http://www.dankimball.com/vintage_faith/2007/07/would-jesus-be-.html
Good, well-written article. So what do YOU think? Feel free to leave comments.... But don't unreasonably slam anyone.
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GLAZE & FLAVOUR
1 comment:
Apparently I am the only one who loves you enough to leave comments. Hahaha.. :) Anyway, there was one comment in the article with pork (replacing alcohol)!!!
This:
I’m a 28 year old who currently lives in a remote village in West Africa as a missionary through the Southern Baptist Convention. Before that, I was a high school pastor for six years in the States. As I read the blog and the subsequent comments I was taken back to my time with high school students. This question was always on their lips, “But is it wrong if I don’t get drunk?” They also had their logic lined up with: “Well if it’s bad for the body, then I guess I shouldn’t eat McDonalds either, right?” I would like to offer the thoughts I gave to high school students to this larger and older audience.
First of all, the first problem is that we approach this issue as Americans (we can’t really help that, we just do). So naturally, we are born with this sense of entitlement and freedom. The minute someone tells us we can’t do something or we aren’t free to do something, our blood pressure sky rockets and we lash out, “It’s my right to do whatever I want!” For someone to tell me drinking is wrong is the ultimate crime. Now while we can’t help the fact that we think like Americans, I just wanted to point out that we begin our journey towards deciding “Is it okay for me to drink or not?” with a somewhat skewed first step.
Secondly, and more importantly, we’re asking the wrong question. We say, “How much can I drink before it becomes a sin?” Do we do this with any other sin? It seems the Pharisees knew how to keep the rules. They thought they were in the clear because they didn’t literally kill anyone, yet Jesus comes along and says, “Look, you missed the point, it’s deeper than that, if you hate your brother, it’s just as bad as stabbing him!” With Jesus, it was always a heart issue so asking,“How much of something can I do before it becomes sinful?” doesn’t seem to add up. What if instead of worrying about our own individual freedoms and about how close we can dance on the edge of sin, we asked ourselves, “How does God receive the most glory?”
Finally I believe we are missing the main point altogether. When I got a tattoo, there were several voices which, backed up with Scripture, told me my decision was not only wrong, but sinful. I graciously looked at Scripture with those people and we saw what the point of that passage (in Leviticus) was teaching. God was laying down several rules and one is about tattoos. However, if you look at why he was saying that about tattoos (and cut hair for that matter) it was to mark out his people. The pagan cultures all around the Israelites were doing several things including marking or tattooing the body. God is saying, “Look, you’re different, you’re not like them, I don’t want anyone to be confused that you are MY people.”
I feel this is very relevant in our conversation about alcohol. Like it or not, drinking (not just getting drunk) in many places in the United States is seen as something godless people do. C.S. Lewis lived in a different culture and if having a brew every once in awhile is that important to you, perhaps relocating to London is a valid option. However, if you stay in America, I believe we, as Christians, should look different from the world. With so many lines being blurred, why not lay down our “rights” to drink and blow the world’s mind! It’s not a sin issue, it’s a being set apart issue. So when someone says “Hey, why aren’t you drinking” you don’t have to say, “Because drinking is evil and all those who drink will go to hell!” Instead you can say, “Because I love God so much and I want to do this and lots of other things like loving those who hate me and giving to those in need to show the world that I am a Christ follower.”
I live in a village that is 100% Muslim. While I have no problem frying up some bacon for breakfast, in fact, I love bacon and I’m pretty sure it’s not sinful to eat bacon, I know that if one of my friends came over and saw me eating pork, our relationship would be finished as well as any chance I had of sharing the gospel of Christ with him. So I willingly lay down my right to eat bacon. What if we loved those around us enough to lay down our glass of wine or our beer? Not because we’re saying it’s sinful to have a drink, but because we’re saying we love Christ and we love the lost enough to give up everything, even bacon or a beer, to tell them about how Christ has changed our lives!
Posted by: Mark Phillips | August 05, 2007 at 12:04 PM
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