Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, “Don’t do it!”

He said, “Nobody loves me.”

I said, “God loves you. Do you believe in God?”

He said, “Yes.”

I said, “Are you a Christian or a Jew?”

He said, “A Christian.”

I said, “Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?”

He said, “Protestant.”

I said, “Me, too! What franchise?”

He said, “Baptist.”

I said, “Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?”

He said, “Northern Baptist.”

I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?”

He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist.”

I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region,
or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?”

He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region.”

I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region
Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?”

He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council
of 1912.”

I said, “Die, heretic!” And I pushed him over.

Does the Bible teach there are times when I, as a Christian, should separate myself from those who either preach wrong doctrine or practice wrong conduct? Yes, it does. For your homework, read: Romans 16:17-18; Titus 3:9-11; 1 Timothy 6:3-5; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 2 Thessalonians 3:6,14-15; Jude v.3; Galatians 1:6-9; 1 John 4:1; 2 John v.9-11; and Ephesians 5:11. Yes, there really is a time for what has been called “biblical separation.”

But as we Christians tend to do with so many things, we oftentimes go overboard with this separation. For example, if the very gospel itself is being compromised by some erroneous reinterpretation of it, that’s grounds for separation. If, however, the divisive argument in question is over how the offerings should be doled out, that’s not such sacred ground. Can you see the difference? I hope so. And if you can’t, well, die heretic!

As we study the gospels we find that Jesus was frequently in conflict with the man-made traditions of the Jewish religious elite. In particular, many incidents involved Him purposely breaking the time-honored, but erroneous, rules that had been established for keeping the Sabbath day as a day of rest (Matthew 12:1-13; Luke 13:10-17; Luke 14:1-6; John 5:1-16). Of course, Christ’s actions weren’t surprising. In the Old Testament Hebrew, the Sabbath commandment consists of thirty-nine words. In accordance with those thirty-nine words, the Jewish rabbis devised their own list of thirty-nine ways in which a person could break the commandment. Then they took each of those thirty-nine ways and broke it down into thirty-nine divisions. This gave them a grand total of 1,521 ways by which one could break the Sabbath. Getting a tack in your sandal was considered carrying a burden on the Sabbath. Killing a flea was considered hunting on the Sabbath. Even eating an egg that was laid on Saturday was considered a violation because the hen had worked on the Sabbath. It’s no wonder that Jesus railed against such traditions.

While I certainly wouldn’t say that the traditions of the American way of “doing church” are as bad as those the Jews used to keep their Sabbath day, they sometimes seem about as entrenched. Try changing something in the typical local church and see what you get! What’s surprising is that so many of our traditions have little or no scriptural basis. Consider that for the first 300 years or so churches were simple “house-churches” (Romans 16:3-5; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 4:15; Philemon v.1-2; James 2:1-3; Acts 2:1-2; 2 John v.10). That means no: committees, deacon boards, business meetings, Sunday schools, Bible schools, Bible conferences, church budgets, choirs, Christmas plays, Easter dramas, Fall Festival parties, missions boards, youth missions trips, senior-citizen outings, or Christian schools. The congregations didn’t have pew-filled sanctuaries, baptisteries, education buildings, fellowship halls, gymnasiums, or life-activity centers either.

So how did they “do church”? Well, there were multiple house-churches in a city. When a congregation grew too big for the confines of a home, that was seen as an opportunity to begin a new offshoot house-church. All of the house-churches of a given city made up the one “church” of that city. There were pastors, men who were more typically called “elders,” “overseers,” or “bishops” (Acts 14:23; 20:17; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5; James 5:14; Philippians 1:1; Ephesians 4:11). There were deacons, men who performed necessary menial acts of service in the congregations (Acts 6:1-7; 1 Timothy 3:8-13). The congregations met each Sunday to commemorate the fact that Christ arose on a Sunday (Acts 20:7-8; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Revelation 1:10). Since many of the early Christians were slaves, and since the Roman empire did not consider Sunday to be a special day during this time (this was before Constantine’s reign), it is likely that services were typically held on Sunday night.

