Seven Reasons Not to Drink Alcohol

Photo courtesy of desmoinesregister.com

MARCH 22, 2023   |   MICHAEL A. COX

Introduction

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.

Proverbs 20:1

The Bible and common sense each speak loudly against the use of debilitating substances. Alcohol is a drug to which we have unwisely grown accustomed and accepted, in part because it was legalized years ago; however, it is a terribly lethal substance.

In a nation whose people boast of being so educated and culturally advanced, somehow, we have missed one very simple teaching from the word of God: “wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler.” The writer of Proverbs chose strong words to address this sinful, self-destructive, and socially noxious problem. The language personifies wine and strong drink as beings acting to destroy the dignity and lofty calling of those created to praise and honor God. Under the influence of these deadly substances, people are routinely turned into mockers who malign and make light of things good and true, often scoffing at God himself. The second personality, strong drink, is depicted as a raging brawler: violent, loud, and uncontrolled. Inhibitions often leave those who ingest alcohol and other drugs. They frequently lose control of themselves, crossing the boundary of civility, leaving heartache and destruction in their wake. Consider this depressing article entitled, “Alcohol Abuse of Mother Linked to Mental Retardation in Newborn.”[1] In this article, I intend to identify and unpack, in brief, seven reasons not to drink alcohol. All Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible.

1. Alcohol and Other Drugs Rob People of Their Dignity

20 Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard. 21 And he drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.

Genesis 9:20-22

Noah is a man who had experienced great miracles. God had saved him and his family from the Flood, had brought wild animals to him, and more. But Noah also experienced great embarrassment when he abused the fruit of the vine, when he became drunk, and when he undressed in the presence of his children (Gen. 9:20-22).

Lot, too, had experienced the miraculous rescue of God. But in this passage of Scripture there is nothing dignified about Lot’s behavior, which degenerated into drunkenness and incest – twice (Gen. 19:30-38).

There is nothing dignified about any of the results of alcohol or drug use. Although welcome at fine dinners and festive occasions, there is nothing welcome about these deadly companions known as alcohol and drugs. They are mockers opposed to all that is good, so much so that drunkards were executed in the Old Testament (Deut. 21:20-21). There certainly is nothing dignified about being executed. Indeed, it is ignoble and humiliating to forfeit your life over a destructive substance.

2. Alcohol and Other Drugs Generate Disrespect, Destruction, and Deceit (Prov. 20:1)

Alcohol and other drugs are disrespectful. They are scorners and mockers. They respect nothing and nobody.

Alcohol and other drugs are destructive. Raging is the character of alcohol. Know that you are in the company of an uncontrollable companion when alcohol is used. Yet, alcohol is frequently depicted as the reward for a day of hard work, when in reality it often ends up destroying the life that was established by hard work and sacrifice. These substances lack feet, hands, and minds, thus require a host to act out their character. “Under the influence” is an appropriate phrase, since substances take over one’s personality and express themselves through their host.

Alcohol and other drugs are deceitful. This suggests moral straying. Rather than helping improve the situation, they prevent improvement and worsen it as expressed in these contrasts: “We drank for happiness, yet became unhappy, We drank for joy, yet became miserable, We drank for sociability, yet became argumentative, We drank for sophistication, yet became obnoxious, We drank for friendship, yet made enemies, We drank for sleep, yet woke up tired, We drank for strength, yet became weak, We drank for relaxation, yet got the shakes, We drank for courage, yet became afraid, We drank for confidence, yet became doubtful, We drank to make conversation, yet our speech became slurred, We drank to feel heavenly, yet ended up feeling like h&%@, We drank to forget, yet became forever haunted, We drank for freedom, yet became slaves, We drank to erase problems, yet saw them multiply, We drank to cope with life, yet invited death.”[2]

3. Alcohol and Other Drugs Rob Users of Their Judgment (Hos. 7:5-6; Jer. 25:15-16)

5 On the day of our king, the princes became sick with the heat of wine; He stretched out his hand with scoffers, 6 For their hearts are like an oven As they approach their plotting; Their anger smolders all night, In the morning it burns like a flaming fire.

Hosea 7:5-6

Hosea 7:5-6 depicts leaders who were inflamed with wine instead of honoring their king. Their judgment was impaired. Why? Drugs and alcohol are chemicals that trigger all sorts of changes in the body and brain.

15 For thus the LORD, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it. 16 And they shall drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.”

