Is it a sin to drink alcohol? This is a question that most of us don’t usually bring up in the Q and A after the church service.
Some things are simple. We know the Bible says don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, and don’t steal.
But what do we do when the Bible doesn’t explicitly tell us something is wrong or right?
If we are honest we don’t want our sweet babies getting tattoos, getting drunk, and going down a certain path.
And often the argument we use is ” Because I said so”. But what happens when the Bible doesn’t say something is explicitly wrong?
That my Christian friends presents a problem. Kids love this type of situation. They will think they will have won the argument by asking.
– Is it a sin to drink alcohol?
– Is it a sin to get a tattoo?
– It is a sin to cuss or smoke?
But the good news is that the Bible does give us some guiding principles on how we can confidently make the right decision.
And lead people to make the right decisions on these sometimes polarizing issues.
Asking is it a sin to drink alcohol is the wrong question
Sometimes we try to ask questions in a way that we will receive the answer that we desire.
Is it a sin to drink alcohol is one of those questions. And the word alcohol can be replaced with tattoo etc.
Because we feel like since the Bible doesn’t say drinking is wrong we must be good. So how can we know if it is ok?
Scripture gives us broad principles that speak to our specific actions. Drinking is one of those actions. In Ephesians 5:18 it addresses the consequences of enjoying a drink.
Did you catch that? Drinking alcohol is not the main issue. The issue is getting drunk which leads to reckless/harmful choices.
So this leads us to the first guiding question.
– If we drink alcohol will it harm us or someone else?
– If we smoke or cuss will it harm us or someone else?
– If we get a tattoo will it harm us or someone else?
Despite the lack of specific commands on these actions in Scripture, there is a way forward.
God is good and will always give whereas creation takes. Being controlled by the cravings of creation can have devastating results. These results vary from stolen joy to our stolen health.
So does the Bible say that it is a sin to drink alcohol? No, but can you prevent your decision to drink alcohol from stealing joy and robbing you of the blessing of good health? If not then it is probably best to restrain.
But let’s just say what you want to do will not harm anyone what then? Next, we put it up against a proven Biblical principle.
When we are filled with drink we are looking for peace. But when we are filled with the spirit we find peace.
choose to close the door for your friends sake
We ask questions like Is it a sin to drink alcohol because we want to leave that door open in our lives. We like to have the option to do something.
But the Apostle Paul had something to say about these so-called grey areas in life. And it dealt with the people around us.
You see we often forget everyone is a sinner. And the enemy knows which sins set which of us off.
– some struggle with pride
– some struggle with money
-some struggle with lust
-some struggle with anger
That is exactly what Paul is talking about in this section of Romans.
We most likely have Christian friends who have turned their life around. But their pitfalls might not be ours.
So if they closed the door on drinking alcohol because it became their idol that stole their joy and health we need to respect that.
We can respect that by closing the door to drinking alcohol in our life.
Or whatever issue that affects our Christian brother negatively.
So the question we have to ask ourselves is are we being a stumbling block to our Christian family?
And this doesn’t just apply to is it a sin to drink alcohol. It can apply to the many other things we want to do.
If any activity we engage in is going to be the hinge for someone to go back down a path that nearly destroyed them we need to restrain ourselves.
First impressions can be eternal impressions
I wished if first impressions didn’t matter. That the way people see me and you don’t shape their opinions about us.
But unfortunately, first impressions do matter. And here is the crazy part.
God has a plan to redeem the world and it’s all on us to get that message out.
The world can’t shake hands with God or see His face. But they do see us.
And so the scary part is that whether right or wrong the world gets their idea of what God is like from what we are like.
What are we suppose to be like? We are supposed to be like the salt of the earth.
When Jesus said salt of the earth He meant we are to bring good wherever we go. People should want more of what we have wherever we go.
Our satisfied souls should stick out like a sore thumb against the empty hearts idols have created.
So if we are going to do anything we have to think about how it makes Jesus look to the world.
So if it makes Jesus look good we can most likely go for it.
But if it creates even the smallest excuse for someone to excuse the credibility of our witness it is probably best we restrain. Check out this article on Desiring God for more information on this topic.
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Good words!