My Grandchildren and Alcoholic Beverages

I have vivid memories of driving away from the University of Georgia campus in Athens one fall day when my daughter was a student there many years ago. Her mother and I had explicit trust in our daughter that she would make the right choices, but the alcohol culture that surrounded her at that time was not a pretty sight. Alcoholic beverages were everywhere. They appeared to be some kind of status symbol. Every parent, especially Christian parents, has to wonder how their son or daughter will handle the social pressure to drink alcohol. According to the Behavior Risk Surveillance System in 2002, 55 percent of U.S. adults were current drinkers. Forty-five percent of U.S. adults do not drink any alcohol at all. I have six grandchildren and one of the concerns I have for them is what they will decide regarding alcohol. Each of them will have to make a decision just as I had to, as did our two children. What kind of counsel will I give them?

First of all, this is what I will not tell them. I will not tell them that the Bible absolutely prohibits the drinking of alcohol. They expect me to be honest. There is no single verse which absolutely forbids the consumption of a glass of wine. I cannot tell them that the Bible says the drinking of fermented grape juice is a sin in and of itself. It would make my instruction on the subject a whole lot easier if I could point to a place in the Bible where God said not to drink an alcoholic beverage. Furthermore, I will not tell them that wine in the Bible is just grape juice. Each term used for wine and strong drink in the Bible describes a beverage that was capable of intoxication (four different Hebrew words and two Greek words). I will not tell them that Jesus turned water into grape juice. At the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee Jesus miraculously made wine that tasted so good to the guests that they said it was better than the wine they had just drunk. It was called “good wine” (kalon oinon). The same term is used elsewhere in the New Testament for fermented wine.

I will not tell my grandchildren that New Testament communion wine was unfermented (Matt. 26:29). The language and the season of the year at Passover would indicate that it was fermented wine (no fresh grape juice was available at that time of the year). It should also be noted that some in the Corinthian church were drunk at the Lord’s Table (1 Cor. 11:12). Drunkenness, combined with other sinful behaviors, was such an abuse of the communion service that God took the lives of some of the saints at Corinth (1 Cor. 11:30). However, it is not necessary for a church to use wine today in its communion service. The emphasis is not on the symbol but upon what it symbolizes, namely, the atoning death of Jesus Christ. I will not tell them that total abstinence from alcoholic beverages was a New Testament condition for church membership. Nowhere does the New Testament teach this. It is true that I Timothy 3:3, 8 teach that elders and deacons are not to be addicted to wine. God could easily have said that they should drink no wine at all, if He had wished. The exhortations are against strong drink and much wine.

Neither will I tell them that alcoholism is a disease. God holds the drunkard responsible for his behavior (1 Cor. 5:11; 6:10). Deliverance from the life-dominating power of alcohol is possible by God’s grace (1 Cor. 6:10-11). Drunkenness finds its source in one’s sinful nature (Gal. 5:19-21). The disease theory, and that is just what it is, is filled with self-contradictions and avoids the issue of personal responsibility. Alcohol may lead to a variety of physical ills, but the decision to abuse alcohol is a moral choice. Some self-examination is necessary. Why is alcohol important to me?

In summary, I am responsible to tell the truth (Eph. 4:25) and will not reshape the culture of Bible times in order to respond to a social problem in our day. I do not want my grandchildren to grow up and discover that I had been less than honest in my handling of the Scriptures. If they can’t trust me to have integrity in the interpretation of the Bible, then what credibility will I have in other matters? If I give my grandchildren the impression that to merely abstain from alcoholic beverages makes them more holy than those who do drink, then I have failed them. Jesus and His disciples drank wine (with some alcoholic content) as did Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, and other strong Christians.

But what will I tell them the Bible does teach about alcoholic beverages? I will tell them that the Bible teaches that drunkenness is a sin. In the Old Testament it was classed with such crimes as murder and rape and could lead to the punishment of death by stoning. Incorrigibility was treated with the utmost seriousness in the Old Testament theocracy (Deut. 21:18-21). The New Testament Scriptures are plentiful in their condemnation of drunkenness (1 Cor. 5:11; 6:9, 10; Eph. 5:18; Gal. 5:19-21). As a vice that finds its source in the sinful heart, it can lead to eternal judgment. Drunkenness is no laughing matter.

