Better Drinking

One of the more challenging aspects of the Christian faith is living in the world, yet not being of it. Fundamental misconceptions of "spiritual" and "world" skew not only the discussion, but often make us hypocritical as we hold mutually exclusive concepts in tension. A few definitions probably should be in order. "World", as the Bible defines it, in context, is not the sphere of plants, rocks, drinks, cars, cellphones, and playing cards. But, "world" is collective man in his ethical disobedience to God's Word, and now-natural disposition to replace the True and Living God with another of his own making, bringing to mind Paul's warning in Romans 1 about the folly of worshipping the created thing rather than the Creator. Following this definition, being "spiritual" as opposed to "worldly" means to use and interact with the creation in manner consistent with God's Word, enabled by grace through faith in Jesus, trusting in His merits alone.

Practically speaking what this means is that Christians will be often be seen participating in things that non-Christians do, though their motivations and purposes are often different or even guarded. Christians attend movies and listen to music; they may not (and often, should not) see or hear everything that comes down the pike. The Christian should guard his heart. The list here could be so expansive as to include virtually every human endeavor, save those things which are sinful in themselves; there is no room for a Christian hitman or thief. The point is that from an outside perspective it ought to be difficult to distinguish a Christian from a non-Christian, especially when it regards general cultural activities. We all need to eat, drink, clothe ourselves, cut the lawn, check the oil in the car, and feed the dog. The primary difference between the believer and non-believer then is not so much what he does, but rather why he does it. Motivations are complex things and hard to accurately predict or interpret, and in some respects, the Spirit-led Christian life is all but unseen to men in their rebellion. (John 3:3) Yet the fruit of that spiritual life is visible (Matthew 7:16ff) and plays an important role as God uses it both to woo sinful men to Himself, and condemns them when they do not repent of their own sinful behavior.

When it comes to drinking alcohol, many Christians take an untenable position. While many admit that there is no direct command not to drink in the Bible, it should be avoided because it can lead to drunkenness. Of course, no one avoids food because it could lead to gluttony, and the shame of our hypocrisy speaks very clearly here. We are extremely selective in our attempt to avoid "worldliness", and in the process we create an artificial set of rules that have no basis in the Bible. We end up avoiding people and places that often need our presence, the very salt and light Jesus commanded us to be. How can we be influencing and setting an example if we have relegated ourselves to the enclaves of our own ghettoes, fearful to tread out on the proverbial sidewalk from the relative safety of our own homes and churches?

Which brings me around to what I really wanted to say. The title of this particular rant refers to something that Jesus was called, as well as some of the company He kept during His earthly ministry. Consider that the Eternal One, the Son of God, the Second Person of the Triune God come in the flesh, associated with what was considered the worst element of 1st century Jewish society, and was accused of being a drunk because He imbibed with them. I'm not suggesting that we all start drinking with the worst elements in our society (is that WWJD?), but if Jesus did, why can't we do even less? Are we afraid to hang-out at the local pub for fear of being spotted? Are we afraid we might hear someone say a bad word? Are we afraid of being a called a drunk?

As a profession or hobby, have Christians avoided brewing for similar reasons? Or do we brew with a Christian "audience" in mind? Even if that were possible, it is not desirable. I personally see a direct correlation between the historically declining Christian participation both in brewing and drinking, and it's degradation as a profession and as a culinary enjoyment. Instead of phenomenal beers made self-consciously to God's glory, we have watered-down substitutes because either we're feeling too guilty to really enjoy beer, or too ignorant to be concerned about it. We don't really enjoy good beer because developing a palate really takes time, and besides that, it's really so worldly and unspiritual. This attitude is not limited to alcohol of course, which explains why in a day-and-age of multi-million dollar Christian book and record publishing, the Christian Church is more irrelevant than it's even been in this country.

How do we turn the tide? How do we avoid the oft-made accusation against the Church as trying to restrict alcoholic beverages, rather than promote their God-honoring purpose of making man's heart glad? Grace, patience, time, education, and hope. One person at a time, one family at a time, one church at a time, slowly and steadily. Postmillennial beer, as it were. Perhaps one day by God's grace, the Church's celebrations and liberty to use that what God has freely given will be seen and misunderstood as drunkenness by the truly worldly. Our Puritan forefathers were often accused of being both too temperate, as well as too liberal. But wisdom is vindicated by her children; we should wear such disdain with a quiet and holy dignity, and celebrate God's goodness…with a beer.