Ok...here I go..I'm gonna stick my neck out and fish for opinions. Without going into all the history,I'll just say that I recently made a career change that I FIRMLY believe God led me to do.I have been in route sales work for some years now and just recently my brother asked me to come join him in the family business which is a Towing Service here in upstate South Carolina.After much prayer and seeking God's will in the matter I did go to work for him not only as a truck operator but also as a company SALES representative.Both my wife and I have peace that this is what the Lord desired for us. ANYWAY,as a christian,I made it clear to my brother and sister-in-law that if I came to work for them I would NOT be willing to solicit business from anyone or any company that violated the scriptural principles I try to live by.The topic came up due to the fact that he was,prior to my arrival,attempting to solicit business from the local Budweiser distributor.I clearly told him that as the company sales rep,I would NOT be going after that business(one of my sister-in-laws relatives works for them)because my own personal convictions as a christian preclude me from doing so. Well....the subject was dropped after we both stated our opinions on the matter but HE has continued to pursue them as the Co.owner.My brother is not saved as far as I know (and I have a great burden for him TO BE...please join me in prayer for that) so all that business means to him is $$$$ and nothing else.That is all that matters to him in that regard. Anyway....it came to a head the other day when I was required to go tow one of their vans.I didn't like it and I told him so....but I did it.My own personal feeling is that if I tow one of their vehicles then I am "aiding and abetting" that business by doing something that puts one of their vehicles back on the road.I do not believe that a born again Christian can be in favor of nor a participant in the sale and use of alcoholic beverages. I expressed my dissatisfaction about having to do that but it didn't change what he required me to do. I said all that to say this....what would YOU have done in this situation? I know there may be a variety of opinions on this since there are some in here that see nothing wrong with drinking a little beer or wine.I'd also like some of you more well studied and scholarly types to bring out the scriptural argument for or against this kind of thing....Thanks!
Greg Sr.
Beer Trucks,Tow Trucks & an Unsaved Brother!
Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by Gregory Perry Sr., Mar 25, 2006.
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Well, I am definitly not scholarly but I can share my personal opinion. I agree with you completely on this subject. I personally could not work as a check out person (even at a grocery store) where I would have to sell alcohol to anyone. Again, that is just my personal opinion. I probably would have done exactly what you did, but I would also make it clear that it will not happen again and then I would stick to that decision, come what may.
I too am interested in what the intellectual, scholarly men on this board have to say about this from a scriptural view.
Edited to say I will pray for you and your brother. -
Greg,
This to me is not a tired old debate about alcohol use which all of us have heard hundreds of times in the Baptist faith, arguing what the Bible says. I look at the situation more from the angle of the Holy Spirit living in you. You said you had prayed about this and felt fine about the situation, that the Holy Spirit in you had given you peace about the career change on condition that you did not solicit the alcohol part of the business or aid in it. That was the standard that you felt you were lead to set. Later on in the post, you said you violated your own convictions. I think Paul calls this searing the conscience. That is what is wrong about it to me, the standard you and the Holy Spirit set going by the wayside so soon.
On the plus side, maybe God will use you to bring your brother to Jesus.
There are many things in our lives that make us not what God would have us to be, and I get so tired of alcohol being put on a pesdistal for sinning.
I do not drink, do not see one positive thing about it, go to a church where the covenant is against it, and believe I should try to be an example and present my body as a living sacrifice. Those are my reasons for not drinking, not because of some long standing Baptist rule that says the Bible says dont drink.
One more thought. I do not think any of us are immune from our jobs being involved in some kind of evil. I am an electronics tech at the postal service. The imagination can only guess what is sent via the mail. Am I at peace with my job?
Yes, its a gift of God that has blessed my family. -
Although I understand your sentiment, I'm not sure what I would have done. But one thought came running through my head as I read this.
What was the man doing in the account by Jesus when he was beaten and left for dead on the side of the road? We don't know. It could have been evil, or it could have been holy. Yet, the account Jesus gave showed that the good samirtain helped out someone in need. It might be a little different since it wasn't someone who worked for Budwiser, but rather the actual Budweiser van. That's what ran through my head.
By the way, I don't drink, and never really have. But I don't think the Bible prevents drinking of all forms. I tell you that only so you'll know where I'm coming from. -
I'm wondering why you went into business with your brother if he is not a Christian.
