BQ: I've been studying drinking alcohol in the Bible and how it's viewed. So right off the bat, does God ever condone drinking alcohol?
The answer is, "yes." 1 Tim 5:23 points out that it was used for medicinal purposes back in the day, saying, "No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent infirmities."
Notice that even here, where alcohol was approved, that only a "little wine" was called for. Tomorrow: how about a lot?
BQ: So what if we want to have a LOT of alcohol to liven things up? What does God say about that? (Hint: humanity has a big problem with this, so there're a lot of passages dealing with it, and I won't spend 15 pages on this one topic!)
A: First a brief look at the Old Testament: Isa 5:22; 28:7 "Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink." "But they also have erred through wine, And through intoxicating drink are out of the way."
"No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court." (Eze 44:21; if you're familiar with types and anti-types and who priests are today, this should be noteworthy.)
"Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long at the wine, Those who go in search of mixed wine." (Pro 23:29-30)
Meanwhile, in the New Testament, Romans 13:13, Galatians 5:21, and many other places say things like, "drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."
Drunkenness, we can see, has never been something of which God has approved, and the practice of it prevents us from being a part of the Kingdom.
BQ: Today we'll look at how the Bible makes comparisons between being sober and being drunk.
"Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation." (1 Thess 5:6-8)
"Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy." (Rom 13:13)
In the above passages, God makes clear the divide between being drunk and being sober. If we're drunk, we can't even put our spiritual armor on. If we want to be children of light, we can't indulge in drunkenness.
BQ: Yesterday we saw that God made a comparison between those who are drunk and those who aren't. Why is it important to have the spiritual armor on all the time, and what other comparison does God make?
A: "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." (1 Pet 5:8) God also warns us, "And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit." (Eph 5:18)
If you're out getting drunk with your friends, you spiritual armor is off, and Satan is more than capable of seeing the opportunity to lay you low. Not only that, God says that drunkenness is opposed to the Spirit. We can be filled with either alcohol or the Holy Spirit, but not both. Which would you choose? Do you keep your armor on?
BQ: In looking at drinking, we have to look at social drinking, especially, as it's brought up quite a few times in the Bible. As Christians, we've seen that we need to be watchful for ourselves, since Satan is roaring around, and we need to wear our armor, but there's more—we need to avoid drunkenness so that we can help others.
1 Pet 4:3 shows some of the problems associated with alcohol: "For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry."
For a long time, humans have enjoyed social drinking, and there are almost always piles of problems that go with that. In my own high school we had people dying and getting pregnant from a little "loosening up." While it can be tempting to go out partying every now and then, God warns us to, " nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak." (Rom 14:21)
If social drinking is something you've really enjoyed, realize that it's time to put it in the past and move on to the things of light!
BQ: Yesterday we saw that drinking is something that we need to keep in the past, that it leads to bad things, and quite importantly, that it reduces a Christian's influence for Christ. Today I've been looking at how shepherds in the assemblies are told to be above reproach so that they can be more effective leaders, and I thought it was very interesting that they and their wives are told:
"Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not near to wine, not greedy for money; Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things." (1 Tim 3:8;11)
It is interesting to note that the original Greek uses wording in 1 Tim that includes "nephalion" and "me paroinos." While I'm not using this as a topic for a word study, these words mean "not near [as in associated with] wine," and "abstinent from wine." Being associated with wine could be something like being an evangelist and having pictures of yourself on facebook at a bar with a alcohol in your hand. Even if you didn't get drunk, it inhibits your ability to be above reproach, which decreases your ability to reach people spiritually.
BQ: Yesterday we saw that spiritual leaders need to avoid being associated with alcohol use, but why exactly, is that?
"Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Pet 1:13) Here the words "nephontes" and "teleios" are employed, which combined mean to be "completely sober."
If we choose to be completely sober, we'll always be ready for action, we'll always be fully equipped with our armor, and we'll be filled with the Spirit, who aids us in battle. If we choose not to be sober, the opposite is true.
BQ: For a last look at drunkenness, we'll consider that it can be tempting to say that we're going out drinking in order to have an opportunity to evangelize. What does God say about this?
1 Cor 15:33-34 "Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame."
God, knowing how we are, addresses this very situation. Choosing to involve ourselves in drinking to "win" people merely loses ourselves and is a continuation of sin. It's hard to win people when we start fitting the mold of Isaiah 19:14, "As a drunken man staggers in his vomit."
Instead of being like that, let's aim to "be blameless; sober minded; not near to wine." (1 Tim 3:2) It's better to be out winning souls than winning beer pong!