And what did those services look like? They were free-flowing services where each Christian was encouraged to contribute to the service by somehow using or exhibiting his spiritual gift (Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 14:26; Ephesians 4:7-11). However, everything was to be done in an orderly manner (1 Corinthians 14:40). There was praying (James 5:13) and singing (Ephesians 5:18-19; Colossians 3:16; James 5:13; 1 Corinthians 14:15). Since the headings of many of the Psalms tell us those Psalms were written to be played on specific instruments, perhaps instruments were sometimes used in the services. Obviously, though, there wasn’t a piano or a pipe organ sitting in the corner somewhere.

There were no pulpits, but there was certainly teaching and what we now call “preaching” (1 Timothy 1:3; 4:6,13,16; 5:17; 2 Timothy 4:1-5; Titus 1:9; 2:1). It seems that the Lord’s Supper was observed each service. This was called “the breaking of bread” (Acts 2:42-47). In the earliest days, a “love feast” (a meal designed to help the poorer Christians) was served in conjuncture with the Lord’s Supper (Jude v. 12). Real wine was used during the Lord’s Supper and the love feast (1 Corinthians 11:21). The house-churches were expected to practice church-discipline as well (1 Corinthians 5:1-13). Perhaps they did this by using the guideline laid out by Jesus (Matthew 18:15-17).

As for the money, the Old Testament law’s elaborate system of tithing (Leviticus 27:30-34; Deuteronomy 12:5-7,17-19; 14:22-29; Numbers 18:21-32; Malachi 3:8-12) was not taught. Why would it be? You couldn’t bring a tenth of your harvests and livestock to a house, and there was no longer a need to support the Levitical priests who ministered at the temple. So, what many now call “grace giving” replaced the commands concerning tithing. Under “grace giving,” cheerful and generous giving was expected as each Christian gave in accordance with his prosperity (2 Corinthians 9:6-15; 1 Timothy 6:17-19). And how did the congregations disperse the offerings? The money went to aid the needy (Acts 20:35; Ephesians 4:28; James 1:27), help fellow Christians who were struggling (Acts 11:29; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2; 2 Corinthians 9:1-15; Galatians 6:10; Hebrews 6:10), support the apostles in their missionary work (Philippians 4:10-20; 1 Corinthians 9:1-14; 2 Corinthians 11:5-9), and meet the basic needs of the pastors (Galatians 6:6,10; 1 Corinthians 9:7,11; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13).

And make no mistake, each and every Christian was to be actively involved in hands-on service to Christ out in the real world. The role of the “preachers” was to equip all Christians with the doctrine and knowledge to be able to carry out the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12). The pastors did have authority to lead the congregations (Acts 20:28; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; 1 Timothy 3:5; Hebrews 13:7,17,24), but the leadership was to be the kind of servant-leadership that Jesus exemplified (1 Peter 5:1-4). The ultimate authority in all the churches rested with the apostles (1 Corinthians 5:1-3). They were the ones who ordained the pastors (Acts 14:23).

But why am I telling you all this? Well, I assure you that I’m not trying to take us all back to those early days of the church. Even if we wanted to go back to such a seemingly ideal time, we couldn’t because we no longer have genuine apostles the likes of Peter and Paul. I’m also not saying that there is anything patently wrong with: church buildings, committees, Sunday Schools, Bible Schools, missions boards, youth missions trips, senior-citizen outings, Christian schools, etc. I mean, the fact that you are reading this on a very modern tool called the internet isn’t lost on me!

No, my purpose in this post is to help promote a little more tolerance among us Christians when a church comes along and says, “We’re going to try something different.” Since what we consider to be the “traditional” way of “doing church” is as different from the churches of the New Testament as apples are from oranges, who are we to say, “Oh, that’s wrong; they can’t do that”? C’mon, we’re so off the New Testament blueprint now that Peter and Paul would hardly recognize us. So surely we can use a lot less of the attitude, “Our way is the only way.”

Actually, the more I study the church, the more I realize that it is a living, breathing thing, and as such is constantly growing and evolving. The Lord doesn’t want congregations who are trapped back in the year 100, 1600, 1900, or even 2000. He wants us out there on the cutting edge of society, relating to people where they are, and keeping up with the times. Think about it, isn’t that exactly how Jesus ministered to the people of His day? So even though there is certainly a basic, Bible-based template for what constitutes a local church and how that church should function and be led, there is a lot of God-allowed (even God-ordained) play in the particulars of how a given church goes about its mission. And just because a congregation operates differently from your preferences, don’t automatically assume that it is in the wrong.

