If a man walking after wind and falsehood had told lies and said, ‘I will speak out to you concerning wine and liquor,’ He would be spokesman to this people. Micah 2:11
The NLT paraphrases this verse accurately: Suppose a prophet full of lies would say to you, “I’ll preach to you the joys of wine and alcohol!” That’s just the kind of prophet you would like!
When a study shows that fewer Americans are drinking alcohol, how does the evangelical website Not the Bee respond? Did they say,
“Praise the Lord that fewer people will be ‘confused by wine’ as Isaiah 28:7 warns.”
“We are glad that Americans are no longer ‘looking on wine when it is red’ since Solomon told us this 3,000 years ago in Proverbs 23:31.”
“We have long prayed that there would be no ‘spot or wrinkle or any such thing’ in the church, so it pleases us to see the only possible path toward the dreadful sin of drunkenness which can bar a man from Heaven, yes, even that single, deadly road is now slightly constricting.”
No, the editor of this website thought it would be better to put a cool, manly picture at the top of an actor drinking. The article includes,
The health nuts are killing alcohol, it would appear. Prohibition couldn’t do it, moralism couldn’t do it, but YouTube health “experts” are finally destroying the alcohol industry.
And sadly the final sentence seems to take comfort in the fact that those who do drink alcohol are drinking more of it.
But don’t worry, alcohol manufacturers, some who DO still drink are making up for lost customers.
The sentence before we are told that self-denial is a fruit of the Spirit, Paul warns that drunkenness or carousing will send a man to Hell. Carousing is partying with alcohol. In Romans, Galatians, and 1 Peter it is condemned. Is Hell such a small thing to fear that we can write posts about the only possible path toward this particular soul-damning sin, and not even mention it?
A popular and often insightful author writes, “So Scripture [Psalm 104:15] approves of the ability of wine to alter our mood. We should not think, then, that we must stop drinking before the wine affects our moods; that is its natural and good function.” (John Frame, Doctrine of the Christian Life, page 740)
Doug Wilson famously promotes alcohol even in children’s books. In a children’s book on logic The Amazing Doctor Ransom, pages 187-189, Wilson writes a humorous story where his character finally chooses hard liquor. There are so many examples like this that Pastor Wilson wants to be known as a promoter of alcohol, which he is. He titled one of his books after an alcoholic drink having his son write the foreword and including as the first line of the book a statement about the goodness of drinking alcohol.
Even if the position is correct, ought it to be promoted? Dichotomy is a correct theological position, but it would not be good judgment to speak much of it. Should we be known for our positions on cremation, the authorship of Chronicles, whether Paul had a wife, or our firmness in promoting seatbelts? Assuming that it weren’t a sin to drink, is it good judgment to promote alcohol?
Banner of Truth publishes Whitefield, Nettleton, and Spurgeon rebuking alcohol. Why do today’s writers feel it so important to promote it? It is not difficult to find reasons why many would oppose it. Could it be that a promising church member fell first to social drinking, then to drunkenness, then to leading other members to drink, then to fornication, and now has left the church? I hate alcohol because 2 men in their 20’s fell first to drunkenness and then left Christ entirely. Is there not a cause? These are true stories. Are they of no account so that we should shrug our shoulders, or even laugh as we pass more drink?
If you have found Scripture to be clear about the danger of sin, the horror of Hell, the evil of drunkenness, and the misery that drink has brought to little ones, wives, and families, then guard yourself from the moderns and worldlings who would by constant defense of alcohol take away one brick at a time from the wall that is built up against this sin. Has the church not already become much more tolerant in her pursuit of entertainment regarding filthy words, taking the Lord’s Name in vain, nudity, and fornication ? Has this sinful, sleepy tolerance had no impact on our views of alcohol? Paul told the Roman Christians to wake up! But certainly we aren’t pulled toward slowly accepting worldly pleasures. Are we blind to what kind of flesh still lives in us?
We need help hating the sin of drunkenness. We do not need guides to keep us from missing out on fun.
