THE WISDOM OF TOTAL SOBRIETY

I have a really simple history with drugs and alcohol. There’s nothing complicated about it. I was 11 1/2 when I first started seeking to fit in with the wrong crowd, and 12 or 13 the first time I ever used a mind-altering substance, and I absolutely loved it. 

That was not good. 

I spent the decade that followed crippled and enslaved to substance abuse. It hurt me, and I hurt people I loved during those dark years. Above all, I was being disobedient and disrespectful to the Lord, whom I knew better than almost any of my peers did (though I didn’t know Him as well as I thought I did). But graciously, He had mercy on me. He spared my life, and though I had several serious run-ins with the law, He also providentially spared me any serious charges or long-term incarceration. 

At age 21, I made the first of several major steps towards a serious commitment to the Lord, and things got progressively better from there, though it was a longer road than I imagined it would be. Decades later, I can tell you that the time I spent giving in to the self-indulgence of addiction changed me deep down in ways that have continued to affect me negatively until now, though, to God’s glory I rejoice to say the Spirit of Christ has set me free. I do not seek an escape of any kind. God’s Spirit is my strength within to face reality with joy every day, and every day I grow more joyful in the Holy Spirit than ever and know the best is yet to come. If you struggle with addiction of any kind, the same thing can be true for you.

It turns out people are prone to addiction for reasons that transcend visible Creation. There are invisible powers bent on enslaving us, and they use our desires against us long before we know good from evil. The effects of Adam’s Fall before Satan’s lies sent out tentacles through time and space that reach every one of us, twisting our desires, misdirecting our beliefs, crippling our capabilities, and tarnishing the divine image in which we all were made. These powers earnestly desire our ruin and death and tempt us to try to escape reality into a dream world of intoxication. I’ve been long convinced this is one of their primary strategies, and it’s not just to drugs and alcohol, but to any pleasurable escape—sex, video games, shopping, travel and leisure, and even working. 

I won’t waste your time with stats and figures. We all know the damage substance abuse does to individuals, families, and society, and most of us are aware that some of the strongest and deadliest mind-altering substances the world has ever seen are widely available not far from any one of us right now. 

The message is as simple to understand as my past struggle was. God doesn’t want us to try to escape reality. He wants us to live in reality with His Spirit within us and His word guiding us. If we do this, He will heal us from the inside out and give us strength to build real lives with real meaning and full of good. Albert Einstein said, “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” All due respect to the genius, but intellect and wisdom aren’t the same thing, and Einstein got this one way wrong. Reality is not an illusion. This life is very real, and the results of how we live it are everlasting. Nothing but sobriety can possibly be the proper response to it. 

I know God’s word doesn’t require total abstinence from intoxicating substances. I’m quite convinced from Scripture that Jesus both miraculously made and consumed fermented wine. I’m convinced the wine He divided among the Twelve when He instituted the Lord’s Supper was fermented and that Jesus intends to drink it in His Father’s kingdom. For what it’s worth, if my understanding is correct, in the heavenly kingdom, when I’ve got resurrected flesh that is no longer plagued with the present weakness, and the realities Scripture calls us all to be sober and watchful about have passed, I intend to drink it with Him. If you’ve got the self-discipline of Jesus, by all means, avail yourself of the spiritual liberties that are ours in Christ now if you want to, but if you struggle in that department even a little, I want you to know there are several heroes in Scripture who never touched the stuff. 

John the Baptist never touched a drop of alcohol (Luke 1:15). Paul’s protégé who learned everything he knew from Paul, was a total abstainer until Paul finally told him to drink a little wine for his health’s sake because he had a genuine health condition. This makes it very possible that Paul was a teetotal abstainer himself (see below). Levitical priests were forbidden by the Law of Moses to drink alcohol when on priestly duty (Leviticus 10:8–11), and those under the Nazirite vow were forbidden from strong drink, wine, and, for that matter, anything to do with grapevines (Numbers 6:1–4). 

