Is it the usual?

I don't, gave it up. I liked beer, but even in moderation it gives the appearance of evil and is not worth it.

"Abstain from all appearance of evil." I Thess. 5:22

Neal

 

Sherrie,

Among conservative Baptists in the US it would not be all that common. In other countries, however, moderate drinking among among Baptists is fairly common.

Of the conservative Baptists I know, some drink moderately and some drink not at all. It isn't really much of an issue....

I grew up in independent fundamental churches in northern MN, where no one ever drank. (Okay, no one was supposed to ever drink!) Then as a young newlywed I moved to a small town in northern Manitoba where we attended a conservative Mennonite church (only church besides the Catholic one) where they served wine for the Lord's Supper. This was my first exposure to this cultural difference in attitude toward drinking among conservative Christians. Then we were invited to a barbecue at the home of one of the church elders where (Imagine my shock!) wine was served.

Having lived here close to 27 years now, my attitude toward this issue has changed. Our family serves wine once in a blue moon at special meals. We had wine for the adults at Christmas. If there is a bottle of wine on my kitchen counter when my minister visits, I think nothing of it, and neither does he....

 

My main experience has been with IFB churches, where people don't say they do and it's preached against but most people do anyhow. I've found it's rare to come across any people that truly abstain on all occasions, although there's plenty to be found that speak harshly against it. Get them know them a while and it's mostly for show.
Gina

 

Hi Gina - Meet a rarity that truly abstains on all occasions. I am so appreciative that God had mercy on me and saved me that I do in fact, try to treat my body as the temple of the Holy Spirit as it is no longer my own.

I do over-eat at times but then nobody's perfect.

A friend - Jim

 

Good for you Jim!
I noticed while looking up a few things on wormwood that a derivitive of it is used in alcohol. Thought it was interesting.
Gina...who's searching hard to equate at least one major evil in the world with wormwood.

 

Amen, Jim!

 

We are to be a witness to others, and our patronization of drug(alcohol) dealers is an horrific witness to those with a weakness for alcohol. I have heard of christian cocktail parties, and the pastor and an elder having drinks with their meal, from some more liberal posters on other boards. I was shocked to see Baptists also admit to taking drugs.

The temperance movement saved many lost souls, reunited many families, and revived many churches and congregations. Now we see those that should be out on the street, handing out gospel tracts, in front of the drug dens, actually standing in line to get their "fix" of preference.

"Brother that shabby dressed unshaven fellow in front of you at the liquor store, has a wife and babies at home, and he is buying a bottle of alcohol, rather than a gallon of milk. If you were standing out front of the store, witnessing for Christ, he might have been reached. Brother your credibility with this lost soul is gone, because you are also a continuing drug user too!!"

 

Sherrie, prior to the Temperance Movement, abstinace was a rarity among Christians. It made a resurgence during and after that movement. With the exception of far-right evangelicals however, it is the exception not the rule now.

As I may have mentioned in that thread, going out for margaritas after class was a common activity when I was in seminary.

Joshua

 

Sherrie, you asked me to move this to your alcohol thread, so here it is:

Sherrie, you don't think Jesus - whose first miracle was making wine at a wedding - would have a nice bottle of Merlot? Maybe it was a Riesling?

There is nothing rebellious about consuming alcohol. Christians have been doing it for 2000 years. Several social reformers at the turn of the last century got a bee in their bonnet about it (mainly because they thought it affected the productivity of their employees) and evangelical Christians picked up the temperance banner for a while.

I find it ironic, though, that fundamentalists who are so intent on the faith of their forbears would be so skeptical of the consumption of alcohol.

Joshua

P.S. Haven't we had a bout a dozen threads on this topic?

 

I don't know about usual. Occaisional, maybe, but not usual.

My personal two cents is, if you've got one drink with a meal, that's probably not an appearance of evil. If you're seen having more than one drink with a meal, that may present the appearance of evil, and should probably be avoided. But this is a very general rule of thumb for me. While I don't abstain completely, I rarely consume alcoholic beverages.