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what to righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God and they will be my people."
"Therefore, come out from them and be separate, says the Lord."
2 Corinthians 6:14-17a
I don't mean to cause extra problems here, but how can you have peace about which something the Lord appears to expressly forbid?
You knew what he was doing beforehand. It is his business that you have joined. It was not your business. You honestly have no right to tell him how to run it. He is not doing anything illegal, and that is the one standard you two share. -
I don't know if being "unequally yoked" refers to business or this situation. When two oxen are yoked together, they go down the same path together. Business is not going down the same path spiritually, what I believe the text is referring to. Marriage, however, is. If unequally yoked pertains to business, any believer who has a secular job is in essence "yoked" to unbelievers in the business, as they share the same goals: making the business prosper to earn an income. This line of thinking would not allow friendships or even believers from playing team sports with unbelievers.
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Helen..........you never cease to amaze me! You can't work for your unsaved brother but you can drink his beer??? :confused:
......and just to set this thread back on Christian standards...the Lord Jesus did not make or drink or have anything to do with alcohol! -
I agree with Helen, that as a Christian, you must submit to those in authority over you. In this case, if you you believe to do so violates your convictions, then resign. Otherise, go get that beer truck.
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I know from my own personal encounters with the Anheuser-Busch Company, the owners of the Budweiser brands, that it is one of the most evil and diabolical companies on the face of this planet, and I believe that everyone who in anyway willfully and deliberately participates in aiding that company is participating in sins unto death.
I believe that Romans 14:22-23 speaks to the issue of violating ones own Christian convictions, whether or not the convictions are really Scriptural, which is a separate issue.
Rom. 14:22. The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.
23. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin. (NASB, 1995)
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I can scarcely believe that I am reading such worthless tripe on a Christian message board!
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I see you don't get on here much. -
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:rolleyes: Well....I asked for it and I'm certainly GETTING IT.....but...I'm not yet ready to comment on what is being said other than to clarify one thing related to the "unequal yoking" angle....I am an EMPLOYEE of my brothers company...not an equal or even junior partner.I do feel very interested and even on some level obligated to help make the company succeed (it may very well be passed to me someday if and when my brother passes on).I do however(as a christian) believe that any positive contributions I make to the success and growth of the company should definitely be according to godly principles that are faithful to the Word of God and the Lord of the Word.Ya'll keep right on posting....just try to do it to the edification of us all.
Greg Sr. -
I believe that your heart is very much right with God and that as you pray and we pray for you, you will know what to do and that you will do it, whatever that may be. Those who love God and earnestly seek to be in His will for their lives will never find themselves very far from it.
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You will find on this board that if you stick your neck out too far your head just might get cut off. :eek:
Someone will usually come to your defense though. -
Thank you Craig for your kind remarks.Samarelda....you are correct but after all I have lived through I'm not normally easily offended.I'm just thankful we have a righteous,merciful,just,holy,loving Heavenly Father Who knows our weaknesses and looks after us......oh yeah..and I do love a good controversy every now and then as long as there is a positive or useful point to it.This is,I believe,a good learning opportunity for us all.By the way Craig,I also believe that Anhueser Busch is an evil company built on greed and the love of money.I want nothing to do with them personally.I DO want to be a good witness and testimony to my brother and all the rest of my lost family members.I struggle with this issue on a daily basis.Early on in my christian life I was NOT a good testimony to them.It has taken YEARS to come to the place where they will even begin to discuss things about the Lord with me.I want to be faithful to my Lord....and I want to be a man of genuine faith in front of them.
Greg Sr. -
GPS,
Do not solicit the business, but tow their trucks, IMHO. If you want to have a good testimony before you brother do not identify an issue as a hill to die on, unless you are willing to do so.
I hate to open up a can of worms here, but the word wine in John 2 is oinos. The word translated "well drunk" in verse 10 is metheuw. Both of these words are used in John 2 AND in Eph 5:18 -- Be not drunk with wine... Same words both passages, but in John 2 it is grape juice and not alcoholic? Yeah, right.
BTW, good to be back.
Ray -
Well, the Koran does prohibit consumption of alcoholic beverages made from grain...
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