February 10, 2025 • 28 mins
Can alcohol be part of a Christian’s life, or does faith ask us to abstain entirely? Join me as I unravel this age-old question through the lens of my own journey with alcoholism, shedding light on how self-control—a fruit of the Spirit—has become my guiding principle. We take a hard look at Ephesians 5:18, where the Apostle Paul cautions against drunkenness and its potential to lead lives astray. Our discussion navigates the varied perspectives within Christianity, from complete abstinence to moderation, and explores why I've chosen the former. Witness how alcohol, for some, can be a slippery slope, distorting virtues into vices and highlighting the necessity for thoughtful choices in line with faith.
The episode also unpacks the delicate balance between consuming alcohol and maintaining a spiritually aligned life, emphasizing the stark distinction between moderation and excess. Romans 14:21 serves as a pivotal point, reminding us how our choices can influence the faith journey of others. We explore the vital roles of accountability, modesty, and wisdom, urging believers to wield their personal freedoms responsibly. Discover how living free through self-control can improve relationships and remove barriers, reinforcing a deeper connection with loved ones and God. Whether you're wrestling with similar struggles or simply seeking wisdom on this topic, tune in to enrich your understanding and embrace a life that honors both personal growth and spiritual integrity.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What is up?
Faith and failures community.
Thank you for coming back toanother episode today.
We're gonna dive in a littlebit to the topic of Is it
biblically wrong?
Is it morally wrong?
Is it personally wrong for you,as a believer, to drink Alcohol
(00:22):
?
So stick around, because we'reto look at some scripture to see
what does the Bible say.
Before we get into today's video, I just wanted to say thank you
to all of the new subscribers.
If you haven't yet, considersubscribing.
Hit that bell notification sothat you can see every time I
put out a new video.
A major portion of you thatwatch my videos haven't
(00:43):
subscribed yet, so why not?
It's free.
You can also find a PayPal linkbelow if you want to give a
one-time or give a monthly tosupport the channel.
Anything, great or small, isappreciated.
Now let's get into the video.
I'm so glad you decided to joinme today.
(01:04):
We're going to, on today'sepisode, dive into some real
struggles, something that Ipersonally have had a year's
span of dealing with somethingcalled alcoholism.
Some of you might not, like mywife, have never experienced
(01:40):
that pull of something that,like smoking or any kind of
substance, where it feels likeit's just pulling you and you
have no control and you can't doanything to escape the grip of
this thing.
Some of you may say well, I'mfine, I don't have any issues, I
don't have anything pulling atme that way, and I'm really glad
you said that.
But just because you think youdon't have any issues, should
you still consume alcohol?
Should you still smokecigarettes?
I believe, from personalexperience, from tried and true
(02:02):
evaluations and struggles anderrors and falling and over and
over again, trying to findfreedom in my life, there was
not the element of freedom thatI really wanted present in my
life until I began to giveeverything away that was of the
flesh and began to live outthings for Christ.
Now that doesn't mean that Ihave zero struggles, that
(02:24):
doesn't mean that everything isperfect and there's no issues,
no hangups, no stumbling, nomishaps.
But my life is so much betterwhen I introduce which is one of
the fruit of the spiritself-control.
So I want you to think aboutthat as we walk through this
today and stop looking at thingsas okay, well, is it a sin?
(02:46):
Now, why am I saying that?
Because if you only look atthings in the lens of is it a
sin, you may actually let thingsthat shouldn't be included in
your life to actually stay whenin reality, you could live a
much fuller and more robust andfulfilled life, when you exclude
things that maybe aren'tnecessarily biblically wrong or
(03:08):
maybe aren't necessarily likesocially wrong, but you could
have a better life more.
I don't know about you, but Idon't like drama.
My household is pretty muchdrama-free 99% of the time.
That doesn't mean like there'sno fighting, there's no voice
raising, things like that.
We have a teenager and we havea little baby.
(03:29):
There's voices that get raised,attitudes that get thrown
around, not saying that doesn'texist.
What I'm saying is imagine ifall of the stuff that is just
regular life, everyday life, andI throw alcohol in the mix or I
throw some other habit orissues or something that
magnifies the worst qualities insomeone usually is wrapped up
(03:54):
in alcohol.
Now, most people let's be cleardifferent organizations,
different denominations,different Bible teaching places.
They have different options,different viewpoints.
So some of them believe thattotal abstinence, which is my
(04:18):
point of view, my stance at mydenomination, is total
abstinence is the best route.
Denomination is totalabstinence is the best route,
while others believe inmoderation.
Responsible drinking isacceptable, as with all things.
What does the Bible say?
So what does the Bible say?
(04:38):
I want to start off by reading akey verse in the New Testament
that often shapes, and shouldshape, the conversation around
alcohol.
It is found in Ephesians 5.
Verse whoops, it's supposed tobe 20.
No, that's right.
Yeah, okay, I was looking atthe wrong place in my notes.
(04:59):
I jumped ahead of my notes.
All right, so yeah, ephesians 5, verse 18, it says Don't be
drunk with notes.
All right, so yeah, ephesians,chapter five, verse 18, it says
don't be drunk with wine.
Pretty straightforward, becausethat will ruin your life.
Instead, be filled with thespirit.
Now, the apostle Paul hereisn't saying merely tasting wine
(05:21):
is a sin.
Tasting wine is a sin.
He's warning that it,specifically against drunkenness
can ruin your life.
Most people, most and when I saymost, understand that what I'm
saying is not a blanketstatement for everybody, and
this is always, and there's noroom for nuance.
(05:41):
But what I'm saying is there'sa major reason besides my
denominational stance, of whatmy denomination believes.
I stand by what they say.
