I want to spend some time looking at the Christian’s dealings with alcohol. Historically, Christians have taken the road of moderation, accepting the drinking of alcohol while condemning the abuse of alcohol. In the United States, over the last two hundred years, the temperance movement has been strong. This has led the church to re-examine her position, and many have chosen one of two roads: prohibition or abstention. Prohibition seeks to make alcohol illegal (this is the official stance of the Southern Baptist convention, for example), while abstention is about people making personal choices (which some bind on all other Christians, while others see them as personal choices).

I want to spend some time looking at what the Bible says about alcohol, as well as how drinking exists in our culture. To start off, I want to examine the current situation in this country.

Alcohol abuse is a terrible problem in this country. Not only in this country, but around the world. (Technically, alcohol abuse and alcoholism are not the same. Alcoholism is a disease, while alcohol abuse is a pattern of behavior.)

The U.S. Center for Disease Control lists the possible effects of excessive drinking:

• Chronic diseases such as liver cirrhosis (damage to liver cells); pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas); various cancers, including liver, mouth, throat, larynx (the voice box), and esophagus; high blood pressure; and psychological disorders.
• Unintentional injuries, such as motor-vehicle traffic crashes, falls, drowning, burns and firearm injuries.
• Violence, such as child maltreatment, homicide and suicide.
• Harm to a developing fetus if a woman drinks while pregnant, such as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
• Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
• Alcohol abuse or dependence.

It’s a problem that needs to be taken seriously. Anybody who flippantly says, “The Christian can participate in the use of alcohol in this country” is doing great harm, in my opinion. The typical use of alcohol in the United States in the 21st century, while actually improving over much of what happened in the 20th century, is unquestionably abusive. Drinking anything in the quantities that many people drink alcohol would be ridiculous. (Who sits down to drink a six-pack of Dr. Pepper? Who chug-a-lugs orange juice? Had a kegger with milk lately?) Beverages aren’t meant to be recreation. The effects of alcohol compound the damage.

How should the church react to such a problem? What’s a biblical response? Those are the things that I’d like to examine in the next few posts.

[I’ll probably take it slow, so those who comment will get ahead of me as usual. Because of that, I may not always comment on the comments. We’ll see.]