I am a Southern Baptist born and raised. I've been in church all my life, done VBS, sang in the choir, the whole nine yards. We are notorious for all of the things we aren't allowed to do: no drinking, no dancing, no premarital sex, no spicy foods on Mondays (okay, not that one). But when asked questions about WHY I'm not "allowed" to do those things, I would simply reply, "because the Bible says so." I hadn't actually done the research myself. Our pastor has really been encouraging us to get into the Word and see what Father has to say about living true, Christian lives. I've been reading through Romans the past couple of weeks, and the answer to the question, "Is drinking a sin?" came up. Here are the Bible's thoughts (and a little commentary from me.)
Is drinking a sin? No.
How do I know? Jesus drank wine (Matthew 5:27 - 31), and obviously He never sinned otherwise the universe itself would crumble.
Will Jesus drink wine again? Yes (Matthew 26:29)
Wasn't Jesus's first miracle turning water into wine? Yes (John 2: 1-12)
Does that mean I can drink, too?! Depends.
On what? How the Holy Spirit convicts you.
While the Bible doesn't say "don't drink" (sorry Southern Baptist Convention), it does say many other things about drinking...namely, don't be a drunkard. In Titus, both men and women are told they "must not be a heavy drinker," (vs. 1:7 and 2:3). I can already hear the thoughts, I can drink just a couple and not be drunk. Awesome! Here's my question to you. Are you really so aware of your body that you can tell the precise moment BEFORE you get drunk? I know I can't. In an effort for full disclosure and transparency, I can honestly say that there have been times when I thought I was fine, but was definitely...tipsy. And I was NOT glorifying God in those times. Don't read into it that I was dirty dancing with a Swiffer broom and had a lampshade on my head because that's not even close to the case. However, I did not have clarity and full control of my mind, emotions, or tongue.
Romans 14:23 says, "If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning." The Spirit convicts us of our sins. This is one way to prove our God is alive. He is a personal, individual God who deals with each person on his or her sins. If you have any doubts about whether or not to drink, don't. Listen to the Spirit working in you.
The Bible also says, in Romans 14: 21, "It is better not to...drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble." As Christians, we are called to be little Christs. We are told in 1 Corinthians 10:31, "whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." Maybe it's just me, but I can't see a time when drinking would glorify God. The Lord's Supper may be an exception. (1 Corinthians 11:23-30)
I'm sure in my quest for Biblical truths and answers, I'll come across more verses and stories that support my answer, and when I do, I'll come back and modify this post. But until then, here is my answer to the question of whether or not it's okay to drink: When we stop trying to get away with as much as we can, and start living lives fully surrendered to Father, we won't have the desire to drink alcohol.
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