Obviously, I'm a pastor in thatdenomination.
I'm going to back it up, I'mgoing to stand next to it, but I
believe that what they say isaccurate and biblically true.
And what I mean by that is thatif you've ever drank before and
(06:02):
what I mean by that is that ifyou've ever drank before, you've
ever been drunk before itlowers your so the fruit of the
spirit.
It twists them up and makesthem into forbidden fruit, if
that makes sense.
So it takes away yourinhibitions, it lowers them down
Like I'll give you a short,quick story when me and my wife
(06:22):
first got married, she had neverdrank before.
I come from drinking, not frommy parents, but just when I got
out on my own underneath theirroof, I started doing my own
thing and the pastor that wasover us, in the same
denomination I'm in now,apparently had his own take on
things, and I'm not saying thathis take was wrong, but it was
(06:46):
wrong for me.
Now let me explain.
When I was out in the world, Iwas doing meth, cocaine, I was
drinking, I was being of theworld and drinking was a major
part of that.
Obviously, a lot of bad choices.
Obviously a lot of bad choices,a lot of bad paths in my life,
because I allowed substance tocontrol my brain.
(07:10):
I wasn't thinking clearly.
That's the major reason whyalcohol.
When someone asked me, I saidthat alcohol needs to be
something you stay away frombecause it ends up luring you
into a mindset that normallywouldn't be a part of the way
(07:30):
you think.
It doesn't make you think wiser.
It doesn't advance you in anyway spiritually.
It doesn't advance you.
I used to be the guy that wouldargue about me being able to
drive.
I would drive drunk all thetime.
I don't know how.
I've had wrecks.
I've totaled a vehicle before.
My dad's truck ran it into aditch.
Come to find out later thatpast that little place I went in
(07:51):
, was it dropped off and therewas nothing but trees.
I probably would have died, butGod made it to where.
It was a wet night and thetruck sunk instead of went
forward.
But I fell asleep at the wheelbecause I've been up for days
doing drugs and I was drinkingalcohol and those two things
don't mix.
I just fell asleep at the wheel, hitched a ride back to town
(08:12):
and got dropped off at a bar andstarted drinking again.
There's nothing in my life thathas been good that has come
from alcohol.
So I was talking about my wife.
That pastor instructed us thatit was okay in the confines of
our marriage, which I'm notdisagreeing with our own home,
the privacy of our home.
(08:32):
You know what we do.
There is our, our, um, ourbusiness, and if we don't, if we
feel it like we're not doingsomething against the word of
God and we are keeping itbetween her and I, nobody else
is introduced.
No, there's no other, we're nothaving a party.
He led us to believe that it wasokay, and so, because he said
(08:54):
it was okay, we started goingdown stuff she'd never tried
before, didn't start at beer, westarted at champagne and wine,
things like that.
And so we quickly realized me Iwas about to get off work and I
started in my head thinkingabout of getting off early and
(09:18):
drinking Didn't really haveanything to do with my wife, it
was me and I couldn't wait toget off of work so that I could
start to drink with my wife.
Now, keep in mind again, thisis something that has not been
in my life for by that time,probably a couple of years.
That has not been in my lifefor by that time, probably a
(09:39):
couple of years.
And once I felt that of like, Ineeded to drink or I was
looking forward to drinking, Icouldn't get it off my mind.
I realized that the loop ofsinful nature was about to start
again and it was going to pullme back in because I was
inadvertently, unknowingly beingseduced again by that lifestyle
(10:03):
.
I couldn't get it off my mind.
And when I realized that, Iactually came to my wife and I
said hey, I think we need to, Ithink we need to stop this.
I can't stop thinking about it.
She said I was thinking thesame thing and she never had a
problem with it.
We hadn't touched it since.
But there was somethingspiritually that was
(10:25):
manipulating me physically andit was getting it to where my
mind couldn't be on my regularjob I actually was.
I couldn't stop thinking aboutthe alcohol.
I couldn't stop thinking aboutthe alcohol.
And so 1,000% for me.
In my house we do not mess withalcohol, aside from
(10:45):
denominational belief and asidefrom my papers on the wall that
say I'm a pastor and ordainedthrough a specific regime,
church of God.
It doesn't matter In my house,whatever they say, I don't care.
In my house we're not doing it,because I was reminded early on
(11:12):
in my new birth in Christ thatthere is an alluring element to
the alcohol and to thatlifestyle, because alcoholism is
attached to fornicating,adultery, smoking, all other
substances.
When I went into that, I wentinto even smoking cigarettes.
All of that was through thedoorway of alcohol.
So from what I have experiencednow, obviously I can't work out
(11:38):
your salvation with fear andtrembling.
That's something you got to dobetween you and God.
But is it possible that youwon't let go of things that you
should let go of because youlike them, no matter what the
word says, no matter what thespirit is leading you and no
matter what your convictions arelike?
Maybe we have numbed ourconvictions to fit our
preference, and that's the wholepoint of this video today.
(12:00):
I want you to actually thinkabout this.
Like what are you allowing tostay in your life?
Could it be that alcohol is oneof those and you should have
let it go a long time ago?
So let's go on to 1 Timothy 5,verse 23.
And here Paul is tellingTimothy to do this.
He's saying wait, you just gotdone with this long story about
(12:24):
how you don't touch alcohol andit shouldn't be a part of your
life.
And now you're saying that Paul, the same guy that just said
don't be drunk with wine, istelling him to drink wine.
So listen, there's a difference.
So 23 says don't drink onlywater.
You ought to drink a littlewine for the sake of your
stomach, because you are sick sooften.
(12:46):
Okay, now you have tounderstand that in this day and
time modern medicine did notexist.
