Christians and alcohol

[PierzStyx]

So, Jesus would be okay with people sitting around and getting somewhat buzzed?

I found this to be true of many Catholics over the years. In fact, Oktoberfest is this weekend at a parish near us. They are putting fliers in our mailboxes. Here are free beer tickets, - come on over and have a few.

No thanks! I simply will not drink because it is too tempting to get that buzz and talk myself into believing I'm still in control.

I think this movie sums it up in the first 40 seconds of this clip.





As General Lee stated: “Teach him he must deny himself.” [Lee to a mother who asked him to bless her son] We all owe a duty to God and Christ to be the best we can be. Anything that steals our mental, physical, or spiritual ability to do so further than we already suffer as fallen mortals, is something that should be rejected from our lives. Christ gave Himself for us. The least we could do is give of ourselves for Him.

 

[eduardo89]

So, Jesus would be okay with people sitting around and getting somewhat buzzed?

No, but Jesus certainly would be okay with people gathered in celebration (a wedding, an anniversary, a birthday, a saint day, etc) and having a few drinks. And don't say He wouldn't be okay with it, because He Himself partook in it in John 2.

I'm just shaking my head here, eduardo. It seems like a waste of precious time to learn to control oneself when drinking. Our Lord must surely have better things for us to do.

It doesn't take much to learn self control. It's the same with everything, you learn to have self control when around people of the opposite sex, you learn to have self control over your online habits (not spending too much time on forums, for example), you learn to have self control over food (not eating too much chocolate or sugar), you learn to have self control over your language (not cussing), you learn to have self control over your....

Why would enjoying a beer or glass of wine be any different? Almost everything God gives us can be used for good. A nice cold beer on a hot day or a glass of wine while chatting with friends helps us relax. Beer has health benefits for our bones, hearts, kidneys, can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's, certain cancers, diabetes, stroke, and can lower blood pressure. Wine can reduce the risk of heart attacks and heart disease, cuts down the risk of cataracts, reduces the risk of colon cancer, as well as old-age dementia, among other benefits.

So tell me, if you know how to control yourself, why wouldn't you be able to enjoy a beer or two, or a glass of wine with dinner, or a glass of scotch in the evening?

 

[William R]

As a native southerner I've always found southern Baptist to be the biggest drunks.

 

[jmdrake]

OK, if you're saying what I think you're saying, I think you're reading into it. Correct me if I'm misunderstanding you.

You seem like you're saying that as Christians, we are princes because we are God's children, and that as such, this verse is saying we should not drink.

I don't think that's the point.

The point is that a King, an actual, worldly King, needs his judgment not to be clouded. It affects a LOT of people, not just himself, if his judgment errs. By contrast, a peasant or a capital criminal has little to lose.

And so you don't think your judgement affects lots of people? Then you don't believe you have an important role to play in the world. I personally can't afford to have my judgement any more clouded than it already is. But my point wasn't about Christian versus non Christian. It was the fact that the New World Order, you know, the folks trying to control the world for their own purposes, like to see us "peasants" drunk so they can keep ripping us off. So yes, you did misunderstand what I was saying.

Edit: Plus we don't live in a "kingdom" with a single king. We live in a representative republic. All of us are supposed to be sovereigns and politicians are supposed to be the servants. So...technically only people in public office should drink. The rest of us should keep an eagle eye on them.