Drinking, Merriment, and Heaven
What is the biblical view of alcohol?
He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,
And vegetation for the labor of man,
So that he may bring forth food from the earth,
And wine which makes man’s heart glad,
So that he may make his face glisten with oil,
And food which sustains man’s heart.
— Psalm 104:14-15
“Drink is in itself a good creature of God, and to be received with thankfulness, but the abuse of drink is from Satan, the wine is from God, but the drunkard is from the Devil”
Increase Mather in Wo to Drunkards (1673)
Recently I have found myself pondering the uses of alcohol in the Christian life. The
source of these thoughts trace back a few years, when my family and I became
convicted that the Lord’s supper ought to be comprised of wine rather than grape
juice. We included this conviction as we searched for a church where the Lord’s
supper was celebrated on a weekly basis. I’ve further been challenged to consider
alcohol in a deeper way ever since reading James Jordan on the matter1. I believe that
many Christians have a visceral response to alcohol that is unfounded in scripture.
First, consider this accusation leveled against Jesus:
For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say,
‘He has a demon!’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say,
‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
— Luke 7:33-34
Also recall the wedding in Cana recorded in John 2. Not only did Jesus come eating
and drinking, but also drinking and having a merry time at weddings. In essence,
Jesus was partying. Jesus is not doing something new but rather continuing to view
alcohol in the same way that the old covenant saints would have as well
God not only permits his people to drink wine, He virtually commands that they do so at at least one of the feasts (Dt. 14:22-26). God encourages His people to purchase “wine and strong drink [beer]” in order to “rejoice in the presence of the Lord.”
James Jordan from No. 48: Concerning Wine and Beer, Part 1
And let us not forget that the sacrament of the New Covenant itself includes alcohol!
Alcohol is built into the way God ordained us to worship him through the Lord’s
supper. So, why do many Christians have such a negative response to alcohol when
Christ himself came eating and drinking? Alcohol, like all good things in this life, can
be twisted, marred, and distorted by sin, turning what once was glorious into
something disgusting. Many Christians have witnessed the abuses of alcohol and
concluded that it is better to not drink it and therefore avoid the appearance of evil.
They argue that it is wiser to avoid the temptation all together than partake in
drinking. Frankly, this is an immature line of thinking, for it would apply to Christ if
correct and yet he came eating and drinking. Some accused him of being a drunk, but
Christ did not concern himself with false accusations and the potential appearance of
evil. Many in his day were drunkards, yet Christ never stopped drinking to try and
sidestep any accusations. Neither did Christ find the argument compelling that we
ought to avoid the temptation of alcohol all together. Both of these modern
evangelical self-righteous reasons Christ does not seem to take into account.
As such, I think we ought to be very careful in articulating to our unbelieving
neighbors that to be a “real Christian” one has to abstain from alcohol. I anticipate
that the cognitive dissonance that portrayal creates can be devastating. The
unbeliever may understand that Christians think God has created the world good, yet
we reject one of the most foundational food products that boasts the universal
process of fermentation! It’s quite odd we have ended up here in Christendom. In
summary, the common reasons we use to avoid alcohol are dubious at best and can
harm our witness for Christ.
Consider what is more potent: Christians who are so immature that they cannot be
near alcohol and abstain completely or a mature people of God properly using alcohol
in a glorious, God honoring way as God intended?
God is clear that he is pro alcohol in the scriptures. Now that we have dispelled
the myths of abstinence from alcohol let’s explore biblically and creationally why
alcohol should be ever present in Christian circles.
What Alcohol Does
Alcohol has a few obvious uses. Pleasure, Celebration, Drink, Health, and
Drunkenness to name a few. The first four are permissible and the last is sin. Wine
contains a compound called resveratrol, which has been shown to guard against
cancer and increase overall wellbeing. Wine is also fermented and fermented foods aid
the micro biome and make sugary foods more readily digestible. Fermentation is
basically pre digestion outside of the body by other bacteria. I consider health and
drink as connected because the goal is to only drink things that are good for your
health (ie. don’t drink bleach). Health is a peripheral topic but I think it should be
noted here because it is a real use of alcohol. See Paul’s suggestion below.
No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach
and your frequent ailments.— 1 Timothy 5:23
Let’s now look at using Alcohol as a drink in a pleasurable/celebratory way. Christians
should be known as a people of joy, mirth, and celebration rather than the way we are
often caricatured. Most unbelievers in the West view Christianity as a choice that
makes one lame, a social outcast, and devoid of all the joys and pleasures of the
world. This could not be farther than the truth. Christians have reasons to celebrate
that the world cannot even fathom. We were dead in our trespasses with only the
fleeting pleasures of this life to anticipate, followed by eternal torment. God,
however, has caused us to be born again to a new hope. There is no other reason more
glorious than this to PARTY.
Since we have such glorious reasons to party, how should we party? Well,
we definitely shouldn’t party the way the world parties! Sensual dancing,
blasphemous music, sexual debauchery, drunkenness, and much more are just a few
of the ways that we as Christians do NOT party. However, a few of these
elements can be redeemed to celebrate in a way that leaves no regrets or worse,
destruction of souls. We truly can dance, sing music, and drink in a God-honoring
way! I genuinely think that a Christian should have the maturity to have strong drink
in a social setting, and not harm their witness for Christ.
How do we drink to the Glory of God?
Let’s first hearken back to the first bible verse I quoted above, Psalm 104:14-15. How
EXACTLY does Wine (or an alcohol for that matter) make the heart “glad”? What does
that even mean? How does alcohol make the heart glad in a way that a sip of water or
orange juice wouldn’t? It would certainly make us happy to be refreshed by a cold
cup of water in the heat of summer but gladdening the heart seems categorically
different in the text. The soul is being altered to some extent. The physical alcohol is
penetrating to the “heart” of man. What mechanism can pull this off?
