Alcohol and Christians--OK or Not?
Posted on 2006-Mar-28 at 02:08
I know this has nothing to do with homesteading, but I see there are many Christian women in this community and wanted to get different perspectives.
My husband and I are having a hard time determining whether or not it is OK to consume alcohol. Though the bible is clear that drunkenness is a sin, we are not really finding anything that says that all alcohol is evil, though that seems to be the mentality of many Christians.
I guess I just don't understand how some God-fearing Christians drink alcohol and it is not a big deal to them or their churches while others are totally against it. Our church covenant(though we are not members) includes the statement "we will abstain from the sale or use of alcohol as a beverage." Part of the reason we are not members is because we do not understand why that is an explicit statement in our church, and without good cause, I do not feel comfortable telling my non-Christian friends and colleagues "I'm not really sure why it is not OK to drink, but that's what my church says, so that is why I don't drink."
I think that is a lousy reason
Any opinions or wisdom would be greatly appreciated. We are actually meeting with our pastor and his wife tonight to discuss it. I will relay his viewpoint another day.
Untitled Comment
My .02 cents worth is that while it is not a SIN to drink a glass of wine....I personally think that it harms our testimony to do so.
If the world engages in it, chances are I don't want to.
Just my humble opinion :)
Lisa
Lisa
Good question!
Posted on 2006-Mar-28 at 03:02 by MrsBurns
My pastor is in the "don't cause your brother to stumble" camp and I find for our family that works well. He and his wife don't drink alcohol because if the pastor did it, it might make it OK for someone else to drink that should absolutely NOT be drinking. And we are a fairly conservative Baptist church, at least doctrinely-speaking. But not at all legalistic. So my husband and I do drink the occasional glass of wine or a beer. We have friends who would look at us funny if we didn't, and these friends are not believers. Why alienate them?
His other point would be that if alcohol is a problem for anyone in the family, then absolutely everyone in the family stays away from it.
I'm no seminarian, but I have a friend who happens to be a seminary graduate (and a pastor) and his rule of thumb is not to be dogmatic about something that the Bible itself is not dogmatic about.
Otherwise, your posts are thoughtful and I am enjoying reading them. I'm pretty new to the blog community myself and your blog today was a nice surprise for me.
DeniseB
........
I run into this alot and I personally have no issues have a glass of wine (I LOVE BLUEBERRY WINE FROM OUR LOCAL WINERY!LOL) at times. I don't abuse it, get drunk, etc, etc. My DH doens't drink at all just cuz he doesn't want to.
Now I will say that like the other poster, if I'm w/someone who has a drinking problem or issues w/drinking, then I don't drink. I just think it's rude (as well as causing a person to potentially stumble).
I have also been asked how I square this away w/my kids. Well they know that's mommy's drink (and I seriously have MAYBE one glass of wine a month) and that you have to be 21 to drink it. Just like you have to be 16 to drive, 18 to vote, no swimming alone, etc. JMO
Untitled Comment
Posted on 2006-Mar-28 at 11:08 by jenna
My dh and I both think that the occasional drink is alright, providing 1) you are not drinking in excess and 2) you are not causing others to stumble by your actions. I grew up with an alcoholic parent and for a long time I was afraid to touch alcohol or even have it in the house, but that was more for personal reasons than religious. I have come around though and we occasionally have a drink, but never allow ourselves to be in a situation that would cause another to stumble.
I don't understand churches that forbid alcohol altogether. I can see why a pastor and his family would choose to abstain, because they are an example to the congregation. Maybe, I'm interpreting it wrong, but whenever the subject comes up, I always think of the fact that Jesus' first miracle was to turn water into wine. He wouldn't have done that if he didn't want anyone to touch it. Also, I think of the Bible verse that says the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. Not the money itself. I think the same is for drinking. It's how you abuse the alcohol that is the sin.
Anyway, that's just my two cents.
jenna :)
*My take on this*
We are not *members* of a church.....this has always confused me. We are Born Again Believers.
Based upon Scriptures, yes it is a sin to be drunk or given over to drunkeness. It is a sin to make a brother stumble. It is also premissable to drink, but like Paul said, Permissable, but not everything is beneficial.
I have 1-2 glasses of wine A YEAR. Usually for Christmas and Easter dinner. But not even then, most of the time.
My son plays travel hockey, and has for 7 years.
As I have watched the kids grow up, let me tell you what I see:
The boys are now 14 + 15. The children whose parents 'socially drank' meaning had a drink (wine / beer / cocktail) with dinner, or in the hallways at the hotel now associate 'gatherings and meetings' with alcohol. They themselves are 'experimenting' with alcohol, and a couple of their older siblings (16+17) have engaged in drunkeness.
These are 2 of my favorite Scriptures when it comes to thinks like "should I or should I not drink"
2 Corinthians 6:17-18
Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.""I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."
1 Corinthians 15:33-34
Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame
Footnotes:
Edited by gokings13 on 2006-Mar-29 at 07:24
My take on it...
Well, I was going to issue a trackback to your post, from mine, but I can't find anything on your blog with trackback URLs, so you must have that turned off.
So, you'll have to settle for reading the post on my actual blog page. I hope it helps.
Oh, and thank you for the message - and yes, I'm a soccer goalie! I agree that it's one of the most exhilerating things in the world. Unfortunately, my "talking to the team during the game" that I do as the goalie, carries over to other sports (basketball and volleyball), so I tend to have quite a big mouth when it comes to sports in general. ;)
Hi Michele!
Thanks for visiting my blog. I don't think I'll jump into the alcohol question, since you got some really good answers here, but I did want to address your carrot question.
I usually just overwinter my carrots right in the ground. We have fairly mild winters here in the Pac Northwest, just very soggy. So the carrots do O.K. this way. But, I know of gardeners in the colder northern climates who keep their last planting of carrots in the ground and put a layer of straw over them - at least 12" or so. That should protect them from a really hard freeze. I know some oldtimers who stored their carrots in sand in a garbage can, layering sand, then carrots, sand, carrots, etc. If kept in a very cool, dry place, this is supposed to work well, too.
Hope this helps! Blessings!
Lisa
I feel -
Posted on 2006-Apr-2 at 07:25 by Nonni
that having a drink is not a sin.Drunkeness is another story. I drink wine once in a while. Recently, I've learned that my BP is high. I know drinking a glass of red wine with/after dinner could help that. However, alcoholisim runs rampant on both sides of my family. So I can't. I have this deep seeded fear of going there and not noticing. I feel it could be a sin for me to tempt that fate - it would be stumbling. And I NEVER drink with/or in front of any who 'shouldn't' . That includes my family, even though they do, I feel that if I join them, it is like saying it's ok.
Last Page | Page 8 of 10 | Next Page
|
|
|