Today we live in a verydifferent world.
Now, I'm not saying that someof the stuff they give us is any
better, but the apostle Paulhere is not saying merely
tasting wine is a sin.
He's warning in specificallyagainst drunkenness.
(13:07):
Okay, that's what Ephesians issaying.
So here in 1 Timothy, thisverse indicates that wine was
used in biblical times formedicinal purposes.
Notice that Paul says a littlewine.
The main point in these passagesis that there's a difference
between moderate use and abuse.
(13:28):
There's a massive difference inallowing it to control your
life, to do it for, and what isyour motivation behind it?
So let me ask you this when youtalk about hanging out, you
talk about doing something.
Say, 4th of July is coming up.
That's a big one, 4th of Julycoming up.
You're like we're about to getdrunk, we're about to do shots.
(13:49):
Think about how you're speaking.
What is your motivation behindthe way you're talking like that
?
If you were a Christian?
That life.
That mindset, that desire to dothat should be dead.
It should be gone.
It should not exist anymore inyour vocabulary of those types
(14:09):
of things.
So here's the thing InChristianity, what we love to do
is to take Christ and mix itwith flesh, and it's no longer
Christ.
If you put any flesh, anyworldly thing that you used to
do, and try to mix it in withChrist and Christianity, it is
no longer Christianity.
(14:29):
You have made yourself an idoland a God in your own life, to
where you're not going to adherewhat the word says.
You're not going to followChrist example, you're going to
follow your own.
Okay, that's very.
I'm not saying that's like it'snot sexy.
You know what I mean.
It's not attractive, but that'sthe truth.
When you start mixing in whatyou want and desire and label it
(14:51):
, use the label of Christ on topof it, you have done nothing
but poisoned any good that cancome out of that, because you're
mixing sinful nature withChrist-like attributes for what
you say and then they end up notbeing.
If there's any flesh mixed inwith Christ, it's not Christ at
all.
You are to do the opposite, torepent, to turn from what you
(15:13):
were doing and go after God andif your conviction makes you
feel that way and you're notletting go, you have not picked
up your cross and I would evenwonder if you've really accepted
Christ as your Lord and yourSavior, because you're wanting
something of Him to benefit you,but you don't want to give up
(15:38):
what you enjoy.
There's a massive difference inpicking up your cross daily and
just saying that you are savedBig difference.
So let's look over in Romans 14, 21.
It's better not to eat meat ordrink wine or do anything else
(16:00):
if it might cause anotherbeliever to stumble.
Now, before we dive into thealcohol part, women, you cannot
get upset.
Christian women, you can'tpoint blame to men, visual men,
the way we are built anddesigned, with you wearing
(16:20):
leggings up your and you'reblaming us for being perverts.
You are responsible for whatyour body does.
And you wearing things thatcling to you and show all your
junk and you got cleavagepopping out, but you got a
scripture in your profiledescription.
You're talking out of bothsides of your mouth.
You're wanting to claim Godwhile dressing like a whore At
(16:44):
the same point.
Men, you are responsible forwhere you look.
I say this to guys that Idisciple and to my close friends
the first look is free.
What does that mean?
Close friends?
The first look is free.
What does that mean?
That means that I can't controlwhen I'm scanning with my eyes
and there's somebody in front ofme but I can't control breaking
(17:04):
my neck trying to look twice.
Okay, my wife knows I have thisproblem.
I'm very blunt and open withher and it takes every ounce of
self-discipline inside of me tonot look twice, especially when
it looks good.
I'm just being honest.
Maybe you're the perfectChristian and you never do
anything wrong, but I am a mansaved by grace and mercy, and so
(17:32):
for me to really not look again, I have to, on purpose, look in
the other direction.
On purpose.
I have to be intentional.
The same with eating the meatand here he's talking about I
believe this is one where he'stalking about the meat given to
idols and things like that.
There's other references.
I think Peter was talking aboutthis.
What it's saying is if you'redoing something that brings
(17:57):
someone else out of a place ofrepentance, if you going to a
bar is causing other people tobe alcoholics, not going to a
bar.
If you're drinking and itcauses other people to be
alcoholics and you're not theone with the problem.
Maybe you can drink literallyone glass of wine and I mean
like one glass, not like oneglass and you don't have a
problem with it.
(18:17):
But you have people over andyou drink and they end up
getting drunk.
They end up sitting againsttheir own body because that was
your responsibility.
You are the one being heldaccountable.
You're the one that will beheld responsible.
Paul addresses a different angleon the drinking.
Paul addresses a differentangle on the drinking to refrain
(19:04):
from doing that around them.
The guiding principle is lovefor others, show respect for
their struggles and not usingour freedom in a way that harms
someone else's faith.
So is drinking wrong?
The Bible doesn't outrightforbid every believer to not
drink of all consumption.
Rather, it consistently warnsagainst the dangers of
drunkenness and the potentialhavoc.
(19:25):
It can be dangerous to ourlives and it can wreck our lives
and our communities and otherpeople around us.
Everything that we do as abeliever affects everybody
around us, even when we havespiritual gifts.
Paul talks about the spiritualgifts being not for us but for
others.
So let's look at four things.
(19:46):
Stewardship of the body Ourbodies are temples of the Holy
Spirit.
Even moderate drinking shouldbe approached with caution if it
affects our health or mentalclarity, and nine times out of
ten it does.
Are we honoring God with ourthoughts, with our feelings, how
(20:07):
we perceive things, and are wewilling to lay things down if it
is pleasing to God, or are wewilling to let it go if it's not
Wisdom and self-control?
God gives us the Holy spirit toguide us.
If you know you have anaddictive personality or a past
problem with substance abuse,then be wise and avoid alcohol
(20:29):
altogether.