It’s certainly true that the Bible teaches that a Christian has a sizable amount of God-granted liberty when it comes to, shall we say, “debatable” matters. However, the same Bible also lays down three rules for the use of this liberty. Let’s take them one at a time.

Rule #1: A troubled conscience always cancels out Christian liberty. The interesting thing about your conscience is that it can’t tell the difference between a rule that can be supported by scripture and one that can’t. Really, your conscience is only as good as the information sent to it by your brain. So the problem is simple: a faulty understanding creates a misfiring conscience. Well, let’s say that a Christian is raised in a home, city, and culture in which everyone considers the drinking of even one beer a mortal sin. As we’ve seen in this series, that rule can’t be supported by scripture, but until that Christian learns this he or she is left to believe that drinking a beer is a sin. And what does that set-up do? It allows that Christian’s conscience to send out all kinds of warning bells if that Christian even looks at a beer. Yes, they will be misinformed bells, alarms sounded from faulty information, but they will be warning bells nonetheless. And so at that point the Christian’s conscience will keep him from being able to evoke Christian liberty to enjoy a beer. We can describe this as sinning against one’s conscience. 1 Corinthians 8:7 talks about this kind of thing in regard to the ancient Christians eating meat that had been offered to idols. It says:

However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak (we might say misinformed), is defiled.

Romans 14:23 applies here as well. It goes so far as to teach that even if an act isn’t a sin, it actually becomes a sin for you if you can’t do it with a completely clear conscience:

But he who doubts (doubts the scriptural legality of the act) is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.

Rule #2: The Christian commits sin if he exercises his liberty in a way that causes someone else to sin. Let’s say that a friend and I go out to eat at a restaurant that serves delicious ribs that just drip with sweet barbecue sauce. So we each order a plate of ribs. Then my friend listens in astonishment as I order a beer. Well, he was raised to believe that drinking a beer is a sin, but he thinks to himself, “Russell is a preacher, and so if he says that’s it alright to drink a beer, it must be.” So my friend then says to the waitress, “I’ll have a beer too.” But the problem is that as soon as those words fall from his lips his misinformed conscience starts gnawing at him. And by the time the beers come and he and I each take a sip, he is in full-blown sin. Now what happened there? I wrongly used my Christian liberty to lead my friend into sin. Listen to the words of 1 Corinthians 8:9,12:

But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak (misinformed)…But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

And then there is also Romans 14:15-16, 20-21:

Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food (or for our topic, drink) you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food (drink) the one for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let your good (the fact that your conscience is operating off correct information) be spoken of as evil…Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food (drink). All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man (your friend with the misinformed conscience) who eats (drinks) with offense. It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.

Rule #3: Even though some acts might be allowable under Christian liberty, the Christian shouldn’t engage in them if they are not helpful to him. It’s hard to see how a Christian who is a recovering alcoholic or who has at least had several bouts of drunkenness in the past is going to be helped by drinking one beer, one glass of wine, or one shot of liquor. If a dog has bitten you in the past and sent you to the emergency room, why keep trying to pet it? If your track record shows beyond a doubt that you have a natural bent toward becoming addicted to a certain thing, why go out of your way to place yourself in the path of temptation? This third rule isn’t about categorizing an act as “sin” or “not sin.” The act in question is clearly “not sin.” But the point is that the act simply isn’t helpful (spiritually constructive, edifying, and empowering) for that specific Christian. Particularly, this rule applies to acts that have the potential to lead to addiction, a list which can certainly include the drinking of alcoholic beverages. In 1 Corinthians 6:12, the apostle Paul puts it this way:

All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

Now, in closing, let me say that by abiding by these three rules the Christian can keep himself within the banks of using his Biblical liberty to engage in a “debatable” act such as drinking alcohol. Christian liberty must never be used as a license to sin, but when it is rightly understood and lived out it will be a wonderful source of blessing for the Christian. After all, “liberty” is a good word, right? It’s not something to shy away from or fear; it’s something to embrace and enjoy. Just be careful, Christian, that you don’t forget these three rules. God wants you to enjoy life, but He doesn’t want you to do it like a half crazed wild-man who has no scriptural moorings. Remember that liberty walks hand in hand with responsibility. You’re not a child. So don’t act like one.

