To drink or not to drink?
I can never outdo the prose of Shakespeare, but to steal a line, here goes: 鈥淭o drink or not to drink, that is the question.鈥� I鈥檓 not referring to milk, orange juice, flavored water, or chicken broth, but instead the proverbial consumption of alcohol in its various forms.
Let蘑菇视频 peek at how drinking alcohol may be played out in society. Can anyone deny the ubiquitous cry of the vendor shouting out, 鈥淧eanuts and beer! Get yer peanuts and beer!鈥� at all manner of sporting events. Sports and concerts have tailgate parties with beer. Most social gatherings and celebrations such as picnics, weddings, graduations, and adult birthdays feature liquor. Most sit-down restaurants provide that as a menu option. Alcohol availability permeates almost every culture.
Dates, dinners or what is called nightcaps indulge that taste also. While many keep their alcohol drinking in the realm of sanity, others cross into misuse and abuse, some into addiction. Many a price has been paid in associated health costs, drunken driving accidents, family discord, spouse abuse, destroyed body organs, missed work, low performance issues, and the costs to employers, insurance companies and humanity through subsequent criminal penalties.
What does Scripture acknowledge in context about alcohol drinking? In Gen 9:20-25 we find Noah got drunk and it led to a curse and bitterness against some of his descendants. We should never let ourselves in a compromising position, especially because of indulgences. Gen 19:30-38 informs of the sordid story of incest because a man got drunk a few times through the persuasion of others. The Book of Esther shows how King Xerxes in his drunken state makes two rash decisions that he later regrets, proving that our judgments are compromised when our senses also are.
In Daniel 5 at Belshazzar蘑菇视频 drunken party, his life, power, and riches are brought to ruin because in his drunken choices, he violates what is sacred to God, and God punishes him for it. King Herod in Matt 14:6 has John the Baptist beheaded due to a promise he made over a sensual dance proliferated by his drunkenness. A pattern of compromised coherence and competency is illuminated in these events.
There are some supportive Scriptures for alcohol intake. Jesus drank wine at the wedding in Canaan and miraculously created more (John 2:11). Ecc 9:7 says to drink wine with a merry heart, and Psalm 104:15A says that wine was given to gladden the heart of man, and Paul recommended that Timothy take some wine for what ails his stomach in I Tim 5:23.
Now before anyone goes off the rails about this, I Tim 3:3 says that we should not be given to drunkenness. Eph 5:18 supports this admonition with, 鈥渄o not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit. Prov 20:1 orders that the king should not take any strong drink, while Prov 20:1 declares that beer is a brawler and wine a mocker.
This leads us to Galatians 5:23, which instructs us to be self-controlled, and Gal 5:21 warning against drunkenness. There is no blatant clear-cut prohibition against consuming alcohol in and of itself, but there certainly is about drunkenness. Can anyone deny the negative results in the previous examples or in anyone蘑菇视频 country? There is strong language against not being in control of yourself and having your wits about you.
Be self-controlled. Someone getting boozy or drunk flies in the face of self-control, moderation and being sober-minded, which inhibitions being lowered does not afford. And having to have a drink to settle yourself, escape, build courage, or otherwise, may place yourself into a position of relying on that instead of relying in Godly faith.
It doesn鈥檛 just seem prudent but advisable to abstain and avoid tempting misuses and abuses that would subject you to embarrassment, ridicule, and shame, because of lowered inhibitions leading to poor decisions, subsequently, (lifelong) regret. In context, we see Scripture recognizing limited alcohol intake, but forbidding for good reasons, drinking oneself past clear-headedness.
Once you concede your good judgment and pass up physical and intellectual capacity, you鈥檝e crossed the line that endangers character, reputation, good will, and perhaps put off spiritual growth. The choice is yours.