According to a survey in 2022, ages 18 and older have had alcohol affect their lives to the total of 17.1 million men . In the same survey there were 11.7 million women. Complete this total starting at ages 12 and above there were 753,000. This is further complicated by the fact that morals cannot be legislated even though marriages and children without both parents are the result. But how does the Bible fit into this picture?
In some cases, in ancient days water was scarce or polluted. Alcohol was also used as a form of medicine. There is an example of this when Paul told Timothy to drink some wine for his stomach problems. On the contrary, in the Bible some people do not consume alcohol at all. This likely could be the case of those who took a Nazarene pledge. Of course, they may have drunk grape juice without fermentation. It is not accurate to say that alcohol use was not prevalent in biblical times. Even in the Old Testament, its use was warned.
Several Bible verses such as 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 8:11-3; and Romans 14:21 make direct reference to the use of alcohol. Whether it was in Bible days or today there are some unhappy reasons when people drink, especially to access. It might be the result of complicated relationships. It could be a means to escape from daily stress. There is a definite possibility that the use of alcohol might be involved with poor self-image. Of course, the use of alcohol could be the result of peer pressure. Emotional complications could be anxiety, remorse, grief, self-pity, or loneliness. One thing is for sure, the use of alcohol could result in the lessening of innovations.
Especially the excessive use of alcohol no matter what age can easily become unhealthy and contribute nothing to a person’s life. When friends or family draw attention to the use, they may be rebuffed by saying in an attempt to justify their drinking that it is only moderate.
Questions and problems still present themselves even to this day. How should we react to somebody who uses alcohol? How should a person appropriately refuse the use of alcohol when pressured? How do we protect our youth? How do we deal with the inconsistencies of a moral society versus an immoral society? How do we deal with the degenerate state of the society in which we live? These are questions the church should address.
In Bible days people drank to excess. In modern days people still drink to excess. Alcohol has a fascinating and habitual grip on most everybody one way or the other. Thousands and thousands of people each year are killed in traffic fatalities as a result of alcohol use. This treatise is offered as a strong argument for the positive influence from the Holy Spirit and from one who accepts Christ as Savior. This is not necessarily to imply that when a person becomes a Christian, they automatically lose their taste for alcohol. It is to make a strong statement that when a person accepts Christ and allows the Holy Spirit to work in their lives, addictions and habits are best challenged by the influence of God in their lives.
Christian Writer 