Jeremiah 25:15-16

In Jer. 25:15-16, drinking alcoholic beverages is even associated with staggering and going mad. Some of these chemical changes might make one feel good – for a while. But the changes soon run out or run on too long. The feelings they cause are artificial and temporary. They do not leave one feeling happy after the effects wear off. In fact, they can even make the body and brain forget how to feel good without more drugs or more alcohol. Instead of making plans and dreams of happiness come true, drinking and drugging make people forget how to be happy, enslaving them to more drinking and drugging. Also, studies show that most people who are raped or sexually assaulted know the person who attacks them[3] and about 75 percent of rapists and at least 55 percent of their victims were drinking alcohol or using other drugs before the rape[4] and many gang rapes involved alcohol.[5] Yet, according to the law, someone under the influence of alcohol or another drug is considered unable to give informed consent to sexual activity, so, having sex with such a one is considered rape.[6] Thus, being under the influence of drugs or alcohol is neither an excuse nor a legal means of defense for one’s actions.[7] Note also that the drinkers joined hands with mockers.

Most people try drugs or alcohol because someone they know uses drugs or alcohol[8]: dad, mom, friend? There is a word for people who do things out of fear of what others might think. Some call it peer pressure but most call it stupidity. If you leave your decisions up to your friends, you are not being fair to yourself. Christians should always be in control of their minds and actions (1 Thess. 5:6; 1 Pet. 1:13; 4:7; 5:8).

4. The Bible Presents Total Abstinence from Alcohol as the Ideal

Total abstinence is extolled with the Nazarites (Num. 6:1-4), Daniel (Dan. 1:8), and John the Baptist (Luke 1:13-15). The Bible recognizes the dangers of alcohol, as we have stated above. It warns that its use promotes mockery (Prov. 20:1), it warns about hanging around drinkers (Prov. 23:19-20), it warns that its use brings woe (Prov. 23:29-33), it says that alcohol brings poverty (Prov. 23:21), it disallows reveling, which alcohol incites (Rom. 13:13), and its abuse can be categorized as a work of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21).

5. Alcohol and Drug Use Lead to Intoxication and Addiction

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.

Ephesians 5:18

2 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, uncontentious, free from the love of money.

1 Timothy 3:2-3

The Bible warns not to get drunk (Eph. 5:18) and not to become addicted (1 Tim. 3:3). Alcohol cannot be consumed simply on a casual basis, because it is addictive by nature. So, the best way of not getting drunk or addicted to something that is addictive is to totally abstain from it.

No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.

1 Timothy 5:23

But what about wine as a medicine and water purifier (1 Tim. 5:23)? Up until the twentieth century alcohol was considered one of the number one “cure-alls” in the country, if not the world. It was the “magic” ingredient in any number of medicines and potions. Today, alcohol is considered neither a cure nor a treatment for much of anything except a hangover, and not an effective treatment or cure at that.[9] Alcohol is a “downer” drug and a poison to the body, which many partying spring break students discover when they experience “blood in their alcohol system.” Overload like this can cause serious sickness or even death, since it produces side effects that are plainly lethal to one’s health.[10] As a sedative, alcohol renders a poor quality of sleep, even disturbing normal sleep patterns, and there is EEG proof of this.[11] You might also be interested to know that 50 percent of all hospital Emergency Room admissions are related to alcohol.[12] Thus, alcohol is not used much as a medicine anymore. In another era, before the time of distilled spirits with their much higher alcohol content (up to eight times as much as wine), Jesus could turn water into wine at a wedding (John 2:1-11) and Paul could advise Timothy to use that wine medicinally because it was used as a curative for wounds (Luke 10:34), as a laxative (1 Tim. 5:23), and as an aid in digestion (1 Tim. 5:23). Further, the issue in this section of my article is not whether fermented wine was used but the amount of the alcohol content produced by the wine-making techniques. Once sanctioned as an anesthetic or medicine for those about to die (Prov. 31:6-7), we now know of far better anesthetics than whiskey, wine, or beer. Wine consumed in New Testament times averaged three to four parts water to one part wine,[13] and the alcohol content of the wine was about 1/8 of what it is today. People often did not have good water available, like going to a foreign country with little to no potable water accessible. Wine from biblical times was basically a form of water purification, not an unsafe liquor.[14] New Testament scholar Robert Stein notes that someone living in the first century A.D. would have to have drunk twenty-two glasses of wine in order to consume the same amount of alcohol in two martinis today.[15] Alcohol is treated in the Bible somewhat like slavery and polygamy, which, though not universally condemned, are indeed undermined and ultimately doomed by the high moral principles set forth in Scripture as expounded next in this article. While total abstinence from wine, with its relatively low alcohol content, was not demanded in biblical times, both general biblical principles and specific Bible teachings prompt Christians today to abstain from this lethal drug.

