Sermon Tone Analysis

Can a Christian Drink Alcohol

By Barry Cameron -January 26, 2017

For years, well-meaning, sincere Christians have debated the subject of drinking.

Let me be clear by saying there isn’t a single verse in the Bible that says a Christian cannot have a drink; although

1.

The Bible clearly warns about the destructive and addictive nature of alcohol

2. The Bible is very clear that drunkenness is always wrong

Gal.

Hab.

3. Christians should avoid causing others to stumble by drinking

4. Leaders ought to avoid drinking alcohol

-and cannot be given to drunkenness

1 Tim.

5. Alcohol does not enhance anything or blesses anyone.

Titus 1: 7

For years, well-meaning, sincere Christians have debated the subject of drinking.

Let me be clear by saying there isn’t a single verse in the Bible that says a Christian cannot have a drink; although the Bible clearly warns about the destructive and addictive nature of alcohol (; ; ; ) and is very clear that drunkenness is always wrong (; ; ; ; ).

and that leaders ought to avoid drinking alcohol () (, 8Titus 1:7.)

I have yet to hear from anyone who drinks how alcohol enhances anything or blesses anyone.

Max Lucado said, “One thing for sure, I have never heard anyone say, ‘A beer makes me feel more Christlike… Fact of the matter is this: People don’t associate beer with Christian behavior.”

6.

It does not improve your testimony - actually destroys it.

‘A beer makes me feel more Christlike… Fact of the matter is this: People don’t associate beer with Christian behavior.”

I’ve yet to see how it improves someone’s testimony or makes anyone a more effective witness for Christ.

Quite the contrary, like Shaun White mentioned above, or Richard Roberts, Oral Roberts’ son, who was arrested in Tulsa, Oklahoma, driving under the influence, the result doesn’t enhance your testimony.

Rather, it takes away from what testimony you had.

Not surprisingly, a number of people responded to John’s article and some called him to task for taking such a strong stand against drinking.

In response to the responses, my good friend Ken Idleman, former President of Ozark Christian College and now Pastor of Crossroads Christian Church in Evansville, Ind., wrote these words, which are among the very best I’ve ever read on this issue.

I asked Ken for his permission to share them here.

7. No one starts out to be an alcoholic.

“OK, I am conscience bound to weigh in on this one… For a minute, forget about making a definitive case for or against ‘drinking’ from the Bible.

Here’s the truth from logic and real life.

No one starts out to be an alcoholic.

Everyone begins with a defensive attitude saying, ‘I’m just a social drinker and there is nothing wrong with it!’

no one says, ‘It is my ambition that someday I want to lose my job, my health, my self-respect, my marriage and my family.

Someday I want to be dependent on alcohol to get through my day.’

Yet, this is the destination at which several millions of people have arrived.

Why do you suppose that is?

It is because alcohol is promoted and elevated as a normal/sophisticated activity in life… It is also expensive, addictive and enslaving.

People get hooked by America’s number one legal drug.

And just like all illegal drugs, alcohol finds it way into the body, the bloodstream and the brain of the user/abuser.

One of my most memorable conversations in the state penitentiary in Jefferson City, Mo., was with a young man facing a 28-year prison sentence for the brutal sexual assault of his own 8-year-old daughter.

I will never forget the image.

The tears literally ran off his chin and splashed on his shoes as he gushed, ‘I guess I did it.

I don’t know.

I was drunk at the time.’

Listen, some of those who are defensive in response to Dr. Caldwell’s thoughtful and courageous article will want to revise their text if, in a few years, they discover that they were able to handle their drinking just fine, but their son or daughter could not.

Answer honestly.

Could you live with the knowledge that your dangerous exercise of Christian liberty factored into your children’s ruin?

Or, if your loved one is killed some day in a head on collision by a driver under the influence who crossed the center line, will you still be defensive of drinking?

A good friend during my growing up years was the only child of social drinking parents.

When his folks were away, he would go to the rathskeller [German for tavern] in the basement where he developed a taste for alcohol.

I won’t bore you with the details.

He is 65 today.

A broken life, broken health, broken marriages, a broken relationship with his only son, a broken relationship with his only grandchild, a broken career and a broken spirit that…tragically…he tries daily to medicate with the alcohol that led him to this tragic destination.

We ought to set the bar high for Christian leadership [especially] when it comes to aesthetic holiness.

Personally, I’ve yet to have my first beer and have no desire to start now or to drink alcohol of any kind.

At the same time, I don’t judge those who believe they have freedom in Christ to drink.

But when asked, I always tell people I don’t believe it’s the best choice.

The bottom line is this: The question really isn’t CAN A CHRISTIAN DRINK?

Rather, it is: SHOULD A CHRISTIAN DRINK?

The bottom line is this: The question really isn’t CAN A CHRISTIAN DRINK?

Rather, it is: SHOULD A CHRISTIAN DRINK?

1 David Faust, Voices From The Hill, (Cincinnati, OH: Cincinnati Bible College & Seminary, 2003) 252.

2 John Caldwell, “To Drink or Not to Drink,” Christian Standard 11 August 2012, 18 September 2012.

TO DRINK OR NOT TO DRINK John Caldwell

http://www.christianstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/31_caldwell_JN.jpgBy

John Caldwell

Let me be blunt!

I see absolutely no positive argument for something that will make you act like an idiot, smell like a brewery, fight like a fool, impair your motor functions, drain your bank account, give you a hangover, scare your kids, alienate your spouse, make you a danger to your fellow man, and has the potential to enslave you.

“Alcohol has many defenders, but no defense.”

- Abraham Lincoln