So I struggle, I've gotten pastsubstance abuse.
Some people say this is likeanother form of it, but uh, I've
had serious struggle with withpornography and there's an app
called Twitter that if it is noton my phone, um, I don't ever
(20:53):
look at porn.
You're saying, well, twitter'slike a um, like a social media
platform.
What are you talking about?
Well, on Twitter they actuallyhave pornography profiles and
videos and everything else thatthey can post on there, and it
is not banned yet.
I don't know if it's going tobe, but it and it's like there's
just some sort of spirit onTwitter for me, and so I'll go a
(21:18):
long time, I won't have anissue, won't even like get up
against the line to get close.
I'm like, okay, I think I'vemastered this, I think I can
have Twitter again, cause I poston Twitter every now and then.
And then I would downloadTwitter and then, within like a
month, it's like that pool toget me again.
Then I would say, okay, I'm notgoing to deal with this, I'll
delete it.
Be two months, three months,four months.
(21:39):
I was like, okay, I can handlethis, I'm I'm strong.
Now I won't have this pool.
And then all of a sudden, I putTwitter on my phone again and
all of a sudden it's like itpulls me right back again,
trying to get me again.
So this last time I was like Idon't understand how it's
connected to Twitter, but itdoesn't matter.
Here's what I would try to do.
I would say that I was strongenough, my self-discipline was
(22:02):
good.
Now I had it figured out.
And then I would invite thevery thing that was the window
or doorway into what I did notwant.
And so if the Holy Spirit hasgiven me the wisdom to
understand that it is from thatapp that I end up messing up,
then I should not ever want todownload that app again.
(22:25):
The same goes with anything inour lives that we know is not
good and healthy for us.
We should not want to continueto rub up against it and be next
to it and invite it back inbecause we think we're strong
again.
It is unwise to allow sinfulnature to be next to our
self-control, because that fleshwill win every time.
So number three is concern forothers.
(22:49):
In Romans 14, 21, we read thatour choice might affect others.
If you know of a friend thathas a history of alcohol abuse,
or having a drink in front ofthem might cause them to stumble
.
Exercising love and empathysometimes means that you have to
not do what's good for you sothat other people can benefit.
You have to lay what you desireto do.
You have to lay what is maybenot an issue for you to decide
(23:13):
to keep it away from them forthe benefit of them.
It's not all about you.
Conviction versus condemnation.
Some believers feel personallyconvicted not to drink at all.
Others may feel the freedom todrink occasionally without
getting drunk.
Okay, that's fine.
But we should respectindividual convictions without
condemning each other.
The key is prayerfully seekingGod's direction in our lives.
(23:36):
So here's something that I'velearned Most of the time, it is
better for me to subtractsomething in my life for the
betterment and the future healthof me, my mind and my body and
my family, even if it's notsomething that I'm like overtly
(24:00):
convicted about, like it's notso in my face that I'm convicted
about it, but I know that itdoes a lot of damage.
It's best for me just to stayaway and I believe this is the
same with alcohol Just becauseyou may be able to control
yourself.
There may be one day wheresomething hits you hard and
what's your first response?
It's on every TV show, it's onevery movie, it's in everything
(24:24):
we see is the first thing peopledo when they get upset or get
in a situation or they celebrateor whatever.
What do they do?
They drink, and one turns totwo, two turns to three and
three turns to nine.
All of a sudden, you're doingsomething stupid and getting in
trouble.
Or you're texting on your phoneand you're getting in trouble
because you allowed somethingthat is a doorway to so many
(24:47):
obvious sinful nature patternsback in your life.
You are receiving them, you'rewelcoming them in and saying, oh
, I'm strong enough, I'm notcalling you out, but I'm saying
this is human nature, I havedone this and I have to set
parameters in my life for thesafety and the sanctification of
my mind and my heart, so that Iremain faithful to what I know
(25:11):
is true and faithful to what Iknow is right, and faithful to
what I know is right.
God wants us to live a life offreedom and he desires for us to
remain free.
And we can't remain free ifwe're constantly inviting the
thing that puts chains on usback into our lives and say here
, sit down.
We can't be next to each other,but just kind of sit here in
(25:33):
this chair over here.
I just want to see you fromafar.
We're not going to participatetogether, but just be in the
same room with me.
And how many of you know, ifyou sit in the same room with
your sin long enough, you'll endup talking to it and
entertaining it again.
That's the human condition.
So I hope that today is maybe ifyou drink, maybe you drink a
(25:53):
little bit, or maybe you have aproblem, or maybe you know
somebody that has a problem.
I hope that this encourages youand helps you realize that,
first of all, everybody has aproblem with something.
It could be food.
My goodness, here in America wehave a serious problem with
overconsumption.
It could be pornography, itcould be alcoholism, it could be
drugs.
All of these are underneath theumbrella of substances, could
(26:17):
be drugs.
All of these are underneath theumbrella of substances.
What is it that you are allowingto control your life and that
is robbing you of the freedomGod desires for all of us to
live in?
I'm sure all of us can.
I don't have a problem withovereating on food, but I have a
problem with looking when Ishouldn't.
I have a problem with notnecessarily speaking the kindest
sometimes.
I'm a human being and I have torein myself back in and put
(26:39):
that self-control, put my spiritand my mind back in check so
that I remain blameless beforeGod and I won't be a stumbling
block to somebody else.
And we are here to help andencourage and strengthen and
lead and guide and discipleother people from the direction
of Jesus Christ.
We get discipled from Jesus andwe replicate that in other
(26:59):
believers.
Take up your cross and die daily.
Kill your flesh and you willhave a more fulfilled and more
sustainable life.