6. Alcohol and Other Drugs Damage the Body, Which Is the Temple of God (Prov. 23:29-35; Rom. 12:1-2; 1 Cor. 6:19-20)

29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause?Who has redness of eyes? 30 Those who linger over wine, Those who go to taste mixed wine. 31 Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it goes down smoothly; 32 At the last it bites like a serpent, And stings like a viper. 33 Your eyes will see strange things, And your mind will utter perverse things. 34 And you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea, Or like one who lies down on the top of a mast. 35 They struck me, but I did not become ill; They beat me, but I did not know it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink.

Proverbs 23:29-35

1 I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:1-2

Why was Paul urging believers to present their bodies as holy, living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1-2)? Had they not done so at conversion? Had they done so but reneged somewhat? Was Paul summoning them to a deeper commitment? And what about us? Was this not included in our so-called conversion experience? Have some of us reneged? Is God summoning us to a deeper commitment? Presenting our body as a living, holy sacrifice is something we should do at least daily, if not more frequently! No lowering of God’s standards is tolerated, because reduced standards produce no holiness and if thankfulness to God for his mercies does not prompt sacrifice, nothing will.[16] New Testament professor J. W. MacGorman stated it well when he said, The greatest sacrifice one can offer to God is “oneself.”[17]

Moreover, all people are commanded to present their bodies as a living sacrifice. “Bodies” means that the total, material self is charged with executing the wishes of our volition. My will doesn’t act or even speak. My body does. But my will is my body’s puppeteer. This verse explains that God is unquestionably interested in what is done with our body! As William Barclay put it, “Christians believe that their bodies belong to God just as much as their souls.”[18] Surrendering the body to the Lord involves not doing what is harmful to it. Surrendering the body to the Lord involves using the body as a servant devoted exclusively to God. The only dead sacrifices God wants are those who are dead to the world, the flesh, and the devil! Too, Paul does not simply say to give a sacrifice, but to be a sacrifice, a holy one, which means truly holy, not merely ritually holy, but set apart exclusively and distinctively for God. Indeed, “acceptable to God” is a lofty standard! Partial sacrifice was unthinkable to a Jew but seems to be acceptable to many Christians.

But the greatest threat to self-sacrifice is pressure to conform to the world. Conformed means shaped, molded, or modeled after, suggesting the “gradual process by which our alertness to evil is disarmed.”[19] Unlike Samson, do not let the world, the pretty girls, the handsome boys, or the alcohol give you a haircut! Too often, Christians masquerade around in the attire and habits of the world. The world, the flesh, and the devil want to control our minds, but God wants to transform them! One obvious characteristic of believers in Jesus Christ is the unwillingness to be conformed to the world’s mannerisms, expressions, gestures, immodest styles, habits, religious practices, music, morals, or anything else which compromises Christianity or our witness thereto. Paul urged readers to resist the world’s efforts to squeeze them into its mold, because he knew that being conformed to this world results in an unfit mind (Rom. 1:28).

Further, the Bible does not say “transform yourself.” Our role is to repent of sin and believe in Jesus Christ. God’s role is to transform us by the regeneration and indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Being transformed [an imperative] is the opposite of being conformed! The word is metamorphow [metamorphosis]! Transformation of the mind is an ongoing process which lasts a lifetime [get used to it!].

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Our minds must also be renewed because genuine worship necessarily involves the mind. God never invokes mindless worship! Christianity necessitates use of one’s rational powers in continually recollecting and reaffirming our original commitment to Christ. Alcohol and drugs severely impair this. Transformation and renewal of mind are most clearly demonstrated in one’s spiritual and moral life as expressions of holiness, and holiness is the greatest proof of grace having been received. Thus, doing the will of God necessarily means “moral direction”[20] [good, acceptable]. Germane here also is the fact that 1 Cor. 6:19-20 clearly teach that the body of each Christian is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

7. Use of Alcohol and Other Drugs Can Be a Stumbling Block to Others (Rom. 14:13, 21; 1 Cor. 8:9)

Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this – not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way.

