Christ drank
wine from the Passover cup (Mark 14: 23) and possibly otherwise (Luke 7:
33-34). Christ’s first miracle – to turn water into wine – implied that HE did
not object to drinking of wine. Then the Bible mandates Christians to be
Christlike [1].
Some
Christians attribute their habit of drinking to Christ. They argue that since
Christ drank wine, they could drink too. Some extend this argument when they
ask, isn’t it Christlikeness that Christians are to focus on, if so, why not
drink? Thus the Christian who seeks to consume alcoholic beverages justifies
his temptation (or his desire) through Christ.
Within this
context, there are two groups in Christianity. One group argues that Christ did
not drink wine except from the Passover cup. This group believes in total
abstinence, which is that the believers should not drink. Others think that since
Christ drank wine, they could adopt a more tolerant or a rather validating
attitude towards moderate drinking.
Dr. Norman
Geisler, an advocate of total abstinence, emphasized that during biblical
times, beer and wine were consumed in moderation. More importantly, they were
diluted (3 parts water and 1 part wine), and hence did not cause intoxication
while consumed in moderation. In comparison, today’s beer and wine are
categorized as strong drinks that are condemned by the Bible. [2]
This article
is not about whether Christ drank wine or not or whether moderate drinking is a
sin or not, but it’s about whether a Christian could use Christ as a means to drink
alcohol. Hence, let’s concede that Christ may have consumed wine although HE certainly
would not have been drunk with wine. Drunkenness is a sin whereas Christ was
sinless.
When a
Christian justifies his drinking, even in moderation, through Christ’s
consumption of wine, two problems emerge to the forefront:
Problem #1: Is this Christian more in
love with alcohol than Christ?
Evidently,
those who consume alcohol love alcohol. Why would they drink alcohol, if they
do not like / love it?
Anyone who
maintains that they do not love alcohol but nevertheless consume it are either
addicted to alcohol or compelled to drink because of social or business
obligation. Bible denounces addiction. Those who detest alcohol would not drink
it or could find gazillion ways and means to evade drinking alcohol, if they so
want to.
Significantly,
a Christian is to love Christ and hence follow HIM all through his life. In
other words, because he loves the Lord Jesus, the Christian would ardently
desire to obey and follow Christ.
But a
Christian who justifies his desire to drink alcohol through Christ could be more
in love with alcohol than Christ. His desperation for alcohol alludes to this
fact. If this is true, then anyone who loves Christ less, sins against God, for
he / she violates the greatest commandment, which is to love the Lord our God
with all our life.
Importantly,
a Christian who justifies his drinking through Christ is treading dangerous
waters. Anyone who uses the Lord as a means to fulfill his / her carnal desire is
playing losing games with God, the supreme judge, who by virtue of knowing man’s heart, will judge him / her for every perverted desire (cf. Matthew 12:
36).
Problem #2: If a Christian justifies
his drinking through Christ, then would he / she do all that Christ did (i.e. the
physical activities) or are they merely looking to be preferential in their
obedience to Christ?
Bear with
me now; some of the questions that I am going to raise may appear to be as
retarded. But such is the state of justification of drinking through Christ.
For
instance, Christ did not have a place of his own (cf. Luke 9: 58), so are we
not called to own a home or to live in a particular location but keep moving
from one location to another all through our lifetime?
Christ died
[resurrected and ascended into heaven] at a fairly young age of 33, so are we
to die young?
Christ
fasted 40 days and 40 nights, so are we to fast similarly?
Christ
drove out business people from the temple, so are we to wield that authority to
weed out unholy business from the church of Jesus Christ today?
Similarly,
Christ died for the sake of our sins, so are we to die for the sake of other’s
sins?
Or are we
to remain single and advocate singleness just because Christ was not married; albeit
by contradicting the Bible that endorses a heterosexual marriage?
We cannot literally
do all that Christ did or did not do.
Christ is
God. HE came for a specific purpose, which was to die for the sake of man to
save him of his sins, so whatever HE did was towards the purpose of redemption.
Christlikeness
is not to perform the identical physical activities that Christ performed. Christlikeness
is to possess an attitude similar to that of Christ in loving, forgiving,
sacrificing our carnal desires for the sake of the kingdom etc.
Significantly,
Christlikeness is achieved by the inhabitation of the Lord Jesus in each
believer – Christ in us, the hope of
glory (cf. Colossians 1: 27). A believer who is Christlike will never
contradict Christ; rather perfectly synchronize with HIM.
Therefore,
the man who strives to justify his drinking to Christ will only find himself contradicting
with the Lord, for HE cannot do everything the Lord did or did not do. So he
would find himself in a deeper dungeon. The man who uses Christ as a means to
justify his drinking, sins against the Lord and will have only himself to blame
and not anyone else.
We are not
done yet.
Does
moderate drinking benefit us?
Some may
argue that moderate drinking does not interfere with their life or their
spirituality, and hence could be continued. Unfortunately recent scientific
discoveries seem to disprove this notion.
National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in 2004 specified that moderate
drinking leads to short term health damages [3]. If moderate drinking damages
health - be it short or long term - should it not be avoided?
A paper
published in Neuroscience in 2012
indicated the harmful effects of moderate drinking. These scientists concluded
that moderate drinking could have profound effects on the structural plasticity
of the adult brain because the number of cells produced in the brain was reduced
by 40% [4].
Another paper published
in the British Medical Journal in 2014 discovered that moderate drinking
(equivalent to less than 500 ml of beer or 2 small glasses of wine a day) is
detrimental to health [5]. These scientists concluded that the lesser our alcohol
consumption, the better would be our cardiovascular health.
Hence, we
could enjoy the best of cardiovascular health if we totally abstain from
drinking.
So whether
Christ drank or not is a moot point; utterly irrelevant to whether we should
drink or not. If we agree that our motive in life is to remain safe and secure,
then the safest bet for us then is to abstain from drinking.
Endnotes:
[1] 1 John 2: 6; Romans 8: 29; Ephesians 4: 13; 1 Corinthians 1: 11;
Philippians 2: 5, 3:10 etc.
[2] https://criswell.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/ctrgeislerformatted.pdf
[3] http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa63/aa63.htm
[4] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306452212008457
&
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/10/study-even-moderate-drinking-impairs-brain-cell-formation/264129/
[5] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2688161/Moderate-drinking-IS-bad-health-Just-
two-glasses-wine-day-cause-problems.html
&
http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20140711/a-little-alcohol-may-not-be-good-for-your-heart-after-all
