Should Christians Drink Alcoholic Beverages? Part II
Two weeks ago I wrote Part 1 to this two-part series. I stressed in the last article that I was asking whether a Christian “should” drink alcoholic beverages. I gave three reasons why a Christian should not drink: 1) Drinking leads to drunkenness; 2) The Bible warns against drinking “strong drinks”; 3) Drinking may cause others to stumble.
Here are additional reasons a Christian should not drink:
4. Christians should not drink because drinking does harm to one’s body. I am sure some reading this article are thinking about the medicinal use of alcoholic beverages. In some cases, a doctor may actually suggest that a small amount of wine could improve one’s health. I freely concede the point that in some cases, “wine” may be used for medicinal purposes. In fact, the apostle Paul recommended it: “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities” (I Timothy 5:23).
Please consider two things about Paul’s recommendation to drink wine: 1) “Wine,” in the Scriptures, can refer to intoxicating wine or simply to grape juice, the fruit of the vine. The context must determine which type is under consideration; 2) Paul had to “encourage” Timothy to drink wine. This implies that Timothy was not in the habit of wine-drinking. If he had been, Paul would not have had to encourage him to drink it.
The fact still remains that drinking alcoholic beverages for “non-medicinal” reasons harms the stomach and intestines, the pancreas, liver, bladder, heart, kidneys, and the brain. The Scriptures condemn harming one’s body: “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's (I Corinthians 6:19-20). One cannot glorify God in one’s body while destroying one’s health with alcohol.
5. Alcoholic beverages are addictive, enslaving, and destructive. God’s Word pronounces a “woe” upon those who drink wine. It also describes one who is under the influence of strong drink. He lusts after “strange women” (alcohol lowers one’s inhibitions). He is beaten, but does not feel it. He has redness of eyes, engages in babbling, has wounds “without cause”; yet, when the person awakens from his drunken stupor, he will “seek it yet again” (Proverbs 23:29-35).
If any person reading these lines has been around those addicted to alcohol, you know that the Bible’s description of an alcoholic is very accurate. Alcohol can ruin a person’s marriage, self-respect, reputation, health, career, mind, and soul! No one ever has the goal of becoming a slave to alcohol, but millions are enslaved to it and cannot make it through the day without a drink. If you never start, you will never become addicted. Be wise (Proverbs 20:1).
I have given five good reasons a Christian should not drink. Can you, sincerely, give one reason a Christian “should” drink? If a Christian should not drink, then I affirm that he “cannot” drink with God’s blessing. Please seriously consider the reasons a Christian should not drink!
