Yep! We’re going there.

A lot of Religious/Christian cultures hold the belief that drinking alcoholic beverages is wrong. Some, taking it as far as to say that Jesus turned the water into grape juice at the wedding in Cana, and that the bible says only to drink if you’re ill. (1 Timothy 5:23, Proverbs 31:6-7)

There are different levels of legalism when it comes to this. Some enforce this strictly, going as far as to not attend an event where alcoholic beverages are served, some others won’t allow any alcohol to be under their roof, and some go as far as chastising family who drink.

I grew up believing (or being taught), that alcohol was wrong to drink, people who drank only did so to get drunk, and were lying to themselves about any kind of alcohol tasting good. Alcohol served no purpose but to get you drunk.

Now, let’s take a look at what the bible says. For research, I’ve looked up the word “wine” in the bible, and recorded the ones directly pertaining to drinking of alcohol.

Proverbs 23: 29-33 – “Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who tarry long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine. Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things.”

Isaiah 25:6 – “On this mountain the Lord of Hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, or aged wine well refined.”

Proverbs 9:4 – “To him who lacks sense she says “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed.” (the ‘she’ referred to is Wisdom)

Joel 2:24 – “Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink.”

Proverbs 31:6-7 – “Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more.”

Proverbs 3:9-10 – “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.”

Ephesians 5:18 – “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,”

Proverbs 21:17 – “Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.”

Psalm 104:14-15 – “You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for a man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.”

Luke 7:33 – “For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon’. The son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’”

Romans 14:17, 20 – “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” “Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats.”

Okay! So a few things jump out at me right away.

1. Nowhere in any of these verses does it condemn someone who simply drinks wine. It condemns drinking is when it leads to drunkenness, brawling, those who are “heroes” at it, etc.
2. We all agree that Jesus committed no sin, right? So if that’s true, why would He say in the Luke reference that He came drinking wine? Furthermore, He turned water into wine (I’m just going to ignore the grape juice argument here), which, if it was a sin, would mean Jesus sinned by setting up other people to sin and our whole religion is meaningless.
3. In the Isaiah 25:6 reference, the Lord Himself will be providing a feast for all people, and it’s mentioned twice that He will be providing good wine for them. Again, if the Lord is holy, and everything He does is good, then it would directly follow that He thinks wine is good.

I think the main “stumbling block” in the area of Alcoholic drinks is that, to be honest, we tend to be like the Pharisees in our thinking. Meaning, “well, if getting drunk is bad, then let’s remove that possibility entirely so I don’t sin by getting drunk.” There are a few flaws in that argument. Following that line of thinking, does that mean you should never discipline or correct your children, so you don’t commit the sin of abuse? Should you never eat, so you don’t become a glutton? Should you never speak to anyone, so you don’t say something offensive or unkind? Should you never drive your car, just in case you start speeding and break the law?

In all these things, including drinking, you have a choice. No one “accidentally” gets drunk. You can feel the alcohol affecting you, and that affect increasing long before you reach drunk-level. You don’t raise your voice at a child or slap them in anger without knowing what you’re doing. You don’t eat to the point of stomach ache without knowing what that you’re doing it. The only area I’ve seen this argument make sense, is when someone has a history of alcoholism in their family or past, and are cutting it off entirely to avoid temptation. In this case, that is obviously a wise choice. based on that persons experience.

To be clear, I am firmly convicted that there is no sin in drinking. The Lord clearly provides many lovely things for us to consume, and alcohol is one of them. I frequently enjoy a glass of wine or cocktail with my husband, hard lemonades around the campfire, or a drink with a friend while having deep conversation.

That being said, I do believe that it displeases the Lord to get drunk. We see this written all over the verses above and the Bible at large, and I have further reasoning; you don’t know what kind of drunk you’ll be. In the movies and our culture, being drunk is portrayed as being a lot of comedy and slapstick humor, making great memories. Just think of the character “Otis” from The Andy Griffith Show. But I don’t know that I’ll be a funny drunk. I don’t know that I won’t turn into an angry, abusive drunk. I don’t know that I won’t be affected to the point where I could commit a crime and not remember it, or have a crime committed against me and be unable to defend myself.

So, in closing, I believe this topic falls under the same sort of umbrella as modesty does; It is about how you use the thing you are given. For good, or for evil? Will you use alcohol to drown sorrows and avoid stressors, leading to drunkenness and an unhealthy relationship with a substance, or in a way that glorifies the Lord and honors the vessel He gave you?

“So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the Glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:30

-M