Sipping Saints

I talked to a teacher some time ago who also happens to be a pastor's wife. She reported the rampant amount of social drinking among her colleagues. She reported if they had informal meetings outside the school campus, someone brought wine and the rest of the teachers drank.

I know of deacons, small group teachers, business owners who profess Christ, and even some pastors who socially drink. It appears sophisticated but is rather juvenile.

I know somebody is going to real quick point out the Bible never forbids drinking. That is true. It does forbid drunkenness. The Bible also warns us against doing anything that might cause someone to stumble. If a young Christian or one of our students saw me having a beer with my meal, it would cause them to stumble. What about children who watch parents socially drink. You better believe they are going to want to try it. Probably before they are of age.

While alcohol is pointed as a sophisticated to share social experiences, to celebrate life or to relax let's be honest. Let's look at the other side. Some people cannot handle their liquor. Sipping saints can easily turn into backslidden back pew sitters. It can lead to addiction. Sipping alcohol can lead into guzzling gallons of the devil's brew. Sipping saints can go further than they ever intended. Every year someone gets behind the wheel a little tips or totally drunk. Many are injured and killed because someone got behind the wheel under the influence. Families are destroyed.

Satan is a liar. He makes social drinking acceptable even among Christians. I know of one leader who socially drank among other church members. It became widely accepted in that circle. Only everyone in that group did not drink in moderation. Some drank to excess. The leader felt no moral obligation to abstain to set an example for the weaker brothers and sisters. By his example he led many down a destructive path.

I may be in the minority. I grew up in a home where I saw first hand the devastating effects of alcohol on both sides of my family. I had alcoholic grandparents. I had an alcoholic father, uncles and aunts. I even saw and still see the devastating impact alcohol has had and still has on my brother who can't shake it. He has been in and out prison and jail. Alcohol resulted in my father getting murdered with a shot gun. I knew a guy in my neighborhood who was burned alive in a drunk driving accident.

Sipping saints flirt with a dangerous demonic deceptive force in alcohol. Like a fish who continues nibbling at the bait on a hook but gets away with it, sooner or later he will get caught. Sip on the devil's brew long enough and you too can get hooked.

The hardest thing I've ever drank has been Niquil. Puts me out like a light. My hard drink is sour pickle juice.  I saw what alcohol did to my family and I hated it as a child. I've hated it ever since. When my friends went to get alcohol on a Friday or Saturday nights as teens, I got a Coke and Snickers.

Any Christian with a beer in their hand trying to talk to someone else about Jesus would probably have a hard time. The other person probably would not hear over what they see. We are told in Thessalonians to avoid every appearance of evil. Bellied up to the bar guzzling fire water does not appear holy.

I recall one evening Brenda and I going out to eat, a long time ago. We ran into a couple from our church. They both had alcohol for their drinks. They seemed uncomfortable when we walked up. Nervous. Why? If there was nothing wrong with what they were doing, why would they not feel comfortable around the pastor.

I know I am in the minority on this issue. I have been for a long time and probably always will be. I am a teetotaler as they say. Not a sipping saint nor a guzzling gutter dweller. Jesus is better than all of that.