 

It occurred to me that one of the problems is that, if you believe that a Christian should refrain from all alcoholic consumption, then you're going to see any consumption as bad. If so, there's no winning the arguement that it's possible to consume alcohol without presenting the appearance of evil. It's a biblical catch 22.

 

Sister Sherrie,
Obviously, Brother Joshua has never been on a fire department "Signal Twenty-two"--traffic accident with fatalities--and to get there you find daddy and son covered in white sheets on the highway and momma still trapped in the car thats smashed like an Accordian.

I've learned that whatever you can dream up to tell the indulgers--it won't work--they throw the idea that Jesus was a drinker---turned water to wine at a weddin', was a Wine-bibber--blah, blah, blah--their sophisticated minds just don't get it--I can go to the streets of New Orleans, or Baton Rouge, or even Dexter--and find me a Wine-O--tell him about Jesus and how Jesus needs to save him and can turn his life around--and have that Wine-O recieve Jesus--turn away from alcohol and never touch another single drop---but to go to the sophisticated people--who dress nice, who listen to liberal sermons--and start preachin' the truth about Jesus and alcohol--and they'd run me out of town---or run me through the mud here on the Baptist Board---

I love you, Sister Sherrie! I really do!
Your Southern Baptist buddy,
Blackbird

 

Well, Sherrie, I answered in your other thread, but
I will say it here: when I say I don't drink, I don't--
no alcohol of any kind at anytime for any reason.

 

Read Patton's book on Wine and the Laws of Fermintation. He does a great job of interpreting the word "wine" in the bible and putting it into a biblical context. All of our alcoholic beverages today: beer, wine, etc. are "strong drink" in biblical parlance and are forbidden on biblical grounds. There is a great freedom in abstaining from this area of potential sin and defilement.

 

Sherrie, I personally do not drink, though I know of some who do. I do find it a contradiction for a christian to speak of moderation whilst, as you put it bragging about how much they drink.

yours, Jon.

 

Blackbird,
What if that awful accident you describe was caused by someone using a cell phone or changing a CD. Should it then be considered "evil" to use a cell phone or play a CD while driving.

This is the usual ploy by ultra-conservative baptist. First, introduce a topic, such as one about Christians drinking alcohol. Then, go the the extreme by connecting this drinking with the death of innocent people, usually women and children. Lastly, use retoric to connect this horrible accident with a Christian, possibly drinking a beer at home or a glass of wine with a meal. This is called guilt by association.

The bible does not condemn the consumption of alcohol. It prohibits drunkeness, that's all.

 

Christians that drink will continue to justify the drinking. For myself it is the appearance of evil to stand in line at a liquor store with a bottle or a 6-pack of beer in my hand. In the eyes of those who we SHOULD be witnessing to, we are NO different than the alcoholic boozehound who gets drunk and beats his wife. We are partaking from the very same source of iniquity drinking from the same hog trough.

Our Christian witness in the way we live our lives, 24/7, is much more revealing to the surrounding lost souls, than any words of witness we might speak. Our car parked at the liquor store has just undermined our Christian witness a hundred-fold, in the eyes of the unbelievers.

May God so bless His precious children.

A servant of Christ,
Drew

Psalm 51:10
Create in me a clean heart, O'God, and renew a right spirit within me.

 

That's a police signal 48 around here, and I've been at the scene for plenty of them. I've helped pull heads out of windshields, and in the ER I've helped pull the dead skin off of victims with third-degree burns after they rammed their cars into a median.

Hence my caveat about drinking and driving. I also always use a headset and voice dialing if I'm talking on a cell phone.

I've seen drowning victims too, but I still drink water.

Joshua

P.S. Please note that this is not a Christian versus non-Christian issue. Alone one brand of American Christianity even considers responsible alcohol consumption an issue.