Abstinence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

"Do not be drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead be filled with the Spirit." -Paul, To the Ephesians (5.18)

In some churches, Christians are taught to abstain from alcohol for a variety of reasons. Some of those reasons are biblical, and some are practical. Let's examine some of them.

Biblically, God's people do not get drunk (e.g. Proverbs 20.21, Isaiah 5.11, Romans 13.13, 1 Corinthians 6.9-10, Galatians 5.19-21, etc). Alcohol is a potentially addictive substance that dulls the capacity for discernment and self-control. Serious drinkers have told me alcohol dulls the burdens caused by cares and anxiety. Alcohol weakens personal boundaries against irresponsibility and unreasonable behavior. The sinful nature is loosed, and actions follow impulses. Reaction time slows, coordination is disturbed, and drowsiness follows. It takes very little alcohol to start losing self-control (and Paul told the Corinthians not to be mastered by anything [1 Corinthians 6.12]).

A life lived for alcohol leads to woe, sorrow, strife, complaints, bruises, bloodshot eyes, strange sights, confused thinking, and foolish behavior (Proverbs 23.29-35). This is why Paul says wine leads to debauchery, whereas the Spirit leads to singing, thankfulness, submissiveness, etc. Alcohol can lead to bad things. The Spirit only leads to good things.

Nazarites couldn't even drink grape juice (Numbers 6.1-21), and no priest could serve in the Tabernacle or Temple after having drunk wine (Leviticus 10.9). Elders and deacons are not to be given to it (for example getting together just to drink and hang out). Since we are a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2.9) and each one a Temple of God's Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6.19-20), it is imperative that as His people we carefully consider what we put into our bodies or what we do to relax or have fun.
Practical reasons for abstinence are hard-learned. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration a person dies every 33 minutes in an alcohol-related accident and a person is injured every two minutes. According to the United States Justice Department, nearly 4 in 10 violent victimizations involve the use of alcohol. About 183,000 rapes and sexual assaults involve alcohol, as do just over 197,000 robberies, about 661,000 aggravated assaults, and nearly 1.7 million simple assaults.

More specifically, however, many non-Christians believe certain actions like drinking, cussing, and gambling are inappropriate behaviors for Christians. Paul talks a lot about our behavior bringing praise or scorn to God from non-Christians (Titus 2.5, 8, 10 for example). The New Testament teaches Christians to avoid doing things that would cause non-Christians to blaspheme God. Sometimes this means we curtail our freedom. How can we do something non-Christians believe we shouldn't be doing (1 Corinthians 5.1)?

Jesus turned water to wine at a wedding feast in Cana, and Paul told Timothy to drink a little wine for his stomach's sake. However, their world did not have much clean water nor the variety of things to drink we have today (pop, tea, Kool-Aid, coffee, etc.). Neither would Jesus have done something that created an opportunity for a drunken free-for-all. The wedding steward mentioned in the wedding passage monitored the situation. That was part of his job. In those days, people considered "decent and respectable" watered their wine. It was the "indecent people" who drank their wine straight. And though Jesus turned water into wine, does that mean he would approve of us drinking hard liquor?

I don't know what you do, gentle reader, when it comes to consuming alcohol. Perhaps the two best arguments for alcoholic abstinence are: it is the best way to stay in control of what we say and do (Matthew 12.36-37; 2 Corinthians 5.10); and, our drinking may cause someone we love to become addicted to it (Romans 14.21). If you do drink alcohol for pleasure or relaxation, consider what influence you may be having on others. If our behavior can influence someone for Christ (e.g. 1 Corinthians 7.16), surely it can influence someone away from Christ.

~Shawn