Many people ask the questions, should Christians drink alcohol and is it alright if Christians to drink some alcohol? These are very good questions.  Now one can simply quote Ephesians 5:18 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;” and say, “there that settles the matter, Christians should not drink alcohol.” But, the problem with that is that the Bible say’s don’t get DRUNK, it does not say don’t drink.  To say that having an alcoholic drink will lead to drunkenness, is like saying eating food will lead to gluttony.  No, to answer this question we need to work through this a little harder than that.

The church in Syrian Antioch dealt with a similar problem.  The question they dealt with was, “Should Christians eating food/meat that has been sacrificed to idols?” This church was made up of both Jews and Gentiles (Acts 15). Since eating meat offered to idols was a conflict-ridden issue that made the Jews feel uncomfortable, the Jerusalem Council asked that all the gentile Christians to not eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols (Acts 15:29). This was not really an issue of sin, rather it was more of an issue of keeping the peace and not offending anyone.  This way the Jews knew that what they ate was not at one time a sacrificed animal and the gentiles were not accused of idol worship.

Paul really clears up the issue in 1 Corinthians 8:4-13. I’m going to take a couple of verse at a time and then translate them to a more modern paraphrase.

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Lets read together:

BIBLE: ⁴ So, what about eating meat that has been offered to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god and that there is only one God. ⁵ There may be so-called gods both in heaven and on earth, and some people actually worship many gods and many lords. ⁶ But we know that there is only one God, the Father, who created everything, and we live for him. And there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom God made everything and through whom we have been given life.

PARAPHRASE: We know that an idol stands for something that does not really exist and we know that there is only the one God. Even if there are so-called gods, there is only one God the Father and one Jesus Christ who created everything and saved us.

BIBLE: ⁷ However, not all believers know this. Some are accustomed to thinking of idols as being real, so when they eat food that has been offered to idols, they think of it as the worship of real gods, and their weak consciences are violated. ⁸ It’s true that we can’t win God’s approval by what we eat. We don’t lose anything if we don’t eat it, and we don’t gain anything if we do.

PARAPHRASE: Not everyone is use to this though.  Some people have been so used to idols that to this day it bothers their conscience when thinking about eating food that has been sacrificed to an idol.  It is not as if eating  food sacrificed to idols will improve their relationship with God and in fact it will not help them or hurt them if they eat the meat.

BIBLE: ⁹ But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble. ¹⁰ For if others see you—with your “superior knowledge”—eating in the temple of an idol, won’t they be encouraged to violate their conscience by eating food that has been offered to an idol? ¹¹ So because of your superior knowledge, a weak believer^[a] for whom Christ died will be destroyed. ¹² And when you sin against other believers by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning against Christ. ¹³ So if what I eat causes another believer to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live—for I don’t want to cause another believer to stumble.

PARAPHRASE: However, just because you can eat meat sacrificed to idols does not mean you should do it all the time.  Let’s pretend you have a Christian friend over who is bothered by the idea of eating meat that had been sacrificed to an idol.  Do not encourage or try to get them to eat that meat.  By trying to make them eat the meat you are causing them to go against their conscience and that is causing them to sin. It is better for me to give up eating meat that had been sacrificed to an idol than to cause someone to sin.

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1. Is it wrong to eat meat that had been sacrificed to an idol (v. 4-6)?
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2. Can Christians be bothered by the idea of eating meat that had been sacrificed to an idol (v. 7-8)?
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3. Should Christians ask other Christians to eat meat that had been sacrificed to an idol if it bothers their conscience (v. 9-13)?
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4. Is it a sin to go against your conscious or to make someone else go against their conscious?
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Paul explained that eating meat offered to an idol is not wrong, because “an idol is nothing at all.” Food does not make us any closer or farther away from God. However, some consider it morally wrong to eat meat sacrificed to idols and under no circumstances should Christian pressure other Christians to go against their conscience. That would be sin.

But what does this have to do with drinking?!

Everything.  The Bible does not say, “Do not have any alcohol,” but it does say, “Don’t get drunk and don’t tempt others to sin against their conscience.”  Now, if you are home alone and you want to have one beer, you can.  I have read many people who make argument that Christians are to be separate from the world and so should never pick up a drink, but ultimately their arguments falls short.  To say that “you CAN’T have a drink, because it might lead to drunkenness” is like saying, “you can’t surf the internet, because it might lead to pornography.”  Therefore, you can have a drink if you like, but the real question is “should you have a drink.” While you are free to have a drink, sometimes it is better not to.

Just because we are free to do something, does not mean we should always do it.  Having a drink might hurt your witness to people who do not understand that Christianity is not built up on rules and regulations like the Old Testament.  Having a drink might lead others to believe that if you can have one drink, then you have ten.  Having a drink might make other Christians stumble in their own walk with Christ.  Having a drink might lead to unforeseen problems. The world is not always as black and white as we like and sometimes we need to use our mind to make the wise choice without clear cut rules.   I encourage you to think before having a drink and consider your surroundings, people you are with and your own temptations.  Is having a drink the wise choice given your situation?  It may not be.  Remember, Christians glorify God when they limit their freedom for the spiritual benefit of others. (1 Corinthians 10:25-32)

Photo by JOE MARINARO