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SOCIAL DRINKING ?
What does Bible say about drinking, leave alone social drinking. Before taking even one proverbial
step forward in this matter, it has to be said that the whole issue begs consideration not only
from personal health point of view but also from the angles’ of maintaining the bright Christian
testimony and building up the weaker ones’ in faith. At this point, it would serve us well to remember
that our ways and actions are always under scrutiny both by the unbelievers and also by the believers,
some of whom are very mature, whilst some of them are weak, taking baby steps in their walk of faith.
Firstly, from the viewpoint of one’s personal
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health. Bible warns of a moderate drinking habit turning into
an addiction as can be discerned from the following Scripture portions:
“Wine is a mocker, intoxicating drink arouses brawling and whoever is
led astray by it is not wise” (Prov 20:1).” “ Do not look on the wine when it is red,
when it swirls around smoothly; at the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like a
viper” (Prov 23:31,32). The Writer has obviously brought the serpentine imagery into his description
to convey the utter seriousness of the matter.
Its true wine is served along with regular meals in certain countries. But as the Japanese
proverbs states ‘ first man takes the drink and then the drink takes the man’, for
it has led to debilitating addictions in many a case. Freeing oneself from its grip would be
akin to shrugging off the constricting coils of the killer anaconda ( just to keep the
illustrations of the reptile variety going).
We are to avoid even the very form or any appearance of evil
(I Thess 5:22). Beware of dangerous
beginnings! First it will be just “walking” there, then it will be “standing” there a while
and finally you will be “sitting” there!
(Psa 1:1).
Of course, there would be no shortages of arguments in favour of social drinking,
with quotes taken liberally from the Scriptures itself
(Deuteronomy 14:26/
Psalm 104:15/
John 2:1-11)
to drive home a point.
But the point to be considered here, is not even whether the Bible would endorse or
not, social drinking in moderation on a happy occasion to foster the spirit of friendship all
over the place rather the point to be considered is what will happen to our testimony
(this is where I intend to rope in the testimony factor) in the eyes of the viewing world?
Oh how quickly the damaging word would spread that ‘Oh that Mr. Christian, he is no different from others.
He preaches one thing (holiness) but practices yet another’. Consider the case of a soul as righteous as Noah.
After the great flood when this great man of faith let his guard down even for a brief moment
(Genesis 9:20-24),
he ended up becoming a laughing stock in the eyes of his own irreverent second son, who was not as levelheaded as
his other siblings. As much as we scorn the lack of sobriety of Ham (Noah’s II son) in this entire episode,
only the bigoted amongst us would turn a blind eye to the root of the problem, which is Noah’s drunkenness.
It is quite another matter that such a noble soul like Noah would have quickly repented for his momentary folly
and made his peace with his Creator.
Dear friends, should we not safeguard our testimony which has also been compared to a seasoning salt by our Lord
(Matt 5:13) like a Bulldog, because if our testimony collapses, so would our plank on which rests
our possibility of being effective ‘fishers of men’. Who would draw near and listen to a hypocritical,
drunken Christian speaking about the Salvation graciously afforded by Christ? Yes, we would be
forever forfeiting our right to be His Spokesmen in this critical world for none in this world
would take us seriously.
Whilst participating in a bout of social drinking, consider also the adverse fallout on the
faith of weaklings in Christian faith. Even while their stronger brethren
(not easily led to addiction) would take cover for some social drinking under some
scripture portions and revel, wouldn’t they be setting a poor example to those with
weak consciences’? Doubtless, the weak ones’ too would get carried away by the actions of
their stronger brethren and let their hair down, even though their tender conscience would
be pricking them all the while. As an action in violation of conscience is a sin
(I Tim 1:18-20) in all these cases, would not the stronger ones stand accused of being
a stumbling block to the younger, weak ones’? Of veritably leading them into sin?
(I Cor 8:9-13).
Here is Paul’s doctrine who kept even all apparently harmless habits at an arm’s length,
lest they not only take control of him but also ruin his testimony “ All things are lawful
to me, but all things are not profitable; all things are lawful for me, but all things do
not build up; all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of
anything” (I Cor 6:12;
10:23). Look at the emphasis on the words ‘do not build up’.
He would have nothing to do with any activity, which would neither build-up his testimony
nor the faith of his weaker brethren. Hitting the nail, on the head. Right?
In conclusion, I would like to draw the attention of all concerned to exemplary life of
young Timothy who stayed away from wine totally abstaining from using it even as a
medicine so much so Paul (his spiritual mentor) had to ask him to add a little wine
to his menu for curing his stomach illness
(I Tim 5:23)? Are we like Timothy? Time for a
honest reality check!
Suresh Manoharan
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The list of essays to follow
- What about "Capitation fees"?
- Should we Indianize Christmas celebration?
- Lavish Christian weddings?
- Can Christians play KBC?
- What about "Family planning"?
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