One of the perks of having friends who are missional church planters is that you can occasionally ride on the coattails of their interesting blog posts. (Because, really . . . you can’t be a missional church planter without a blog. It’s in the contract.)
My buddy Luke Camara — who I first met when I was in college, coaching Bible quizzing for my then-church, and he was a high schooler who quizzed for a “rival” church — recently posted about the issue of alcohol consumption and whether or not Christians may partake in the occasional “adult beverage” (without becoming drunk, of course). It brought to mind a great post from a couple of years ago by my friend and pastor, Greg Blosser, in response to a statement by Dr. Al Mohler (president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) regarding the issue. I reproduce Greg’s post below.
As a Christian, former baptist and fellow evangelical, I am deeply concerned about the Southern Baptist Convention. Albert Mohler (president of a prominent SBC seminary) recently stated the following, effectively banning Jesus Christ from ministry in 99% of the Southern Baptist Convention:
“I can assure you of this: if you are associated with the use of beverage alcohol, I think I dare exaggerate not to say that 99% of all doors of ministry in the Southern Baptist Convention will be closed to you. And I do not believe that is an exaggeration. And let me tell you why…you may think, ‘That just shows high-bound and unthinking the Southern Baptist Convention is.’ Why should the Southern Baptist Convention or a local church take a risk? Why should it be in the position of deciding whether this is a problem or not. I mean, you have to understand, why would the church take that on? So, I am very concerned about this generation, and that’s one of the reasons why our integrity with the denomination, with our churches, requires that we not only have this policy, but that we talk about it, we teach it and we enforce it.”
In reply:
ATTENTION JESUS: While we at Grace Central Presbyterian Church understand that you’ve been known to imbibe adult beverages from time to time, we have carefully weighed the pros and cons and have decided that your services are worth “the risk”. So please know that you are welcome to minister with us, to us, and among us in any way you so choose. Please bring the wine.
What say you?
16 comments ↓
dont teach me about moderation and liberty
i prefer a shot of grape juice
What do you do with passages like Romans 14, that encourage abstaining in order not to cause someone to stumble?
That always seems to be the crux for me, I don’t want to offend anyone, but does me drinking a few beers become offensive to some, or is it just offensive to a SBC sub-culture? And by drinking am I allowing for that misinterpretation, or religious dogma to be perpetuated?
Noah, I think you’re asking the right question. There’s a big difference, though, between those weaker brothers who we might cause to stumble (for instance, someone struggling with alcohol addiction), and those brothers who have legalistically forbidden partaking. We should consider their position, but if we find it to be legalism rather than true Scriptural constraint, we should not be bound to their position simply because of Romans 14.
Like Chris said, Noah, that’s the right question to be asking.
I think that another way that the “weakness” spoken of in Romans 14 could show itself is weakness of conscience — not necessarily physiological weakness (ie: alcoholism). For instance, say you’ve got someone who’s been a believer for a long time, but he’s just now coming to understand that the consumption and enjoyment of alcohol isn’t inherently sinful. Still, having been brought up in a teetotaling environment, he struggles with judgmentalism when he sees Christian brothers and sisters enjoying a nice, frosty Sierra Nevada pale ale at a backyard barbecue (pardon me, I’m getting thirsty). Then, perhaps for a while, those brothers and sisters should thinking about abstaining when they’re around their weaker brother.
Still, such a “weak brother” shouldn’t always be weak, nor should he lean on that weakness as a crutch to continue in legalism. The thing about weakness is that Christ is our strength, and he perpetually strengthens us as we continue to grow in him, through prayer, meditation, hearing the Word preached, and receiving the Sacraments. It should be expected that as this guy matures, he’ll eventually have no problem with other Christians drinking, even if he continues to abstain himself.
Say you’ve got a former Muslim friend who recently came to Christ. For a while, you might not eat pork around him, but eventually, he’s going to have to get over it. When Peter refused to eat what God had provided for him in the sheet, the Lord rebuked him, telling him not to call ‘unclean’ that which he’d made clean. Same principle here, I think.
This is something I’ve really began questioning. Being the trendy hipster I am, I find nothing wrong with having a beer or two. However, I began to realize that, not everyone else is a trendy hipster, and they may have issues with it. to me, being always on mission is more important to me than barley and hops and anymore, i reach for a dasani.
plus, i’d rather talk about jesus over a latte’. nothing wrong with a brew though.
I drink so people will think I’m cool and so I’ll fit in.
