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Thread: Michael Brown-Christian Leaders, Please Do Not Publicly Celebrate Your Liberty to Drink

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    Administrator fuego's Avatar
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    Michael Brown-Christian Leaders, Please Do Not Publicly Celebrate Your Liberty to Drink

    I'm quite aware that this article will stir up a hornet's nest of controversy and draw criticisms of legalism and dead religion, but I felt duty bound to write it. Please read prayerfully, and then respond. Lives are on the line!
    _____________

    I do not write this article to throw stones. I write it to save lives.

    That's why I make this heartfelt (and anguished) plea: If you are a pastor or ministry leader and you believe that, according to the Bible, you have the liberty to drink alcohol (without drunkenness), please don't turn that liberty into a public boast, as in, "Look at how free I am!"

    You can enjoy that freedom before God, with moderation and discipline. But please don't bash those who practice total abstinence. And please don't use your liberty as a club against legalism. Or as a proof of your spiritual maturity. Or as a demonstration of the gospel of grace.

    You will destroy many lives in the process, not to mention possibly endanger your own soul.

    To be clear, although I have practiced total abstinence since I came to faith in 1971, I do not believe that God requires all believers to do this. The Bible, including the New Testament, warns against drunkenness and lack of moderation, not against drinking alcoholic beverages in general.

    And even if it can be argued that wine and other drinks were not as fermented in Bible days as they are today, that argument is largely irrelevant, since drunkenness was still an issue then (see, for example, Proverbs 20:1) and leaders were called to be temperate in their use of alcohol (see, for example, 1 Timothy 3:3).

    I have also worked closely with Christian leaders in countries like Italy and England, even staying in their homes. For many of them, having a glass of wine with dinner is as natural as an American having a cup of coffee with breakfast.

    Never once did I see any of these leaders drinking to excess (not even close), nor was it ever an issue we needed to discuss.

    At the same time, I have worked closely with Christian leaders in countries like India, where it would be unthinkable for a Christian to drink alcohol, let alone a Christian leader.

    So, I recognize that, in different cultures, biblical principles of personal liberty can be worked out differently.

    My issue here has to do with an attitude found more in America than elsewhere, one in which Christian leaders talk openly about their drinking habits or their favorite alcoholic beverage, to the delight of their followers. "We here are free! We are not into legalism! We will not be tied up by religion!"

    That is where things get dangerous.

    A few years back, I watched what happened to an online group of Christians formed for this very purpose. They were no longer bound by legalism when it came to drinking, and they formed a group to share their newfound freedom.

    Not surprisingly, within months, they went from talking about their favorite wines and beers to talking about their favorite hard liquors. And you can be sure more than a few of them were starting to find themselves drawn to more and more drinking, either habitually or to drunkenness.

    But of course. This kind of thinking heads in one direction only.

    Here in America, all this can become especially dangerous. That's because drinking wine with a meal is far more of a lifestyle in Italy than it is in America, where much of our drinking leads to excess, including drunkenness. And in almost every one of our churches, there are former alcoholics walking a fine line to stay sober.

    That's why having "Beer and Bible Studies" is such a bad idea. You might well attract some people who otherwise wouldn't attend a Bible study. But you will also be destroying the lives of others, for whom this is the path back to addictive drinking.

    That's why, in another, related context, Paul warned, "Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself [speaking of foods]. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:13-17).

    Over and again (including this week), I have heard stories of Christians who were set free from alcoholism, realizing that it was crucial for them to abstain for life. Yet they fell back into addiction after seeing another Christian have a glass of beer of wine when they had dinner together.

    I have known of others who fell back after seeing liquor in the home of another believer.

    "Hey," they thought to themselves, "if it's OK for them to have a drink, why not me? Maybe I'm being too strict with myself."

    And that one drink plunged them back into destructive addiction.

    And this brings us back to the words of Paul: "Do not by your eating [or, drinking!] destroy someone for whom Christ died."

    This really is very serious business.

    One pastor told me about how he used to so bound by legalism until he met other believers who knew how to drink and have a good time. He was liberated!

    Today, he is no longer in ministry, and some of his colleagues have dropped out of ministry as well.

    This is very sad, but it is not surprising.

    Again, the issue is not whether the Bible calls all believers to abstain totally from alcohol.

