Pastor Al Q&A - Wine

Was the wine in biblical times different than what we have now? ...because it says in the Bible that Jesus drank wine and we aren't supposed to.

Good question. I just have a question. Where does it say in the Bible, we aren't supposed to drink wine? So, the question needs to be a little tweaked here.

Let me answer it this way. I'm not an expert on Biblical wine. Frankly, I'm not an expert on any wine. But, I have been told that, indeed, it was different than our wine. That our wine is about 3 times the alcoholic content of Biblical wine. Just through their winemaking methodology and our modern systems to do that. It's only been a hundred or so years that we've been able to make modern wine, that is with artificial cultures. It didn't used to be done that way. It was naturally fermented, and you can't get the level of alcohol in it that we do, naturally. And so, some people say that our current wine is the equivalent of "strong wine" in the Old Testament. If that's the case, then wine is prohibited in the Old Testament (strong wine, our wine) because the Bible does say not to take strong drink, that is, high alcohol content drinks. Why would God not want us to take high alcohol content drinks.

They weaken inhibitions.

They weaken inhibitions. How? What happens if you drink strong, alcoholic drinks. Drink a bottle of whisky; what'll happen to you? You'll be drunk. And what does Ephesians 5:18 say? "Do not be drunk with wine, but be…" what? Filled with the Holy Spirit. In other words, don't let alcohol influence you; be influenced by God and His Holy Spirit. That is, I want some influence in my life. I want something to take over my life and help me conduct myself in a different way than I naturally do. And I could either do that with wine or alcohol and have it influence me in a certain direction, or I can have God influence me in another direction.

And God says, don't let alcohol do that. Why not? It goes ahead and tells you why you shouldn't do that. Anybody remember what the verse says? "For that is dissipation," it says in New American Standard, anyway. What is dissipation? Anybody know what that word means? The best picture I can get of that is puking. You spill your guts, and you spread it as a foul waste. Dissipation is "coming to nothing" in a very negative term. So, get drunk; what's the outcome of that? Positive, noble things? No. What goes on at beer parties or keggers or those kinds of things? What are the consequences of that? What kind of behavior happens there? Reckless, stupid behavior, profane, immoral, stupid, ungodly. When have a bunch of drunks came together and done anything with even the effort or intentionality of glorifying God in any way? Never. It's impossible, because it leads you in the wrong direction. It leads you in the direction of destruction and foolishness and stupidity and emptiness and regret, and, for a good portion of people, bondage to alcohol.

I suspect that in this room there's at least somebody here who has had somebody in their family struggle with alcoholism. And it's a horrible thing. It is an absolutely horrible, horrible thing. What it does to people, what it does to their family, what it does to their friends, what it does to their future, what it does to everything. It's an enemy, because it's going in the wrong direction. It inflames and enhances our flesh and sin in the wrong direction so we loose all self-restraint, either become violent and ugly or stupid and immoral or worthless. It does not lead to positive outcomes.

Now, that's why God says, "Don't get drunk, and don't drink strong drink" because you don't have to drink much strong drink and you get drunk, at least partially, right? So, what should we do with regard to alcohol? What would be a wise choice? Don't drink it, too much, or… at all. What is the benefit? Now some people like wine and beer. I personally don't. But I don't like some other things too. I don't like coffee, and it's not a sin to drink coffee. And so I'm not going to make my preferences based on what I like or don't like.

But here's the challenge that's set before you. The Bible does not say it's wrong to moderately drink mild alcoholic beverages. Say if you're having a dinner, and you want to take some wine and eat with your dinner. There's no prohibition against that. But I think it's a foolish thing to do, for several reasons. The possible consequences are incredibly horrible.

Secondly, you might encourage somebody else to drink, who can't handle alcohol, and the Bible says we're not supposed to do that. We're not supposed to entice people into doing something that they can't handle.

Thirdly, alcohol in our culture is almost exclusively related to sin. When do people drink? When they want to sin. They don't drink… if I came over to your house, in this culture, you probably would not offer me alcohol, just because I'm a pastor. No matter what you think about me, whether I drink or not, you just probably wouldn't do that. In fact I have a lot of people who, I go out to the golf course. And they say, they're drinking their beer, and they say, "Oh, well, I, you don't want a beer; I know that." Why? Because they know that I'm a pastor. And they quite swearing because I'm a pastor. And they don’t offer me beer because I'm a pastor. Why? Cause they know it's sin. They know it's associated with evil. And I'm supposed to be this "shining example" of the opposite, which I am not necessarily, but in their minds I am. You see the difference? In our culture, alcohol is, even among the ungodly, is associated with ungodliness, mostly, not always, but mostly. Do you want to be associated with that kind of thing? Is that what you want to be characterized by? It never leads to the glory of God, never leads to the benefit.

Now, having said that, you have to make your own decision about it. And there are certain circumstances in which I think it's appropriate for a person, some people, to use alcohol in a very limited way. But for most of us, it's a stupid, foolish thing, not necessarily a disobedient thing to do. There's a difference between those two things. Know the difference between being disobedient and being foolish? There's a difference. One is sin, and one is being an idiot, okay? We're not gonna go to hell because we're idiots, but we will go to hell because of our sin. So why be an idiot when someone's standing there telling you, "Come on, think, use some wise thought. Don't go there. Now if you can use alcohol with very, very careful self-discipline and have the intentionality of its use leading to glorifying and honoring God, then you have permission. In what circumstance would you ever do that?

Communion.

Communion; you could in communion. Although we don’t use alcohol in our church, your church might. I don't know what church you go to, but. I'll tell you a little side-story about that. I was in a church one time that did alcohol in communion. And one of the guys was making the wine for this, and he was a big connoisseur of making wines, and he thought it was essential that we use wine in the communion because that's what they did in the Bible. And so one day we came to communion, and he had made apple wine, and it was green. Now let me ask you, do you think it's more important that we use wine or that we use something red? Cause what does it stand for?

Blood.

Which do you think is more important? I looked at this green wine and I thought, "You got this thing completely upside down." You know, what are we doing this for? Anyway, that has nothing to do with this. That's one place you could use it.

I had a friend that used it wisely, and he's a very, very unique person. I'm not recommending this to you. In fact, I want to go on record as saying, I'm recommending you never drink at all, ever, under any circumstances. You are loosing nothing, and gaining your life. You lose nothing. Costs you a lot of money. It's not good for you. Could lead you possibly in wrong directions. Stay away from it; it's not worth the risks. That's my recommendation. Don't drink. Well, I had one friend who grew up in a drinking family, had been around alcohol all his life, became a Christian, never drank, except, he had a neighbor that liked to sit and watch a football game. He went over and drank a beer with him, one beer, watching a game, a led him to Christ, because he connected with him that way. He did it intentionally, with a certain mentality. I’m gonna honor God by connecting with a person in an act that's not sinful, but can relate to him for the very purpose of leading him to Christ. And he did!

But, we're not gonna do that. Nobody in this room probably is going to do that. So don't use that as an excuse, okay? You kind of see what I'm saying about that? It's not sin to drink. It's stupid to drink. That's my philosophy. So, don't do it. Why do that? It is sin to drink to the point that it influences your life. That is forbidden in Scripture, because you're to be influenced by the Holy Spirit and alcohol leads you down the wrong path. Following the Holy Spirit leads you down the right path, okay? Fair enough? Okay. Some people may listen to that tape and be very frustrated with me.