Romans 14:13

Scripture teaches that we must determine not to put an obstacle or stumbling block in a brother or sister’s way (Rom. 14:13). “Obstacle” means an occasion of sinning or a means of inducing to sin. “Stumbling block” means impediment, cause of ruin, misery, scandal, or offense. We must be careful never to influence a weaker brother or sister to violate his or her conscience. The fact that we are responsible to God makes us somewhat responsible for others (Gen 4:9). Stumbling blocks are relatively easy to identify. Simply watch where many are tripping: music, dress, alcohol, drugs, changes to our bodies which reflect popular culture [current fads], and so forth. We are told not to be or create a stumbling block.

It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles.

Romans 14:21

But take care lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.

1 Corinthians 8:9

The Bible also says that it is good not to drink wine (Rom. 14:21). Some were obviously abstaining from wine. But in ancient times, drinking wine was not considered wrong, partly because, as stated above, the alcohol content of wine in biblical times was @1/8 of today’s wine. Wine was diluted by adding one part wine to three or four parts water, so New Testament wine was basically a form of water purification, not unsafe liquor or beer as it is today. But Paul’s meaning here is clear enough. It is good not to do anything which causes another Christian to stumble, because life is not lived in a vacuum (1 Cor. 8:9). Therefore, we must take care that our liberties do not cause others to stumble into sin. We must cautiously use our freedom of conscience regarding matters which we have no conviction against, remembering that we do not live life in a vacuum. We are not alone in this world. We must give great consideration to the spiritual and cognitive welfare of those watching our actions and listening to our words, including dirty jokes, cussing, alcohol use, and use of drugs. Our liberties are neither free nor a license.

Conclusion

If removing one item from your diet which would cause cancer guarantees the arrest, avoidance, and prevention of cancer, why would we not do it to protect this temple of the Holy Spirit? Likewise, removing one item – alcohol – from your diet will guarantee the arrest, avoidance, and prevention of alcoholism. And the same can be said of drugs.

Drinking and drugging, then, are physical, social, economic, moral, and sinful issues. The final instruction in Solomon’s warning in Proverbs 20 could not be clearer: those who use wine and other strong drink are deceived and are not wise.

We are always in danger of being deceived by those things which promise freedom, deliverance, a better life, peace, and prosperity. Without a doubt, this is the hope of many who engage in the use of alcohol and other drugs; yet they are unwise. And in seeking to become wise through improper means, they instead become fools, according to Romans 1, and deceived into thinking they could find a better way than that which God has already provided. God wants mankind to have peace without going to pieces, and to eat and drink with joy, not jeopardy.[21]

To those who struggle, to those ensnared, to those who wrestle with temptation, there is hope in Christ. Let us make certain that we present ourselves to Jesus Christ as living sacrifices once for all time and strive, then, to live unspotted and pure to the glory of God, which includes not drinking alcohol as a beverage.

---

[1]Reed Karaim, “Alcohol Abuse of Mother Linked to Mental Retardation in Newborn,” Tulsa Daily World, 12 December 1990.

[2]Johnny Hunt, Unspoken: What Men Won’t Talk About and Why (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2018): 81-2.

[3]Sexual Assault and Substance Abuse (Oklahoma City, OK: Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, n.d.).

[4]Ibid.

[5]Ibid.

[6]Ibid.

[7]Ibid.

[8]Christina Dye, Saying ‘No’ (Tempe, AZ: d’n Publications, 1990).

[9]Christina Dye, Drugs & Alcohol (Phoenix, AZ: d’n Publications, 1988).

[10]Nathan R. Williams, M.D., interview by author, Lynchburg, Virginia, 17 March 2006.

[11]Ibid.

[12]Ibid.

[13]Norman Geisler, “A Christian Perspective on Wine-Drinking” in Bibliotheca Sacra 139 (January – March 1982): 50.

[14]Ibid.

[15]Hunt 78.

[16]John William MacGorman, Romans, in Layman’s Bible Book Commentary, vol. 20, Romans-1 Corinthians (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1980): 83.

[17]Ibid., 82.

[18]William Barclay, The Letter to the Romans, in The New Daily Study Bible (Edinburgh, Scotland: Saint Andrew Press, 1955; reprint, Louisville, KY: Westminister John Knox Press, 2002): 184.

[19]Gerald R. Cragg, and John Knox, The Epistle to the Romans, in The Interpreter’s Bible, ed. George Arthur Buttrick, vol. 9, The Acts of the Apostles, Romans (Nashville, TN: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1954): 582.

[20]Douglas J. Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, in The New International Commentary on the New Testament, ed. Gordon D. Fee (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1996): 757.

[21]Hunt 78.