I will tell my grandchildren that God considers strong drink extremely dangerous. Priests who ministered in the tabernacle in ancient Israel were told to avoid strong drink under the penalty of death (Lev. 10:8, 9). Solomon said that “wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise” (Prov. 20:1). He also taught that strong drink is not for kings (those who are responsible for others) lest they become unable to think clearly and, therefore, pervert justice (Prov. 31:4-5). The prophets of the Old Testament trained their theological guns on the self-indulgent within Israel who gave themselves over to the abuse of alcohol (Isa. 5:11; Mic. 2:11). A society that is marked by alcohol dependence is not a healthy society and will reap a harvest of moral ills. God wants them to know that alcohol leads to a slowing of the thinking processes (Prov. 31:4, 5; Isa. 28:7; Hos. 4:11) and the inability to adequately control one’s mental and physical responses (Jer. 25:27; 51:39).

I will tell them that total abstinence, though not required, is extolled in the Bible. The Nazirite vow was a special vow of dedication to the Lord which included the abstaining from wine and strong drink (Num. 6:1-21; Lk. 1:15). The Rechabites distinguished themselves by refusing to drink wine (Jer. 35:6, 19). These voluntary exceptions to the drinking of wine indicate a freedom to take special measures to avoid dangers in the consumption of alcohol.

I will tell them that the wine (and other alcoholic beverages) drunk today is far different from that drunk in New Testament times. Wine itself was light wine, not fortified with extra alcohol. Concentrated alcohol was introduced to Europe by Arabs in the middle ages when it was brought from China where distilled liquors seem to have originated. What is now called liquor and twenty percent fortified wines were unknown in Bible times. The drinking water of the biblical world was often unsafe. It was much more convenient to purify water by wine. It has been observed that one would need to drink twenty-two glasses of New Testament wine in order to consume the amount of alcohol in two martinis today and “in other words, it is possible to become intoxicated from wine mixed with three parts water (New Testament wine), but one’s drinking would probably affect the bladder long before the mind.” The wine used today is not the wine of the New Testament. The alcoholic beverages of today fall into the category of “strong drink” in the Bible.

There is a host of other miseries brought on by the enslavement to alcohol physically, mentally, financially, and relationally. Untold numbers of grieving parents can tell stories of their teenage children slaughtered on the highway by trying to mix alcohol with driving. I will tell them about my friend from high school days, the quarterback on our football team, whose funeral I conducted when he was thirty-nine years of age. It all started with his love for beer as a teenager.

And, finally, I will tell my grandchildren exactly why I have chosen not to drink alcohol. Because my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, it is my responsibility to take care of it (1 Cor. 6:19, 20). Would some alcohol necessarily harm me physically? Possibly not, but I have chosen to take the safest route and avoid a path filled with unnecessary risks. These are my personal convictions. I can’t impose them on others, but I believe they reflect biblical wisdom. Those who have a contrary view are also obligated to express it through the lens of Scripture.

Secondly, because of the example I set for others, both believer and nonbeliever, total abstinence is the expedient thing for me. It is not in the best interest of other believers (Rom. 14:21). Would my drinking cause anyone else to sin? I do not want to make it easier for someone else to drink. Therefore, I have chosen to restrict my liberty in consideration of Christians with a weak conscience or who might set out on a journey of a life dominated by alcohol. Also, it is not in the best interest of the gospel (1 Cor. 8-10). For the sake of the gospel I am willing to set aside anything that might hinder my witness and effectiveness for Christ. I do not want to encourage anyone who is struggling with alcohol’s rule over their lives. It is my freedom not to drink. Does my love for the taste of alcohol exceed my love for people?

Thirdly, because I must glorify God in everything I do, I have chosen voluntary abstinence from alcohol as a means of bringing honor to Him (1 Cor. 10:31). It is not necessary to turn to a chemical in order to deal with the world’s deficiencies and the pressures of life. Fourthly, because of the possibilities of a personal fall, it is better not to set myself up for such a fall (1 Cor. 9:27). By God’s grace I have never been arrested for a DUI, been drunk, or impaired my judgment with alcohol. This does not make me more holy than someone who drinks and has avoided these failures as well. But I have taken the precaution to avoid the dangers. Fifthly, it is because of the degree of the problem of alcohol abuse in our culture that I exercise my Christian freedom to be a challenge to the culture. Sixthly, because of the availability of many wholesome non-addictive beverages, I can slake my thirst in better ways. And if I am looking for peace and escape I have God whose peace passes all understanding and in whom I find constant refuge.

That is what I will tell my grandchildren. I will love them no matter what choices they make, but I will not be disappointed if they use their freedom in Christ to set alcohol aside. Alcohol has never been a friend. It brought untold pain and suffering to the home in which I grew up and to people I have loved dearly. The Lord knows the battles I have fought against sin in my own life. But, thank God, one struggle I have not had to contend with is addiction to a chemical which could never replace the joy of knowing God’s sufficiency in Jesus Christ. That is what I want for my grandchildren.

Dr. Howard E. Dial
Berachah Bible Church