Shelbyville Daily Union

Ask the Pastor

August 24, 2011

Ask the Pastor

Chase Smith, pastor Fellowship Baptist Church, Shelbyville CNHI

SHELBYVILLE, IL. — Should Christians drink?

 

I have heard this excuse for drinking so many times; “Jesus drank wine, so can I.” Country artist Miranda Lambert even has a song that says that, and because it is catchy, I find myself singing it.

Let’s get some facts out of the way; the wine that Jesus drank was more like purified water than wine. Jesus would have to drink 20 glasses of wine in his day to reach the alcohol content we would have in 1 glass of wine. The alcohol content is so low that it would not even be considered alcohol if sold in stores today. In order to get drunk in Jesus’ day, a person would literally have to drink all day, which happens in scripture.

Back to the question, should Christians drink? Nowhere in the Bible does it say that we cannot drink, but please don’t stop reading, that’s not the end of the answer. You need to ask yourself a two questions before you pick up that bottle. First, will this action help or hinder my Gospel witness (1 Corinthians 10:32-33)? If where you drink, what you drink, and how often you drink will affect the way that people will come to know the Lord then you should not do it. Remember, drinking in home can and will affect your children, so if that is the only place you do it, you still have your greatest mission field sitting next to you on the couch and you need to lead them toward the Lord.

Second question is will this action glorify God (1 Corinthians 10:31)? How are you glorifying God when you are drinking? Unfortunately, drinking is portrayed in a way that you can just have one, and society tells us to drink responsibly and have a designated driver. That is good practical advice, but it leads to it being okay to getting drunk. I have been in situations where I have seen people drinking and I can say one thing, the more that people drink, the less they glorify God.

Before you drink ask yourself these two questions. How does this impact my witness of the Gospel and how am I glorifying God? So, should Christians drink? Each person is going to have to come up with their own convictions on this, but in my opinion, the negatives far outweigh the positives.



Chase Smith is the pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church in Shelbyville. For more information from Chase or the church call 774-3636 or visit www.fellowshipinshelbyville.com.

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