In ancient cities such as Rome, Corinth, and Ephesus, pagan temples dedicated to pagan gods were commonplace. As part of the idolatrous worship at these temples, priests would offer up animal sacrifices to the false gods. These animals were choice, unblemished, high-grade meat. Following a sacrifice, the “leftovers” were sold in the meat markets of the cities. The meat was the choicest available, but the price was cheap because the meat was “used.” Naturally, the lost people of the city thought nothing of purchasing the meat and eating it. The Christians, on the other hand, didn’t know how to handle the dilemma. Eat meat that carried the taint of idol worship? Would God allow such a thing? The answer you got depended upon which Christian you asked.

The Gentile Christians who had been saved out of idolatry and paganism were particularly sensitive about the whole issue. They just couldn’t make their consciences believe that God was okay with them eating that meat, no matter how much of a bargain the meat was. We can liken each of those Christians to one who has been saved out of alcoholism. No matter how many preachers, Bible teachers, and commmentators tell that Christian that it’s alright to drink a beer or a glass of wine, that Christian won’t quite believe it. His past experiences have just been too scarring.

Well, it was clear that the early churches needed some God-inspired guidance concerning the eating of that meat. And who better to provide the guidance than the greatest theologian the world has ever known, the apostle Paul? So it’s no wonder that he devoted extensive sections of his letters to the Christians of Rome and Corinth to the topic. And what was his take on the meat? We find the answer in the following passages:

#1: Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. (1 Corinthians 8:4)

#2: Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience’ sake; (1 Corinthians 10:25)

#3: I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself… (Romans 14:14a)

#4: For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. (1 Timothy 4:4-5)

Now, I do realize that I’m only giving you half of what Paul taught on this subject, and I promise you that we’ll get to the other half in the next post. But for now just let the first part of Paul’s God-inspired teaching wash over you and penetrate down into your soul. The man taught, “Since there is only one true God, an idol is really nothing. As nothing, it certainly doesn’t have the power to taint meat. So don’t let your conscience wear you out over such meat. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market.” In 1 Corinthians 8:9, Paul calls the option to eat that meat “this liberty of yours.” That’s where we get the term “Christian liberty.”

But now here’s the question for us Christians today: How does Paul’s teaching on “Christian liberty” come into play in our lives? I mean, we don’t have to deal with meat that has been offered to idols, do we? No, but we certainly have to deal with things such as: wine, beer, liquor, secular music, secular movies, secular t.v. shows, and the latest fashions. Oh, we can be good little legalists who live miserable little lives. We can throw out our televisions, shun movie theaters, keep our radios turned off, wear Puritan-style clothing, avoid any restaurant that has a bar, refuse to celebrate Christmas, Easter, and Halloween (all of these holidays have pagan trappings, you know), and spend all our time praying, reading the Bible, and listening to gospel music. But is that really how God wants us to live? I think not. Jesus wasn’t a hermit-like isolationist. He got out among the masses and enjoyed life. As a matter of fact, His “Christian liberty” kept the legalistic Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes torn all to pieces. They couldn’t believe that He had the gall to do some of the things He did.

I think that Chuck Swindoll, the well known pastor and radio preacher, has given us a wonderful illustration of why Christians desperately need to grasp the concept of Christian liberty. In his study guide for Romans chapters 12-16, under a heading entitled “Taboo Or Not Taboo?”, he writes:

Isn’t it funny how religious convictions can vary so widely among Christians? Let’s invite some believers of different backgrounds to a pool party, just to see what will happen.

Out on the pool deck, our party is well under way: the hot dogs are roasting on the grill, the drinks are getting iced in the coolers, and our guests are happily visiting and laughing under a warm, sunny sky.

