I will not look down on you.

I will not separate from you even, unless you're getting drunk regularly in front of me. But I will also not think that I'm holier than you because you drink and I don't. One's not, as I mentioned earlier, one's not sanctified by doing something and you're not doing something. That's works righteousness.

Sanctification comes through the work of the Spirit in our lives when we surrender to and obey the Word, when we become more like Christ. So don't worry about me or anyone else hopefully like me, who thinks like me, is going to look down on you. But I will wonder what is the point of your drinking? Because I can't think of one compelling reason that a Christian should drink alcohol. I can't think of one.

And if you have one, you can certainly email me at feedback at lawchristianworldview.org. I'm very thankful as we conclude today that my parents did not drink. We never had it in our home. They never gave it gave it to me to taste as a child.

I never developed a taste for it as an adult and I have no desire for it now. I'm very thankful for that. But I do feel that kind of the subtle peer pressure in certain situations like, oh you don't drink. You know what? That's just part of being a believer.

That's nothing compared to the persecution and suffering that Christians face all over the world. Had a listener write, I eliminated the taste. God helped me to eliminate the taste and desire of alcohol for my life last December. When the occasional desire hits, I asked myself, what would be the benefit of drinking? And to that I respond, indeed, what would be?

You know we do live in a changing and challenging culture in which drinking is pushed, even in the evangelical culture now. But there is one person and one thing we should always look to and trust in and count on. Jesus Christ and His Word.

They're the same yesterday, today, and forever. We hope today's broadcast turned your heart toward God, His Word, and His Son. To order a CD copy of today's program, or sign up for our free weekly email, or to find out how you can be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, go to our website, thechristianworldview.org, or call us toll-free at 1-888-646-2233. The Christian World View is a weekly one-hour radio program that is furnished by the Overcomer Foundation and is supported by listeners and sponsors. Request one of our current resources with your donation of any amount. Go to thechristianworldview.org, or call us toll-free at 1-888-646-2233, or write to us at Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota, 55331. That's Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota, 55331. Thanks for listening to The Christian World View. Until next time, think biblically and live accordingly.