The Christian Sentinel Report

Alcohol and Ministry Don't Mix

           Editorial by Bill Alnor          

July 2001

I have become convinced that the best option for a Christian is to abstain from all alcoholic beverages, including the occasional social drink. I also don’t think it is scriptural, as some have taught, that one must use real wine with alcoholic content during the Lord’s Supper at church simply because that may have used it at the first communion service (the Lord’s Supper, the night Jesus was betrayed). In the case of the Lord’s Supper, the what – the memorial of the Lord, "do this in remembrance of me," as Jesus put it (Luke 22:19) -- is the most important thing, not what we consume in the process.

Although I don’t look at this issue in a legalistic way -- each Christian should come to his or her own conclusion about this issue, I believe social conditions in the modern, affluent Western world, make it especially important for the believer to abstain from all strong drink. I also believe, after spending some time as a church planter/pastor that those in active Christian ministry should especially stay away from drinking. Here are a few thoughts on the matter:

Alcoholism has become rampant today – even creeping into the evangelical church. This is staggering because it is abundantly clear how harmful it has become. What is the human cost in pain and suffering, including broken families, automobile accidents, health problems, destroyed relationships and a litany of other problems that it has been at least partially responsible for? Today there are few families, even Christian families, which have not been affected in some way by alcoholism. Certainly it has touched my family and also Jackie's family -- with harmful results.

I have spent time talking with alcoholics who want to stop, but they have difficulty because it is a drug that is chemically addictive.  Almost all of them say it's like a demon that has control of their lives.  And because it is addictive, it becomes a self-inflicted disease. They simply cannot stop drinking, they say, even though they know it will destroy them and everyone around them. The compulsion to drink is so deep that they often resort to stealing, lying and cheating just to get a drink.

I believe that God, through his Holy Spirit can heal them, but the temptation to drink -- and there are those in this boat in practically every church in America -- seldom goes away. A little taste of alcohol, or watching a respected leader have a beer, or being in the wrong place at the wrong time, can help set it off. Images on television or at sporting events can also trigger the craving.

The apostle Paul in Romans 14:21 tells us that we are to avoid doing things if it causes our brother to "stumble" or "is offended or is made weak," even if our conscience is O.K. on the matter.

The Bible also tells us to "present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of you mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:1-2). The way I see things, just the fact that everyone seems to be drinking is not good reason to participate. Peter reminds us that we are to look at the eternal perspective in all things because we are "sojourners and pilgrims" on this earth. We're just passing through. Therefore, "abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul" (1 Peter 2:11).

I can almost hear the objections now from some who might call me a "pietist." There will be some who'll accuse me of being a legalist. They might say that Psalm 104:15 declares that "wine makes glad the heart of man." Didn't they call Jesus a winebibber and a sinner?

The problem is, there are many more verses warning against the abuse of alcohol. Proverbs 20:1 says "wine is a mocker," and in every place in both the Old and New Testaments, drunkenness is outright condemned. Ephesians 5:18 tells us to "not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit." This contrasts drunkenness with being Spirit-filled. When people drank wine during the time of the Bible, it was very rarely -- if ever -- done in the same manner it is today. The nature and uses of wine was different. There were certainly no bars around in the same way as there is today.  Drinking was not intertwined with the entertainment and sports industry as it is today. There were no billboards and media campaigns promoting drinking that were bombarding people all day long. Instead, wine was part of the sustenance of the Middle Eastern peoples, and in some cases it was used for medicinal purposes (1 Timothy 5:23). Today it is a supplemental luxury used almost exclusively in social settings. I am convinced that the enemy of our souls wants to promote drunkenness as much as possible. He wants to keep many in a daze every moment of their lives so they never get serious with Jesus. The enemy has almost succeeded in doing this in some cultures around the world.

Drinking can also have a disastrous effect on church leadership (as I found out) if part of church leadership is drinking with some of the people in the church while the pastor and other leaders are not. Discipline breaks down and pretty soon what can happen is that a division forms between those who drink and those who don't. I agree with Pastor Chuck Smith, founder of the Calvary Chapel movement in mandating that no one at his church is permitted to drink while they are employed by the church. Most Calvary Chapels have the same rules.

Another objection people might have to this tough stand is all the biblical prohibitions have to do with drunkenness, not with taking an occasional drink. Good point. However, I have seen far too often that the one who begins with an occasional drink ends up at the beginning of a slippery slope that ends up with them drinking every day. I have seen it happen many times and I am fearful for some of my long time Christian acquaintances who have gone this route. Can one handle fire and not be burned?

If people want to consider me an oddball, so be it. But this is the position I have taken, and I believe the Lord has led our family to it as well. I hope you are won over to this way of thinking!  Let's be serious and sober-minded in these last days.   

Bill Alnor

and please write me with your comments to this article! 

*That is another reason I have rejected the so-called Holy Laughter movement (both the Toronto and Brownsville "revivals") because one of the main manifestations practiced by experience-driven Christians involved is acting drunk, includes staggering, slurred speech, and other behaviors one would experience at the local pub.