On the Consumption of Alcohol

I have attended quite a few different churches in my life, and almost all of them have been dead-set against the consumption of alcoholic beverages. (Interestingly, some of them get far more upset over drinking a beer than they do things like adultery and fornication, but that is a subject for another time.)

With that in mind, when I was reading Proverbs this morning I came across something interesting: a passage that actually recommended drinking! I will admit it is only recommended in a specific circumstance, but even so, it is intriguing.

First, the passage forbids drinking for a certain group of people: those charged with laying down legal sentences and passing laws.

Proverbs 31:4: “It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:
5 Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.”

That makes a great deal of sense. The last thing you want are drunk judges, drunk police officers, or drunk legislators.

However, the passage then goes on and says this:

Proverbs 31:6: “Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.
7 Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.”

Do you see that? The Bible – yes, the Bible! – recommends giving “strong drink” to people who are depressed and utterly miserable. Why? So that he can get drunk and “remember his misery no more”. I have never, ever heard a church propose this, but it’s right there in the Bible. People take Proverbs 3:5-6 seriously; they ought to take Proverbs 31:6 seriously as well.

For what it is worth, Jesus did consume alcoholic beverages. He was not opposed to drinking wine – yes, real, actual alcoholic wine. We know this because He said this:

Matthew 11:16: “But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,
17 And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.
19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.”

Here Jesus is contrasting Himself with John the Baptist. John, he says, did not drink, and the Pharisees called him demon-possessed. Jesus, on the other hand, did drink, and the Pharisees called him a drunkard. You really can’t escape the implication that John abstained from alcohol, and Jesus did not abstain. After all, the passage does not say “John came neither eating nor drinking, and I have done exactly the same thing that John did”. Jesus is contrasting Himself with John.

The point Jesus was making was that John abstained from alcohol, and the Pharisees condemned him for it. Jesus did not abstain, and the Pharisees condemned Him as well. The Pharisees were impossible to please.

Is it a sin to abstain from alcohol? Nope. John the Baptist abstained, and that was fine – which was part of the point that Jesus made. Is it a sin to not abstain? Nope. Jesus drank, and that was fine.

Does the Bible have a lot of warnings against getting drunk? Absolutely. Does it have a lot of cautions about being careful around strong drink? You bet it does. But this whole “drinking is an evil evil sin, and is ten times worse than adultery” is nonsense. Somehow the church has gotten to the point where it has no problem with real sins, but really cracks down on what the Bible would call “the traditions of men”. It’s time to wake up and get real.