Suddenly events take a turn for the worse: three couples from California decide to take a dip in the pool before lunch. They toss off their sandals and T-shirts, jump into the pool, and begin tossing a beach ball around. Bill, from Alabama, practically falls out of his chair. He doesn’t believe in “mixed bathing” – males and females swimming in the same pool at the same time. He quickly excuses himself and walks into the house whispering in disbelief, “What bacchanalian ritual have I stumbled onto here?”

Passing Bill in the doorway is Amber, the teenage granddaughter of Ethel, our senior party guest. Amber, in a cool tank top and shorts, is just showing up for the party, but she barely gets both feet on the deck before Ethel meets her with a bright pink, oversize beach towel in hand. “Amber dear,” Ethel says, “For goodness’ sake, cover yourself before you cause some poor boy to stumble!” Amber – now a pink terry cloth mummy – trudges to the first chair she can find, plops herself down, and commences to sulk.

Andy, our Lutheran guest, tries to lighten things up. He turns to Mike, a Southern Baptist, and asks, “Want a drink from my cooler?” Mike heartily accepts, and Andy raises the lid, revealing several of his favorite brands of beer. “Which one would you like?” Mike doesn’t answer, but quietly joins Bill inside the house.

“What’s with him?” Andy asks. “There’s nothing wrong with having one dang beer!” “Andy!” his wife exclaims, “Watch your mouth! That graphic language really bothers me.”

Now do you see the need that we Christians have to truly understand Christian liberty?

The first quote comes from renowned Bible scholar Dr. Charles Ryrie. In his book The Miracles Of Our Lord, he writes the following concerning Christ’s changing of the water into wine:

Let them (people) also remember that today’s wine is not first boiled before storage, then reconstituted with three parts water before drinking, as was true in the time of Christ. Today’s wine is 10 to 14 percent alcohol as it comes from the bottle. That is why one five-and-one-half ounce glass of wine (about the size of a punch cup) raises the alcohol in the blood as much as a cocktail or two bottles of beer.

Second, Dr. J. Carl Laney, in his commentary on the gospel of John, writes this:

It is of considerable significance that in antiquity wine was diluted with water. Only barbarians would drink unmixed wine. This custom is referred to in the epilogue of 2 Maccabees, where the writer states, “Just as it is injurious to drink wine by itself, or again water, whereas wine mixed with water is pleasant and produces a delightful sense of well being…Although the ratio varied, one part wine was usually mixed with three parts water.”

I really don’t think that it’s necessary to try to nail down the precise ratio of the water to the wine. The point is that the wine of Bible times was usually diluted to a fairly large degree. That is undeniable, and anyone who wants to study this subject in a mature and honest manner will freely admit that. So that covers the wine. But what about the “strong drink”?

Well, I can tell you that the 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia (Vol. 12, p.533) states that in the rabbinic period the wine was diluted with water but the “strong drink” wasn’t. Still, even taking that fact into account, I don’t doubt that the beers and liquors of today are probably even more potent than the “strong drink” described in the Bible. Brewers and alcohol manufacturers, with their advanced knowledge and years of experience, see to that.

And so I write this particular post as a word of warning to anyone who would take the Bible’s allowance for alcohol consumption too flippantly. I don’t mind you understanding that you can do a touch of drinking and still be within the banks of scripture, but I also want you to understand that today’s wine, beer, and liquors have a lot more potency than the alcoholic beverages described in the Bible. That means that “a little dab will do ‘ya.” It also means that too much of a dab will do ‘ya in rather quickly.

I take no joy or pride in admitting that alcoholism runs on both sides of my family. So, trust me, I could write an encyclopedia on the subject. Isn’t it amazing how easily one glass of wine or one can of beer can turn into decades of hard drinking? The old saying is so true: “First the man takes a drink. Then the drink takes a drink. Then the drink takes the man.”

I think this explains why I haven’t been getting much feedback on these posts. The viewing numbers are down, and no one is hitting the “like” button. Why? It’s because many of us know all too well the incredible damage that alcohol can do to a life. That’s why we shy away from the subject. We fear that if we give ground on having even one glass of wine with a plate of lasagna at Olive Garden, one bottle of beer at a July picnic, or one shot of liquor on a cold night, that we will fan the flames of the already raging bonfire of alcohol addiction in this country. That’s why so many of us want to either ignore the subject altogether or try to cling to our fortress retreat in the high, unsoiled mountains of total abstinence. Our problem, however, is that neither approach lines up with the totality of what the Bible teaches.