Your marriage will be stronger,your relationships will be
stronger.
Your relationship with God willbe stronger.
It will be more.
You can focus more because youdon't have that wall between you
(27:20):
and God.
You'll be able to focus morebecause you won't have when you
lay this stuff at Jesus' feet.
You won't have that partitionbetween you and your spouse
anymore, you and your kids oryour parents.
Like God desires for us to befree, so I hope that you also
make the choice today to live.
Begin to live free.
(27:40):
I love you and I'm praying foryou.
Don't forget, if you'relistening on the podcast, make
sure you, if you would, it'd beawesome if you would subscribe,
download and give a five-starrating, as well as go to the
YouTube channel.
Subscribe on there, give athumbs up.
We love you, praying for youand you can be free.
What is up?
Faith and failures community.
Thank you for coming back toanother episode today.
We're gonna dive in a littlebit to the topic of Is it
biblically wrong?
Is it morally wrong?
Is it personally wrong for you,as a believer, to drink Alcohol
(00:22):
?
So stick around, because we'reto look at some scripture to see
what does the Bible say.
Before we get into today's video, I just wanted to say thank you
to all of the new subscribers.
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Hit that bell notification sothat you can see every time I
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A major portion of you thatwatch my videos haven't
(00:43):
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Now let's get into the video.
I'm so glad you decided to joinme today.
(01:04):
We're going to, on today'sepisode, dive into some real
struggles, something that Ipersonally have had a year's
span of dealing with somethingcalled alcoholism.
Some of you might not, like mywife, have never experienced
(01:40):
that pull of something that,like smoking or any kind of
substance, where it feels likeit's just pulling you and you
have no control and you can't doanything to escape the grip of
this thing.
Some of you may say well, I'mfine, I don't have any issues, I
don't have anything pulling atme that way, and I'm really glad
you said that.
But just because you think youdon't have any issues, should
you still consume alcohol?
Should you still smokecigarettes?
I believe, from personalexperience, from tried and true
(02:02):
evaluations and struggles anderrors and falling and over and
over again, trying to findfreedom in my life, there was
not the element of freedom thatI really wanted present in my
life until I began to giveeverything away that was of the
flesh and began to live outthings for Christ.
Now that doesn't mean that Ihave zero struggles, that
(02:24):
doesn't mean that everything isperfect and there's no issues,
no hangups, no stumbling, nomishaps.
But my life is so much betterwhen I introduce which is one of
the fruit of the spiritself-control.
So I want you to think aboutthat as we walk through this
today and stop looking at thingsas okay, well, is it a sin?
(02:46):
Now, why am I saying that?
Because if you only look atthings in the lens of is it a
sin, you may actually let thingsthat shouldn't be included in
your life to actually stay whenin reality, you could live a
much fuller and more robust andfulfilled life, when you exclude
things that maybe aren'tnecessarily biblically wrong or
(03:08):
maybe aren't necessarily likesocially wrong, but you could
have a better life more.
I don't know about you, but Idon't like drama.
My household is pretty muchdrama-free 99% of the time.
That doesn't mean like there'sno fighting, there's no voice
raising, things like that.
We have a teenager and we havea little baby.
(03:29):
There's voices that get raised,attitudes that get thrown
around, not saying that doesn'texist.
What I'm saying is imagine ifall of the stuff that is just
regular life, everyday life, andI throw alcohol in the mix or I
throw some other habit orissues or something that
magnifies the worst qualities insomeone usually is wrapped up
(03:54):
in alcohol.
Now, most people let's be cleardifferent organizations,
different denominations,different Bible teaching places.
They have different options,different viewpoints.
So some of them believe thattotal abstinence, which is my
(04:18):
point of view, my stance at mydenomination, is total
abstinence is the best route.
Denomination is totalabstinence is the best route,
while others believe inmoderation.
Responsible drinking isacceptable, as with all things.
What does the Bible say?
So what does the Bible say?
(04:38):
I want to start off by reading akey verse in the New Testament
that often shapes, and shouldshape, the conversation around
alcohol.
It is found in Ephesians 5.
Verse whoops, it's supposed tobe 20.
No, that's right.
Yeah, okay, I was looking atthe wrong place in my notes.
(04:59):
I jumped ahead of my notes.
All right, so yeah, ephesians 5, verse 18, it says Don't be
drunk with notes.
All right, so yeah, ephesians,chapter five, verse 18, it says
don't be drunk with wine.
Pretty straightforward, becausethat will ruin your life.
Instead, be filled with thespirit.
Now, the apostle Paul hereisn't saying merely tasting wine
(05:21):
is a sin.
Tasting wine is a sin.
He's warning that it,specifically against drunkenness
can ruin your life.
Most people, most and when I saymost, understand that what I'm
saying is not a blanketstatement for everybody, and
this is always, and there's noroom for nuance.
(05:41):
But what I'm saying is there'sa major reason besides my
denominational stance, of whatmy denomination believes.
I stand by what they say.
Obviously, I'm a pastor in thatdenomination.
I'm going to back it up, I'mgoing to stand next to it, but I
believe that what they say isaccurate and biblically true.
And what I mean by that is thatif you've ever drank before and
(06:02):
what I mean by that is that ifyou've ever drank before, you've
ever been drunk before itlowers your so the fruit of the
spirit.
It twists them up and makesthem into forbidden fruit, if
that makes sense.
So it takes away yourinhibitions, it lowers them down
Like I'll give you a short,quick story when me and my wife
(06:22):
first got married, she had neverdrank before.
I come from drinking, not frommy parents, but just when I got
out on my own underneath theirroof, I started doing my own
thing and the pastor that wasover us, in the same
denomination I'm in now,apparently had his own take on
things, and I'm not saying thathis take was wrong, but it was
(06:46):
wrong for me.