I’m going to list a representative sample of Scriptures that directly speak about consuming alcohol, and though there are no clear mentions of other kinds of mind-altering substances, the “things like these” clause of Galatians 5:21 expands the Bible’s teachings about alcohol to apply to any kind of mind-altering substance. If it can intoxicate or make you drunk, or high, or any other synonymous term, it’s under the same set of instructions because it will produce similar results in reality. 

Here are four “positive” mentions:

The second mention of alcohol in Scripture absolutely proves it can be used in a good and righteous way. Considering the first mention isn’t a favorable one, the Spirit may have intended this one as redemptive. In Genesis 14:18, “Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High.” This instance in the story of Abraham arguably foreshadows Christian communion.

In Deuteronomy 14:15b–27, Moses instructs Israelite worshippers who lived too far from the appointed place to sell the goods they were offering to the Lord (so they wouldn’t be burdened with having to transport bulky, heavy produce and herd animals so far) and “Go to the place that the LORD your 

God chooses and spend the money for whatever you desire—oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household. And you shall not neglect the Levite who is within your towns, for he has no portion or inheritance with you.”

In Psalm 104:14–15, we see clearly that wine is a gift from God intended for our good. “You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.”

Finally, Paul’s instruction to the young preacher in 1 Timothy 5:23, “No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments,” proved the medicinal use of drugs and alcohol is approved by God. Be aware, “self-medication” is always dangerous and usually leads to addiction. (As a side note, 2 Timothy 3:10 may suggest Paul was a teetotaler. Decide for yourself, but this is a reason worthy of strong consideration why a Christian today might choose to be, too. See 1 Corinthians 11:1.)

Here are four “negative” mentions:

The first mention in the Bible (look up the “Law of First Mention”) is not a good one. “Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent” (Genesis 9:20-21). Based on the principle of the “Law of First Mention,” this should highlight the danger of drinking alcohol. 

The third mention in Scripture, again, is not a good one. In Genesis 19:32-35, Lot's daughters get him drunk to incestuously conceive children by him. Over the rest of the five books of the Law, we find a couple more negative, and one more positive mention. As I said above, Levitical Priests and Nazirites were forbidden to consume, at least during certain periods of time (Leviticus 10:9; Numbers 6:3). However, these forbiddances shouldn’t be taken to mean there was anything universally unclean about drinking in God’s presence. In Deuteronomy 14:26, God says through Moses, “Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice.”

Proverbs 20:1 warns, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.”

1 Peter 4:1–5 taps into the mindset that leads many Christians, including me, to urge against much, if any casual (non-medicinal) use of drugs and alcohol in the present age. “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” In other words, we’re at war and have serious work to do. Do we really have the time and luxury to “escape” through drugs and alcohol? Think about it and pray for wisdom. 

The rest of the Scriptures offer important teachings about intoxicating substances and their use that we all should seek to be familiar with.

In Matthew’s gospel, we hear Jesus’ enemies bearing false witness against Him (Ex. 20:16). “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' But wisdom is proved right by her deeds” (Matthew 11:19). His critics didn’t call Him a drunkard because He didn’t partake! He never got drunk, of course, that accusation was a lie aimed at defaming his character because they were opposed to His teachings, but it’s obvious He did drink wine. For this reason alone, no Christian teacher should condemn partaking outright. Also, for this reason, every Christian teacher should condemn intoxication from any mind-altering substance across the board. 

In Romans 14:21, in a context largely affirming Christian liberties, the apostle Paul writes, “It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.” In 1 Corinthians 11:21, the text makes it apparent communion wine was fermented. Ephesians 5:18 plainly forbids Christians from getting drunk. Among the qualifications for men who would become elders or deacons is that they’ve proven to be moderate drinkers only, if drinkers at all (1 Timothy 3:3, 8; Titus 1:7). 

It wouldn’t be responsible not to say something here about John 2:1–11.