Is alcoholism a very real problem? Of course it is. But does everyone who drinks become addicted? Believe it or not, no they don’t. Maybe your uncle Joe did. Maybe your cousin Sue did. Maybe your child did. Maybe you did. But that doesn’t mean that everyone does. You see, in one way alcohol is like food. When used appropriately it can be viewed as a blessing from God. It makes this difficult life a little more enjoyable. It brings pleasure to the taste buds. It can even help settle the stomach. But when it is used to sinful excess, the good turns to harm. Just as overeating creates the sin of gluttony and causes all kinds of physical, emotional, and psychological problems, drinking too much creates the sin of drunkenness and causes the same kinds of problems. Is it any wonder then that the Bible so frequently links the sins of gluttony and drunkenness together? (Deuteronomy 21:20; Proverbs 23:21; Ecclesiastes 10:16-19; Isaiah 22:12-13; Amos 6:3-7; Luke 12:19; 1 Peter 4:3)

And so how should we deal with addiction to alcohol, or any addiction for that matter (food, drugs, pornography, sex, etc.)? Well, it sounds like a cliche but the cure for every addiction is Jesus. I can think of two passages that say it all. First, there is John 8:34,36:

Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave to sin…Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

And then second, there is Luke 4:17-18:

And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

And so we see that Jesus is the liberator for anyone is enslaved by or held captive by addiction. He is the Moses who can lead that person out of that Egypt. He is the David who can slay that person’s giant. He is the Solomon who can erect a shining new temple of holiness in that person’s life. Addiction doesn’t intimidate Him in the least. He has released scores of captives from its grip already and stands ready and willing to do it one more time.

1. Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise. (Proverbs 20:1)

2. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18)

3. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

4. Awake, you drunkards, and weep; and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the new wine, for it is cut off from your mouth. (Joel 1:5)

5. Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor, pressing him to your bottle, even to make him drunk, that you may look on his nakedness! (Habakkuk 2:15)

6. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. (Romans 13:13-14)

7. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. (1 Thessalonians 5:7-8)

As you can see, the Bible comes down like thunder on the sin of drunkenness. So even though the drinking of alcoholic beverages is allowable, the allowance is limited. It’s not a “get out of jail free” card. It’s not a sanctioning to drink yourself into a stupor. There is a line that shouldn’t be crossed, and it’s a line that comes into play pretty quickly.

Actually, the Bible even describes some situations in which drinking alcoholic beverages was forbidden altogether. They were as follows:

1. Israel’s priests weren’t allowed to drink either wine or strong drink when they entered the tabernacle (temple). (Leviticus 10:8-11; Ezekiel 44:21; Isaiah 28:7)

2. It wasn’t good for rulers (kings and princes) to drink wine or strong drink because it might impair their judgment. (Proverbs 31:4-5)

3. Any Jew who volunteered to take the “vow of a Nazarite” had to completely separate himself or herself from all wine, strong drink, vinegar, and grape juice. (Numbers 6:1-3; Judges 13:1-5; Luke 1:13-15)

But to get back to the point, even with a certain amount of alcoholic consumption being allowed among the Jews, the problem began when a Jew abused the privilege and got drunk. This explains the various passages which differentiate between acceptable drinking and crossing the line. Here are some of them. The words I’ve put in boldface mark the line between drunkenness and acceptable drinking:

1. Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long at the wine, those who go in search of mixed wine. (Proverbs 23:29-30)

2. Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink. (Isaiah 5:22)

3. No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent infirmities. (1 Timothy 5:23)

4. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to (addicted to) wine… (1 Timothy 3:2-3)

5. Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to (addicted to) much wine… (1 Timothy 3:8)

And so we see that it doesn’t take much to drink yourself right into sin. This is why I felt such trepidation as I wrote those first two posts of this series. Frankly, it would be a whole lot easier for me, as a preacher, if God just outlawed wine and strong drink completely. But He doesn’t do that. What He does do, though, is load the Bible with very clear warnings about the danger of drunkenness. I can only hope that you will heed them.

