The Debate That Won't Die

Baptists and Beer. It won’t go away. Rodney Albert recently posted an article on his blog showing how far removed Missouri Baptists appear to be from our brethren in other states. While they require state Baptist leaders to abstain from alcohol, the recent MBC meeting saw a resolution against alcohol barely even pass.

The truly amazing thing is this. Rod’s previous two posts dealt with the upcoming presidential election: one focusing on Thompson’s lack of pro-life backbone, the other on the selling-out by many “evangelical leaders,” backing candidates with a serious lack of moral fiber and Christian character in favor of “electability.” (I pause to reiterate my support for Mike Huckabee).

Both of those posts rated a total of 7 combined comments. The alcohol post had reached 28 at the time I recorded these words (and I’m sure has well surpassed that by the time anyone reads this). The point: It seems we are more concerned about defending our right to drink than we are about the moral fiber of our next national leader. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

I had previously addressed the issue of alcohol with simple line: drinking makes you stupid. And while I was attempting to be cute, the truth is that wise Christians should see abstinence as the better option.

Those who argue for a Christian’s right to consume alcohol point to the fact that the Bible never specifically prohibits drinking. In fact, “oinos” (wine) is often referred to, consumed, etc. Apart from the fact that the Jewish consumption of wine is a far cry from our feel-good society’s worship of beer and whiskey, the truth remains: Scripture never says “drinking is sin.”

However, the wise Christian must look beyond strict prohibitions to consider the principles which Scripture does clearly teach. We do this in regards to issues like gambling, abortion, etc. No strict prohibitions exist, but the principles are clearly there. Why can we not apply this same approach to alcohol in our culture?

The debate seems to be over the issue of Christian Liberty. Some say, “I personally abstain, but I can’t tell others to.” Maybe not by specific command, but can we not say that wisdom encourages abstinence; that holiness certainly would encourage abstinence; that a basic care and concern for those around us encourages abstinence? Certainly we can say, biblically, that care for our brothers often outweighs our own liberty.

John MacArthur writes in his commentary on 1 Corinthians:

But Christian liberty is not unbridled license. It is never freedom to sin, and often it should exclude things that in themselves are not sin but that may become sinful or lead others to sin. Peter says, “Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bond–slaves of God” (1 Pet. 2:16). . . Before we exercise our Christian liberty in a given area not forbidden by Scripture, we should consider how it will affect others, especially our fellow believers.

God never said: Don’t Drink Alcohol. But certainly the principles taught in His Word would lead thoughtful and caring Christians to consider the devastation to individuals and families that alcohol brings, to consider the struggle that many have with alcohol, to consider the harm alcohol consumption can bring to our testimony, and would lead us to a clear conviction that drinking is wrong.

I know the debate will rage on. I know I’m not the most articulate spokesman for the abstinence camp. I simply pray that we can move beyond the arrogance of our own “freedoms” and think of the impact on those around us. And with that, I will leave the debate to the rest of you scholars out there.