Reasons I drink:
1. To learn to fear God.
Deut. 14:23 And before the LORD your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.
2. So My Household Will Rejoice
Deut. 14:26 spend the money for whatever you desire—oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household.
3. Because this day is holy and the joy of the Lord is my strength.
Neh. 8:10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
4. Because God wants my heart to be glad & that’s what some plants are for.
Psa. 104:14-15 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for 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.
5. It’s a reward for my faithfulness in tithing.
Proverbs 3:9-10 Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.
6. It facilitates romance & marital bliss (If you know what I’m saying- wink wink. nudge nudge.)
Song 8:2 I would lead you and bring you into the house of my mother—
she who used to teach me. I would give you spiced wine to drink,
the juice of my pomegranate.
7. Because I’m practicing for a dinner date I’ve got with Jesus.
Is. 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, of aged wine well refined.
8. Because I’m thirsty and it’s what Jesus is serving.
Is. 55:1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
9. Because I am radiant over the goodness of the Lord.
Jer. 31:12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more.
10. Because it is one way God wants to satisfy me.
Joel 2:19 The LORD answered and said to his people, “Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil,
and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.
11. Because God’s goodness is great and it makes the young women flourish.
Zech. 9:17 For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty! Grain shall make the young men flourish, and new wine the young women.
12. Because that’s how Jesus rolls. (HWJR?)
John 2:9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom
John 2:10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”
13. Because the Bible says it’s good for my health.
1Tim. 5:23 (No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.)
14. But mostly because of peer pressure… from Jesus.
Mark 14:23 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it.
This is great stuff. I recently hear a SBC argument against Drinking: wine not that strong, wine only good stuff to drink so they had to, the “better” wine is the wine with the least fermentation etc.
Rae, do you have any resources to combat this type of thoughts?
[...] Blosser, pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in Columbus, OH had this response for Rae on his blog over the long [...]
Greetings, old friend! In defense of Dr. Mohler, I think we need to recognize a key caveat in his argumentation. Mohler would not say his logic excludes Jesus from joining an SBC church. Rather, Mohler’s logic may suggest that had Jesus come to earth in 20th America, then he may have honored the cultrual norms of evangelicals by practicing abstenence. I don’t know if Dr. Mohler would hold to this (or Jesus for that matter!), but do I know Mohler holds to the idea that in 20th century America (especially SBC circles), an evangelical who drinks can potential either harm his witness or be a stumbling block to other Christians. This fact is due to our present cultural context. I just feel like I need to speak up for my president now and then, though I certainly don’t agree with him on every possible issue.
Hope your doing well these days, Ray.
Check that spelling…
I hope you are doing well these days, Rae. Not Ray, as in Man Ray or Ray Fillet. hehe
Hey Adam . . . good to see you around.
Good observations, and you’re likely right about how Dr. Mohler (who I agree with on most things) is seeing the issue. I’d probably disagree with that logic in that I think that were Jesus to come to 21st century America, he’d probably treat the cultural norms of evangelicals (at large) in the same way he treated the cultural norms of the Pharisees of 1st century Palestine. In fact . . . I’m almost sure that he would. They accused him of being a drunk, and I don’t see a reason to think that most 21st century American evangelicals wouldn’t do the same.
@Luke: I’ve heard that sort of theory proposed before (about the “wine” supposedly being non-alcoholic in Jesus’ day), but it’s been debunked pretty handily. Still, lots of teetotalers like to fall back on it as if it’s true. The first thing I’d point out would be that if what they called “wine” really didn’t have much alcohol in it, someone would have to drink a ridiculous-to-impossible amount to get drunk. Yet, there are accounts of and warnings against drunkenness throughout Scripture. I wouldn’t think it’d be worth mentioning if it were so hard to get drunk in the first place.
I’ll try to find some more scholarly refutations for you, but that’s what comes to me off the top of my head.
“In fact . . . I’m almost sure that he would. They accused him of being a drunk, and I don’t see a reason to think that most 21st century American evangelicals wouldn’t do the same.”
That’s a good point, Rae. This issue is certainly neither clear nor simple. I only wish we could all be more humble in the way we debate this issue today.
I don’t know. It seems pretty simple to me. Jesus did it. Scripture condones it. I don’t see where the complicated part is. Once we’ve become more conservative than Jesus… that’s a bad sign.
Abstinence from alcohol among religious faiths is not unique. However, among Latter-day Saints abstinence from alcohol is expected to be total, as is the abstinence from tobacco, tea and coffee.
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