Heathens!

(Crossposted from my LiveJournal)

And now for something that would likely horrify most people at my old church in Birmingham (bless their hearts) . . .

1) I went to a costume party this past Friday night (yes, there’s a significant number who’d be horrified by this fact alone).
2) It was at my pastor’s house. (gasp!!)
3) There was beer available. (“Your PASTOR had BEER?!” *faint*)
4) I partook in #3 . . . Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Sea Dog Pumpkin Ale from Trader Joe’s, as well. (“You’re goin’ to hell, boy.”)

One thing I appreciate about the Presbyterian tradition is the emphasis on “Christian Liberty”, that is, the fact that Christ has set his people free from the law . . . not only the law of sin and death, but from man-made religious “laws” with no basis in Scripture (for instance, the widespread belief that all followers of Christ MUST abstain from all alcohol). Certainly there are those who SHOULD abstain from alcohol, either because they’re recovering from an addiction, or simply because of their own conscience, but those are individual cases and individual convictions, not general truisms. It’s unfortunate that the church-at-large often forbids that which, in moderation, is a gift from God to make our hearts glad.

I thoroughly enjoyed my two bottles of Christian Liberty Friday night, along with the fellowship that it accompanied.