Jesus turned a large amount of water into wine. Based on the context, the time of year the event took place, and the words of the master of the feast, it seems clear to me it was all fermented. (Some brothers strongly disagree, and I respect their convictions. For what it’s worth, we agree on the bottom line.) The large amount is proof of the Lord’s power and generosity, not an implication that He approved of over-indulgence. The hosts ran out of wine at their wedding feast, because they weren’t wealthy. All the extra wine Jesus made them would’ve brought them unlooked-for extra income if they sold it. 

See also for further reference, 1 Samuel 1:14-15; Proverbs 23:29-35; Ecclesiastes 9:7; Isaiah 5:11-12; Hosea 4:11; Habakkuk 2:15; 1 Corinthians 6:9–11. 

If you’re still reading, I want to share one more section of wise instruction, and then draw a conclusion with some applications.

It is helpful to read about the way the first few generations who received the New Covenant in Jesus applied the Bible’s teachings about mind-altering substances that can produce intoxication. It’s not as though their writings are authoritative, only Scripture is authoritative, but they lived in the culture into which the New Testament Scriptures were first written. As such, their applications can shed some light on how the instructions were originally understood. There’s at least some value in that. 

Clement of Alexandria (ca. AD 150-215) wrote, “It is best for the young not to touch wine at all; for wine is the enemy of youth” (The Instructor, II:2). Tertullian (ca. 160-225) writes, “I think we must first of all banish the use of wine altogether from God's ‘holy nation’; for the case of abstinence is always more desirable than its allowance” (On Modesty, Ch. 12). Cyprian of Carthage (ca. 200-258) said, “Wine is neither good nor evil, but its use and abuse make it so. It is good for those who drink it with thanksgiving and moderation, but bad for those who abuse it to the point of drunkenness” (Epistle 58: To Fidus). John Chrysostom (ca. 347-407) taught, “Wine was given to make us cheerful, not to make us behave unseemly. Let us use wine as a medicine, not for drunkenness” (Homilies on Ephesians, Homily XIX).

In A Letter From A Worried Non-Drinker, the late brother Hugo McCord wrote:

Oh! How much better the world would be today if everybody was a total abstainer! As godly as was Noah, surely he repented of his drunkenness (Genesis 9:20-21) and was forgiven (cf. Psalm 32:5), but he has not forgotten his sin, and he never will. If the daughters of Lot had learned at home that their father would not take a drink, they would never have thought of their incestuous sin (Genesis 19:30-38). The Bible does not teach that moderation of drinking in itself is wrong. Specifically, an elder cannot be “given to wine” (1 Timothy 3:3), which is saying he cannot be a “wino.” That does not mean he cannot drink moderately, even as did Jesus (Matthew 11:18-19; Luke 7:33-34). A deacon and aged women and Timothy were not prohibited from a “little wine,” but from “much wine” (1 Timothy 3:8; 5:23; Titus 2:3). Much wine meant drunkenness, and drunkards cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:10). We hope that the Corinthians who got drunk on wine at the Lord’s Supper repented (1 Corinthians 11:21). If it is sensible to argue that “if it takes 10 drinks to make one drunk, one drink will make him 1/10 drunk,” then it is sensible to argue that “if it takes 10 hamburgers to make one a glutton, one hamburger will make him 1/10 a glutton.”

My advice: If you’re determined to drink/use, make realistic rules, and if you break them once, be wise enough to know you’ll break them again, and it’ll slowly, or quickly get worse until you spiral out of control. Don’t self-medicate. Don’t drink socially, especially at gatherings or parties that are obviously focused on drinking/using. Don’t use anything illegal. I urge you to embrace a “straight edge” mentality until the Lord comes. The safest course in this life for us all is to never take the first drink and to say no to every drug not prescribed by your doctor. Do what you believe to be best as you understand Scripture to instruct you to do, and you’ll get no judgment from me.