It seems clear to me that the alcohol itself (and its inebriating effects) are what make
alcoholic drinks categorically different than other drinks, including their effects on
the heart of man. The intoxicating effects of alcohol seem to have a positive effect on
the soul. This can help us reconcile why Jesus would condone and create wine at the
wedding in Cana in John 2. He wanted to ADD to the celebration and merriment
rather than detract from it. He wanted to bless the people, and he used the effects of
alcohol to accomplish that. This is why alcohol can be a great temptation, everyone
feels lighter and looser when they get a light buzz. The world then assumes that going
farther creates more pleasure.
The Bible speaks of both wine and beer being offered to God (Numbers 28:7). Alcohol was created by God and designed by Him to communicate a sense of rest and well-being. It is a sensible sign of the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is not true of non-alcoholic drinks.
James Jordan from No. 42: Doing the Lord’s Supper
Now hold your horses, don’t jump to conclusions that I haven’t confessed
yet. Drunkenness is sin and destroys lives. I am not arguing for drunkenness, I am
arguing for JOY! Technically, I am arguing for feeling buzzed as permissible for a
Christian. Anything past that is sin and is now tarnishing the name of Christ that we
bear as we go along our way. This name we even bear at a party.
For The King Blog happily partners with ReflectedWorks.com to bring you Godly Christian art. Let’s put your empty wall space to productive use! Use the PROMO CODE: FORTHEKING at checkout for 10% off any order!
Why Alcohol is for celebration
Now why is alcohol explicitly condoned for celebratory uses, ministered through its
intoxicating effect, by God himself? I think it is condoned because it is a glimpse
behind the curtain of the flesh. Drugs and alcohol in general remove the strong
connection of the conscious and the physical state we live in. Alcohol is the
permitted “drug” that God has given us to get a taste of the heavenly life. Now its not
heavenly because it sort of gets on cloud 9 into a disembodied incorporeal state. It is
heavenly because we are lifted from our sense of guilt and shame that we carry with
us in the flesh wherever we go.
There are plenty of stories of people doing things they would NEVER have done were
they sober. Most of them foolhardy and stupid. I do not advocate for these and they
are shameful. It is a pity that the glories of shamelessness leads one to do shameful
things. This is the sin of drunkenness in summary. Rather shamelessness should lead
us to glory!
Could there be a mediating, or middle ground, that allows us to dip in the bliss of
shamelessness and guiltlessness? I believe there is, it is called getting buzzed, or if
you prefer more biblical language “gladdening the heart”. If we as mature Christians,
in wisdom, can tap into the glories of alcohol without succumbing to alcohol being a
brawler (Proverbs) then we are truly being conformed to the image of Christ!
This brings us to our final and most potent point. The effects and symbolic nature of
alcohol is a type of the final feast of the Lamb with his bride on the final day. We
ought to drink wisely because Christ drank wisely and will drink with us again in the
consummated kingdom with his bride.
The OT portrays the coming joys of the messianic age in terms of the abundance of alcoholic wine (Is. 25:6; 27:2; 55:1; Jer. 31:12; Hos. 2:22; Joel 2:19, 24; Joel 3:18; Amos 9:13-15; Zech. 9:15, 17; 10:7)
James Jordan from No. 48: Concerning Wine and Beer, Part 1
If God has instituted alcohol as a sacrament, then he has instituted the entire physical
makeup and characteristic of the thing. He doesn’t just institute bread as a pure
symbol, is he not importing all of the blessings that bread brings? Nourishment,
sweetness, fullness? Would he not do that same with wine? Sweetness, nourishment,
and dare I say intoxication? Alcohol will never ever solve our problem of guilt and
shame, only Christ can do that! What alcohol can do is lift the normal apprehensions
and feelings of inadequacies that plague every human on earth. It levels the playing
field and gives us a small glimpse in that heavenly life when we are glorified and we
have no shame with our brothers and sisters for eternity as we worship our great king.
Concluding remarks
I admit this may have been a very odd article to read. If I missed the mark or fell short
anywhere in exploring this topic then please forgive me. However, I do think there is
something to this line of thought and I would love to know your thoughts if you
agree. I want to be very clear at the end here that we ought not ever pursue alcohol
to “drown away our sorrows” just because it has some heavenly bliss associated with
it. We always go to Christ for comfort and atonement and no created thing, like
alcohol.
“Wine should be used in moderation and as a way to bring joy and happiness, rather than as a way to escape from reality or as a means of indulging in excess.”
– John Calvin
A few action items:
1.) I propose that when we gather as Christians, we do not shy away from a light
buzz.
2.) I propose that we never make it seem like to be a Christian one must give up
alcohol
3.) I propose that we display for our children how a Christian responsibly drinks
alcohol
4.) I propose we do away with all grape juice for the Lord’s supper and use wine
exclusively
Note:
I think that it would be foolish to try and display maturity with alcohol in the
wrong settings. For instance, I don’t think a Christian should go bar hopping just
because they have self-control. It would still be a bad witness for our king to be seen
in a setting like that as a Christian.
https://www.biblicalhorizons.com/rite-reasons/no-42-doing-the-lords-supper/
https://www.biblicalhorizons.com/rite-reasons/no-48-concerning-wine-and-beer-part-1/
https://biblicalhorizons.com/1997/01/01/no-49-concerning-wine-and-beer-part-2/