Now let me explain.
When I was out in the world, Iwas doing meth, cocaine, I was
drinking, I was being of theworld and drinking was a major
part of that.
Obviously, a lot of bad choices.
Obviously a lot of bad choices,a lot of bad paths in my life,
because I allowed substance tocontrol my brain.
(07:10):
I wasn't thinking clearly.
That's the major reason whyalcohol.
When someone asked me, I saidthat alcohol needs to be
something you stay away frombecause it ends up luring you
into a mindset that normallywouldn't be a part of the way
(07:30):
you think.
It doesn't make you think wiser.
It doesn't advance you in anyway spiritually.
It doesn't advance you.
I used to be the guy that wouldargue about me being able to
drive.
I would drive drunk all thetime.
I don't know how.
I've had wrecks.
I've totaled a vehicle before.
My dad's truck ran it into aditch.
Come to find out later thatpast that little place I went in
(07:51):
, was it dropped off and therewas nothing but trees.
I probably would have died, butGod made it to where.
It was a wet night and thetruck sunk instead of went
forward.
But I fell asleep at the wheelbecause I've been up for days
doing drugs and I was drinkingalcohol and those two things
don't mix.
I just fell asleep at the wheel, hitched a ride back to town
(08:12):
and got dropped off at a bar andstarted drinking again.
There's nothing in my life thathas been good that has come
from alcohol.
So I was talking about my wife.
That pastor instructed us thatit was okay in the confines of
our marriage, which I'm notdisagreeing with our own home,
the privacy of our home.
(08:32):
You know what we do.
There is our, our, um, ourbusiness, and if we don't, if we
feel it like we're not doingsomething against the word of
God and we are keeping itbetween her and I, nobody else
is introduced.
No, there's no other, we're nothaving a party.
He led us to believe that it wasokay, and so, because he said
(08:54):
it was okay, we started goingdown stuff she'd never tried
before, didn't start at beer, westarted at champagne and wine,
things like that.
And so we quickly realized me Iwas about to get off work and I
started in my head thinkingabout of getting off early and
(09:18):
drinking Didn't really haveanything to do with my wife, it
was me and I couldn't wait toget off of work so that I could
start to drink with my wife.
Now, keep in mind again, thisis something that has not been
in my life for by that time,probably a couple of years.
That has not been in my lifefor by that time, probably a
(09:39):
couple of years.
And once I felt that of like, Ineeded to drink or I was
looking forward to drinking, Icouldn't get it off my mind.
I realized that the loop ofsinful nature was about to start
again and it was going to pullme back in because I was
inadvertently, unknowingly beingseduced again by that lifestyle
(10:03):
.
I couldn't get it off my mind.
And when I realized that, Iactually came to my wife and I
said hey, I think we need to, Ithink we need to stop this.
I can't stop thinking about it.
She said I was thinking thesame thing and she never had a
problem with it.
We hadn't touched it since.
But there was somethingspiritually that was
(10:25):
manipulating me physically andit was getting it to where my
mind couldn't be on my regularjob I actually was.
I couldn't stop thinking aboutthe alcohol.
I couldn't stop thinking aboutthe alcohol.
And so 1,000% for me.
In my house we do not mess withalcohol, aside from
(10:45):
denominational belief and asidefrom my papers on the wall that
say I'm a pastor and ordainedthrough a specific regime,
church of God.
It doesn't matter In my house,whatever they say, I don't care.
In my house we're not doing it,because I was reminded early on
(11:12):
in my new birth in Christ thatthere is an alluring element to
the alcohol and to thatlifestyle, because alcoholism is
attached to fornicating,adultery, smoking, all other
substances.
When I went into that, I wentinto even smoking cigarettes.
All of that was through thedoorway of alcohol.
So from what I have experiencednow, obviously I can't work out
(11:38):
your salvation with fear andtrembling.
That's something you got to dobetween you and God.
But is it possible that youwon't let go of things that you
should let go of because youlike them, no matter what the
word says, no matter what thespirit is leading you and no
matter what your convictions arelike?
Maybe we have numbed ourconvictions to fit our
preference, and that's the wholepoint of this video today.
(12:00):
I want you to actually thinkabout this.
Like what are you allowing tostay in your life?
Could it be that alcohol is oneof those and you should have
let it go a long time ago?
So let's go on to 1 Timothy 5,verse 23.
And here Paul is tellingTimothy to do this.
He's saying wait, you just gotdone with this long story about
(12:24):
how you don't touch alcohol andit shouldn't be a part of your
life.
And now you're saying that Paul, the same guy that just said
don't be drunk with wine, istelling him to drink wine.
So listen, there's a difference.
So 23 says don't drink onlywater.
You ought to drink a littlewine for the sake of your
stomach, because you are sick sooften.
(12:46):
Okay, now you have tounderstand that in this day and
time modern medicine did notexist.
Today we live in a verydifferent world.
Now, I'm not saying that someof the stuff they give us is any
better, but the apostle Paulhere is not saying merely
tasting wine is a sin.
He's warning in specificallyagainst drunkenness.
(13:07):
Okay, that's what Ephesians issaying.
So here in 1 Timothy, thisverse indicates that wine was
used in biblical times formedicinal purposes.
Notice that Paul says a littlewine.
The main point in these passagesis that there's a difference
between moderate use and abuse.
(13:28):
There's a massive difference inallowing it to control your
life, to do it for, and what isyour motivation behind it?
So let me ask you this when youtalk about hanging out, you
talk about doing something.
Say, 4th of July is coming up.
That's a big one, 4th of Julycoming up.
