The lie of moderation
(Alcohol)
(Alcohol)
Statistics show that there is at least 1 person in every family that has a problem with alcohol.
#1 killer under the age of 30
95% of abused women are abused by drunk men
Alcohol is a factor in the majority of divorces
95% of ATV accidents alcohol related
50-80% drowning under the age of 20 alcohol related
$200 billion/year health care cost-Alcoholism
For every $1 spent on alcohol it takes another $8 to clean it up
Social/spiritual acceptance
20-25% politicians are alcoholics.
75% high school students drink
50% middle school students drink
800,000 10th graders are alcoholics in the US
1/3 of all church members drink
½ of all ordained pastors drink
48% of SBC drink
16% of SBC alcoholics
1 in 4 evangelical Christian youth drink
Not just cultural. #1 killer of all French men is cirrhosis of the liver.
Nothing that causes this much death/destruction can be from God.
Alcohol in the Bible
Alcohol today is approximately 20x stronger than in Biblical times. Now they use “distillation” which allows for higher alcohol content.
Biblical “strong drink” was 3/4th water and 1/4th fermented juice. This is why they had to “tarry long at the wine” (Proverbs 23:30) which was condemned.
The only uses Scripture condones were for medicinal purposes (Prov. 31:6; 1 Timothy 5:23) because they didn’t have the alternatives to treat depression and stomach problems that we have today.
(info by Hebrew Scholar Robert Steign)
Every reference to “Shikar” (Hebrew word for Strong drink) it is strongly condemned. There is not a single passage of scripture that encourages social drinking.
John 10:10, “The thief (Satan) comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I (Jesus)came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
Every word used to describe alcohol can also be used to describe Satan.
Jesus turns water to “wine”
John 2:3-10. Context is everything
The most common Hebrew word for Wine is “Yayin”. It is a generic word for any type of grape, grape juice, and fermented juice. The only way to tell which it is talking about is by the context it is written in.
Isaiah 65:8, “wine in cluster” – grapes
Isaiah 16:10, “wine treaded upon” – fresh grape juice
Keep this in mind as we take a look at the completely negative depiction of alcohol throughout God’s word. Now if God hates drunkenness, then why would He create an alcoholic beverage for a party? He wouldn’t. Furthermore, why would Jesus “create” something that is rotten? If he was really creating an alcoholic beverage then He would have made it 3 parts water and 1 part fermented juice, as was the custom of the time. Does any of that sound like something that the wedding host would boast about tasting so good?
The wine isn’t even the point of the miracle. Jesus takes a filthy ceremonial bowl (used to wash dirty feet in) and takes that filthy and unclean water and changes it into a delicious, fresh, new creation. The point is that Jesus can take the ceremonially unclean (us) and make it a new creation. Jesus isn’t in the liquor business.
Alcohol is an inhibitor. It is a stealer of a sound mind/self control. One of the fruit of the Spirit is a Sound Mind (Gal. 5:23; 1 Tim. 2:7). It doesn’t make much sense for the Holy Spirit to give us self control and at the same time Jesus condone us losing that same self control. That would be a contradiction, but we know better. Jesus isn’t ok with us losing our self control.
Alcohol and the Christian
Drinking alcohol does not increase your witness. Nobody has ever been saved by alcohol. Dr. Norman Geisler said, “Christians shouldn’t ever drink alcoholic beverage. It is forbidden in the Bible.” Shakespeare even understood this when he said, “O God, that men would put an enemy in their mouth to steal their minds.”
So what about moderation. “It is alright as long as I don’t get drunk.” My question is why? What good reason could anyone come up with to support something that causes so much death and destruction? What about Holiness. How does that honor God?