    The issue is when leaders boast that they are free to drink, implying that if others were really free, they would drink as well.

    The issue is when leaders think that having alcohol is something to celebrate, or worse still, they make drinking into a sign of spiritual maturity.

    The issue is when drinking becomes a major part of a leader's life or a church's culture.

    This is of the flesh and of the world, and it will produce fleshly, worldly results.

    So, if you're not tempted to get drunk, if drinking in moderation has been a part of your life for years, without excess, and if you're convinced the Bible gives you that liberty, then do what Paul said: "whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God" (Romans 14:22).

    Enjoy your liberty, but in private, remembering these words as well: "Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food [or alcohol]. . . . It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall" (Romans 14:20-21).

    Getting this right will literally be a matter of life or death for many. I urge you: please choose life.

    Christian Leaders, Please Do Not Publicly Celebrate Your Liberty to Drink | Ask Dr. Brown

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    Senior Member Cardinal TT's Avatar
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    Generally agree with his article

    I do have a drink every now and again.
    The key is does a person Need to drink even if they don't get drunk and can they abstain for long periods like 12 months or more shows they have self control

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    Senior Member Pentecali's Avatar
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    I don't believe a Christian should indulge in alcohol at all. Then again, I was raised where our pastors set boundaries for us as the watchman of our souls. Today, the people set their own rules. Every man does that which is right in their own eyes.

    I expect it amongst Lutherans etc. but It's mainstream in spirit filled churches too now. I've been around some of them and I'm still a little stunned. All we have to do is look at where all this liberty has led the TBN leaders of yesterday.

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    I don't touch that stuff, not since Jesus saved me out of it 41 years ago.

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    Senior Member Romans828's Avatar
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    Hubby just mentioned this very same issue in his Monday Night Bible Study this week...

    We have friends (other Pastors and their wives) who hold the "We Have Liberty in Jesus" view, and they drink wine and beer - In public and in front of their unsaved (grown) kids.

    And while I agree that an occasional glass of wine (with dinner) will not send a "mature" Christian to hell, it's certainly not wise or prudent to promote it publicly, and especially around "Babes in Christ"

    ETA: For the record, we do NOT partake
    Last edited by Romans828; 03-23-2022 at 03:56 PM.

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    I really didn't drink even before giving my life to Christ at 21 (except on some very rare occasions). However, back in 1998 or sometime around there, while in Chicago, flying in from from a meeting in Germany for my job, I could not get a connecting flight to New Jersey to visit my Mom and my flight to Japan (where I was living at the time) was a week away. This meant I would be stuck in a hotel in Chicago for a week.

    I was MAD (and being immature, I felt let down by God). I went to a restaurant where they served wine. I figured since no one in Chicago knew me then I would order some wine in order to be deal with my anger. As soon as I put the glass to my mouth the Holy Spirit asked me, "What are you doing?" I was under such a strong conviction that I asked the Lord to forgive me and did not touch that glass any more.

    The waiter asked why I did not drink the wine and I told him the truth. He was sympathetic and took the wine off of my bill. The Lord told me to give him that money as a tip (it was some VERY expensive wine). After I got back to my hotel room the Lord led me to make some contacts and I was on my way to New Jersey the next morning.

    For me, to drink an alcoholic beverage is a SIN, especially when one's motives are wrong. I cannot speak that for others, but I certainly will never encourage it.
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    Saved by Christ from alcohol and all its demons.

    But I'll say this - seeing pastors who drank in my past churches gave me no opportunity to talk to them about how I was enslaved by alcohol. It really wasn't until I had a pastor that upheld "no drinking" for all in leadership in our church that I finally could talk openly about it to leadership and be held up and instructed in how to continue to walk free.

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    Senior Member Pentecali's Avatar
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    Look who's front & center in the news again. HILLSONG founder..

    Not surprised that alcohol is part of this story

    Michael Brown-Christian Leaders, Please Do Not Publicly Celebrate Your Liberty to Drink-9c65373a-098d-4cc8-897a-35af088d0561-jpg

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    Michael Brown-Christian Leaders, Please Do Not Publicly Celebrate Your Liberty to Drink-dff19aaf-e107-4534-a7d8-96aa269ebda4-jpg

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