You're like we're about to getdrunk, we're about to do shots.
(13:49):
Think about how you're speaking.
What is your motivation behindthe way you're talking like that
?
If you were a Christian?
That life.
That mindset, that desire to dothat should be dead.
It should be gone.
It should not exist anymore inyour vocabulary of those types
(14:09):
of things.
So here's the thing InChristianity, what we love to do
is to take Christ and mix itwith flesh, and it's no longer
Christ.
If you put any flesh, anyworldly thing that you used to
do, and try to mix it in withChrist and Christianity, it is
no longer Christianity.
(14:29):
You have made yourself an idoland a God in your own life, to
where you're not going to adherewhat the word says.
You're not going to followChrist example, you're going to
follow your own.
Okay, that's very.
I'm not saying that's like it'snot sexy.
You know what I mean.
It's not attractive, but that'sthe truth.
When you start mixing in whatyou want and desire and label it
(14:51):
, use the label of Christ on topof it, you have done nothing
but poisoned any good that cancome out of that, because you're
mixing sinful nature withChrist-like attributes for what
you say and then they end up notbeing.
If there's any flesh mixed inwith Christ, it's not Christ at
all.
You are to do the opposite, torepent, to turn from what you
(15:13):
were doing and go after God andif your conviction makes you
feel that way and you're notletting go, you have not picked
up your cross and I would evenwonder if you've really accepted
Christ as your Lord and yourSavior, because you're wanting
something of Him to benefit you,but you don't want to give up
(15:38):
what you enjoy.
There's a massive difference inpicking up your cross daily and
just saying that you are savedBig difference.
So let's look over in Romans 14, 21.
It's better not to eat meat ordrink wine or do anything else
(16:00):
if it might cause anotherbeliever to stumble.
Now, before we dive into thealcohol part, women, you cannot
get upset.
Christian women, you can'tpoint blame to men, visual men,
the way we are built anddesigned, with you wearing
(16:20):
leggings up your and you'reblaming us for being perverts.
You are responsible for whatyour body does.
And you wearing things thatcling to you and show all your
junk and you got cleavagepopping out, but you got a
scripture in your profiledescription.
You're talking out of bothsides of your mouth.
You're wanting to claim Godwhile dressing like a whore At
(16:44):
the same point.
Men, you are responsible forwhere you look.
I say this to guys that Idisciple and to my close friends
the first look is free.
What does that mean?
Close friends?
The first look is free.
What does that mean?
That means that I can't controlwhen I'm scanning with my eyes
and there's somebody in front ofme but I can't control breaking
(17:04):
my neck trying to look twice.
Okay, my wife knows I have thisproblem.
I'm very blunt and open withher and it takes every ounce of
self-discipline inside of me tonot look twice, especially when
it looks good.
I'm just being honest.
Maybe you're the perfectChristian and you never do
anything wrong, but I am a mansaved by grace and mercy, and so
(17:32):
for me to really not look again, I have to, on purpose, look in
the other direction.
On purpose.
I have to be intentional.
The same with eating the meatand here he's talking about I
believe this is one where he'stalking about the meat given to
idols and things like that.
There's other references.
I think Peter was talking aboutthis.
What it's saying is if you'redoing something that brings
(17:57):
someone else out of a place ofrepentance, if you going to a
bar is causing other people tobe alcoholics, not going to a
bar.
If you're drinking and itcauses other people to be
alcoholics and you're not theone with the problem.
Maybe you can drink literallyone glass of wine and I mean
like one glass, not like oneglass and you don't have a
problem with it.
(18:17):
But you have people over andyou drink and they end up
getting drunk.
They end up sitting againsttheir own body because that was
your responsibility.
You are the one being heldaccountable.
You're the one that will beheld responsible.
Paul addresses a different angleon the drinking.
Paul addresses a differentangle on the drinking to refrain
(19:04):
from doing that around them.
The guiding principle is lovefor others, show respect for
their struggles and not usingour freedom in a way that harms
someone else's faith.
So is drinking wrong?
The Bible doesn't outrightforbid every believer to not
drink of all consumption.
Rather, it consistently warnsagainst the dangers of
drunkenness and the potentialhavoc.
(19:25):
It can be dangerous to ourlives and it can wreck our lives
and our communities and otherpeople around us.
Everything that we do as abeliever affects everybody
around us, even when we havespiritual gifts.
Paul talks about the spiritualgifts being not for us but for
others.
So let's look at four things.
(19:46):
Stewardship of the body Ourbodies are temples of the Holy
Spirit.
Even moderate drinking shouldbe approached with caution if it
affects our health or mentalclarity, and nine times out of
ten it does.
Are we honoring God with ourthoughts, with our feelings, how
(20:07):
we perceive things, and are wewilling to lay things down if it
is pleasing to God, or are wewilling to let it go if it's not
Wisdom and self-control?
God gives us the Holy spirit toguide us.
If you know you have anaddictive personality or a past
problem with substance abuse,then be wise and avoid alcohol
(20:29):
altogether.
So I struggle, I've gotten pastsubstance abuse.
Some people say this is likeanother form of it, but uh, I've
had serious struggle with withpornography and there's an app
called Twitter that if it is noton my phone, um, I don't ever
(20:53):
look at porn.
You're saying, well, twitter'slike a um, like a social media
platform.
What are you talking about?
Well, on Twitter they actuallyhave pornography profiles and
videos and everything else thatthey can post on there, and it
is not banned yet.
I don't know if it's going tobe, but it and it's like there's
just some sort of spirit onTwitter for me, and so I'll go a
(21:18):
long time, I won't have anissue, won't even like get up
against the line to get close.
I'm like, okay, I think I'vemastered this, I think I can
have Twitter again, cause I poston Twitter every now and then.