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”

Notice that Jesus begins by describing Christians as sheep. That’s good. But then He says that we are sent out into a world filled with wolves. That’s bad. Because of this, we can’t be regular sheep. Like all sheep, we are to be as harmless as doves. But unlike sheep, we are also to be as wise as serpents.

Can you picture sheep in the midst of a ravenous pack of wolves? That doesn’t conjure up a pretty outcome, does it? Oh, but wait, these aren’t regular sheep. These sheep are as wise as serpents. Going all the way back to the garden of Eden, the serpent is described as being more cunning than any of the other creatures. A sheep as wise as a serpent wouldn’t be such easy pickings for the wolves. And that’s exactly the point that Jesus is making.

A Christian who is as wise as a serpent will exhibit good sense, prudence, and tact when it comes to evangelism. He will not go out into the world wide-eyed, ignorant, and hopelessly naive. He will not be of the world, but he will be in the world, and he will understand what all comes with that. Charles Spurgeon described the situation as follows:

He sends them, not to fight with wolves, nor to drive them out of their haunts, but to transform them. The disciples were sent to fierce men to convince them, and therefore they must be wise…The Christian missionary will need to be wary, to avoid receiving harm; but he must be of a guileless mind, that he do no harm…we are to be simple-hearted, but we are not to be simpletons.

Is it a tough balancing act to stay as wise as a serpent and as harmless as a dove? You’d better believe it. Let’s admit that the typical way of thinking is to equate wisdom with power and, by implication, the ability to inflict harm. But that’s just not how Jesus expects His followers to wield their wisdom.

Do you remember the story where James and John learned this lesson? It’s found in Luke 9:51-56. When Jesus and the twelve came to a certain village in Samaria, the citizens of the village wouldn’t let them enter the village. James and John, being as wise as serpents in the racial hatred that existed between the Jews and the Samaritans, understand the roadblock for the insult that it was. They responded by wanting to strike like King Cobras and exact revenge on those Samaritans. They said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” But Jesus rebuked them and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” He might as well have said, “Calm down boys, I need doves not King Cobras.”

And so, Christian, I’ll ask you how you are doing on your balancing act. Are you a sheep that has either too much dove or too much serpent about you? Neither imbalance is good. If you are too gullible in worldly matters, you need to develop more of an edge. On the other hand, if you are too quick to strike, you need to develop more of a calm and peaceable nature. Think of it this way: Too much dove will make you easy pickings for the wolves, but too much serpent will keep you from converting any of the wolves into sheep. And, at the end of the day, turning wolves into sheep is why we’re to go out in the first place, right?

During Rockne’s tenure at Notre Dame, a football column regularly appeared in the school newspaper. The column’s writer would say incredibly mean, nasty, and insulting things about the team. He would not only ridicule the team as a whole but also pointedly criticize individual players. The writer always remained anonymous and merely signed his name as “Old Bearskin.”

What was most shocking about the column was that the writer seemed to have inside information concerning the team. He knew which players were lazy, which ones were ladies’ men, and which ones kept scrapbooks to read their own press clippings. Every player on the team hated “Old Bearskin.” When a player would come to practice and complain about something that had been written, Coach Rockne would sympathize and say that no one should write such things. Then he would say to the team, “Boys, let’s get out there and show ‘Old Bearskin’ that the things he writes aren’t true.”

It was only after Rockne’s death that “Old Bearskin” was revealed to be none other than Rockne himself. His purpose in writing the column was to keep his players humble and hungry as opposed to egotistical and content to rest on their laurels. Rockne understood the pitfalls of pride and went to the extreme of the column to keep his players from succumbing to them.