And then I would downloadTwitter and then, within like a
month, it's like that pool toget me again.
Then I would say, okay, I'm notgoing to deal with this, I'll
delete it.
Be two months, three months,four months.
(21:39):
I was like, okay, I can handlethis, I'm I'm strong.
Now I won't have this pool.
And then all of a sudden, I putTwitter on my phone again and
all of a sudden it's like itpulls me right back again,
trying to get me again.
So this last time I was like Idon't understand how it's
connected to Twitter, but itdoesn't matter.
Here's what I would try to do.
I would say that I was strongenough, my self-discipline was
(22:02):
good.
Now I had it figured out.
And then I would invite thevery thing that was the window
or doorway into what I did notwant.
And so if the Holy Spirit hasgiven me the wisdom to
understand that it is from thatapp that I end up messing up,
then I should not ever want todownload that app again.
(22:25):
The same goes with anything inour lives that we know is not
good and healthy for us.
We should not want to continueto rub up against it and be next
to it and invite it back inbecause we think we're strong
again.
It is unwise to allow sinfulnature to be next to our
self-control, because that fleshwill win every time.
So number three is concern forothers.
(22:49):
In Romans 14, 21, we read thatour choice might affect others.
If you know of a friend thathas a history of alcohol abuse,
or having a drink in front ofthem might cause them to stumble
.
Exercising love and empathysometimes means that you have to
not do what's good for you sothat other people can benefit.
You have to lay what you desireto do.
You have to lay what is maybenot an issue for you to decide
(23:13):
to keep it away from them forthe benefit of them.
It's not all about you.
Conviction versus condemnation.
Some believers feel personallyconvicted not to drink at all.
Others may feel the freedom todrink occasionally without
getting drunk.
Okay, that's fine.
But we should respectindividual convictions without
condemning each other.
The key is prayerfully seekingGod's direction in our lives.
(23:36):
So here's something that I'velearned Most of the time, it is
better for me to subtractsomething in my life for the
betterment and the future healthof me, my mind and my body and
my family, even if it's notsomething that I'm like overtly
(24:00):
convicted about, like it's notso in my face that I'm convicted
about it, but I know that itdoes a lot of damage.
It's best for me just to stayaway and I believe this is the
same with alcohol Just becauseyou may be able to control
yourself.
There may be one day wheresomething hits you hard and
what's your first response?
It's on every TV show, it's onevery movie, it's in everything
(24:24):
we see is the first thing peopledo when they get upset or get
in a situation or they celebrateor whatever.
What do they do?
They drink, and one turns totwo, two turns to three and
three turns to nine.
All of a sudden, you're doingsomething stupid and getting in
trouble.
Or you're texting on your phoneand you're getting in trouble
because you allowed somethingthat is a doorway to so many
(24:47):
obvious sinful nature patternsback in your life.
You are receiving them, you'rewelcoming them in and saying, oh
, I'm strong enough, I'm notcalling you out, but I'm saying
this is human nature, I havedone this and I have to set
parameters in my life for thesafety and the sanctification of
my mind and my heart, so that Iremain faithful to what I know
(25:11):
is true and faithful to what Iknow is right, and faithful to
what I know is right.
God wants us to live a life offreedom and he desires for us to
remain free.
And we can't remain free ifwe're constantly inviting the
thing that puts chains on usback into our lives and say here
, sit down.
We can't be next to each other,but just kind of sit here in
(25:33):
this chair over here.
I just want to see you fromafar.
We're not going to participatetogether, but just be in the
same room with me.
And how many of you know, ifyou sit in the same room with
your sin long enough, you'll endup talking to it and
entertaining it again.
That's the human condition.
So I hope that today is maybe ifyou drink, maybe you drink a
(25:53):
little bit, or maybe you have aproblem, or maybe you know
somebody that has a problem.
I hope that this encourages youand helps you realize that,
first of all, everybody has aproblem with something.
It could be food.
My goodness, here in America wehave a serious problem with
overconsumption.
It could be pornography, itcould be alcoholism, it could be
drugs.
All of these are underneath theumbrella of substances, could
(26:17):
be drugs.
All of these are underneath theumbrella of substances.
What is it that you are allowingto control your life and that
is robbing you of the freedomGod desires for all of us to
live in?
I'm sure all of us can.
I don't have a problem withovereating on food, but I have a
problem with looking when Ishouldn't.
I have a problem with notnecessarily speaking the kindest
sometimes.
I'm a human being and I have torein myself back in and put
(26:39):
that self-control, put my spiritand my mind back in check so
that I remain blameless beforeGod and I won't be a stumbling
block to somebody else.
And we are here to help andencourage and strengthen and
lead and guide and discipleother people from the direction
of Jesus Christ.
We get discipled from Jesus andwe replicate that in other
(26:59):
believers.
Take up your cross and die daily.
Kill your flesh and you willhave a more fulfilled and more
sustainable life.
Your marriage will be stronger,your relationships will be
stronger.
Your relationship with God willbe stronger.
It will be more.
You can focus more because youdon't have that wall between you
(27:20):
and God.
You'll be able to focus morebecause you won't have when you
lay this stuff at Jesus' feet.
You won't have that partitionbetween you and your spouse
anymore, you and your kids oryour parents.
Like God desires for us to befree, so I hope that you also
make the choice today to live.
Begin to live free.
(27:40):
I love you and I'm praying foryou.
Don't forget, if you'relistening on the podcast, make
sure you, if you would, it'd beawesome if you would subscribe,
download and give a five-starrating, as well as go to the
YouTube channel.
Subscribe on there, give athumbs up.
We love you, praying for youand you can be free.
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