I trust that this illustration will help us all to understand why God sometimes allows us or even causes us to experience humbling setbacks and defeats. We don’t like such experiences any more than Knute Rockne’s players liked that newspaper column. But how can we argue that we don’t, at times, need these experiences? Believe it or not, they are nothing less than acts of love on God’s part. You see, He knows Proverbs 16:18, and He wants better for us than its words:

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Disciples Road Church is certainly no exception to this rule, and since our church is small, the summer slump looks especially bad on us. Vacations, family reunions, camps, etc., they all take their toll. Pastors try everything to keep folks coming during the summer. We’ll start a series on marriage or prophesy, two subjects which are always popular. Some pastors swap pulpits with each other for one Sunday morning. Others bring in special guest-speakers. These are all attempts to keep the flock interested in coming to church rather than going to the lake, the ocean, the campground, the ball-field, or wherever.

Mind you now that I’m not saying that all such trips are wrong or sinful. As a matter of fact, I missed a couple of Sundays myself in July as I got away and did some things with my family. But, as is so oftentimes the case, there should be moderation and balance when it comes to missing church. Yes, I missed two Sundays last month and had a preacher friend of mine fill my pulpit, but those were the first two Sundays I had taken off since we started the church four-and-a-half years ago. Do you see my point? God doesn’t mind you missing a church service every now and then if He approves of the reason, but far too many church-goers don’t ask for His approval before they make their plans, plans that cause them to miss church.

During our lunch, my pastor friend and I especially talked about how people could do their summer stuff and yet still attend church if they put just the slightest effort into it. For example, instead of leaving out on Sunday, they could do so on Monday. Or instead of checking out and driving back on Sunday, they could check out and drive back on Saturday. Rather than schedule the reunion or the family get-together on Sunday, they could schedule it on Saturday. And if they attend a church that offers Sunday night or Wednesday night services, they could attend those even if they had to miss the Sunday morning service. You see, with just a small amount of planning and effort, the amount of church services that people miss in summer could be greatly reduced.

Of course, the world and all that it has to offer gives us absolutely no help in this area. For an example, I’ll use my son Ryan’s basketball camp this summer. He is a rising high school freshman, and the high school basketball coach likes for his players to attend the Clemson Tigers basketball camp in Clemson, South Carolina. And what were the dates for that camp? They were June 17th (Friday), 18th (Saturday), and 19th (Sunday). My question is, why couldn’t those dates have been June 16th (Thursday), 17th (Friday), and 18th (Saturday)? After all, it’s summer and the kids are out of school. It would have been easy for them to have showed up on Thursday. You see, whoever set up that camp seemed to go out of his way to ensure that the kids were there on Sunday rather than in church.

This same kind of thing plays out time and time again in baseball tournaments for so-called “travel teams.” I assure you that if tournament directors scheduled their tournaments for Friday and Saturday rather than Saturday and Sunday, the teams would still be there. So why do they schedule them for Saturday and Sunday? All I can figure is that the schedulers are lost people who don’t give a rip about church.

But I don’t mean to lay all the blame for the annual summer slump at the door of lost people. Let me tell you the dirty little secret that we Christians don’t want to acknowledge: The average church-goer actually likes missing church every now and then. People will bend over backwards and move mountains to get to a place where they truly want to be, right? I mean, if a destination becomes a priority, the masses will be there. As the old saying goes, “Hell or high water couldn’t keep them away.” This shows us, then, that church isn’t truly a priority with most people. Even the ones who regularly attend can be knocked out by just the slightest problem or misalignment of the stars.

On this subject, I’ll admit that church has become its own worst enemy. It is now so much a part of the fabric of our lives that we take it for granted, don’t we? It’s so easy to think, “What’s the big deal if I miss a service? There will be another one next week.” Well, I suppose there will be, if you live another week to see it. But who’s to say what blessings you will miss at church if you skip for a reason that doesn’t pass God’s test of approval? You might miss the sermon that would change your life. You might miss the song that would carry you through the rest of your week. You might miss the prayer request for which you could make a major difference. You might be the source of encouragement that helps to keep your tired, frustrated, out-of-heart pastor going. You might be the reason that some visitors decide to become a part of your church. I’m telling you, you just never know.

So, in closing, I plead with you to consider these things any time you are planning to miss church. This goes for the summer months as well as all the other months. I guess what I’m trying to do with this post is get you to think deeper and more spiritually about your church attendance. It’s certainly not a subject that you should be blase or flippant about. Remember that Hebrews 10:24-25 is still in the Bible:

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.