Reason #919
I am fairly certain I'm about as conservative as they come. Well, as the people in my generation come. I'm a teetotaler, which tends to make people feel really uncomfortable. I've never in my life had a drink of alcohol, and I don't really feel comfortable around it. I've never been one to give in to peer pressure, thus I've learned to be comfortable with exclusion over the years. Not that I enjoy being excluded, or desire to be, but I've come to terms that exclusion is the price that is paid for choosing an unpopular stance. Of course, exclusion only sounds bad in the moment. But, if I am being honest and got to choose, I'd choose exclusion over being uncomfortable any day of the week.
Growing up, I don't remember anyone ever telling me "Alcohol is bad and so are the people who drink it." A lot of people blame their Southern Baptist roots for feeling that they were "forced" into living this prudent, strict lifestyle that caused them to rebel. To those I would say it wasn't your church's fault. We are all responsible for the decisions we made, and the Lord isn't going to let us throw the blame of our poor decision making on to "the church." He holds us to the standard of His truth. I didn't go to a church that preached either way about alcohol, truthfully. I don't remember hearing sermons that were totally for it or totally against it. I will admit that I have, however, heard a whole lot of sermons in my life so I could have forgotten about those. But my parents didn't drink nor did anyone in my family, so I was simply ignorant about the subject. It never crossed my mind, and having absolutely no rebellious streak in my body, I simply didn't have the desire to try it.
I did, however, have a hard time being around it. I knew full well I wasn't going to drink it, and while people were kind of (but not really) okay with that, they couldn't understand why it bothered me so much to be in the same room as alcohol. And the more I didn't want to be around it, the more there was a problem with that. No one ever said, "Hey, you know what, that is totally fine. I respect that about you and so we can go somewhere else." Rather, the assumption was that I would be respectful of their choices and stay put. After all, what's the big deal, right? It's just one drink. Pretty much everyone does it, and the bible doesn't specifically condone it. My friends would tell me, "Jesus turned water into wine." And I'd politely reply, "But it never said that he drank it."
I've learned over the years that my convictions are my convictions. That what the Lord has laid on my heart is specifically for my heart, and I'll be held accountable for that. Sure, God's word has a lot of specific instructions for His children, and those apply evenly across the board. But when it comes to the subject of drinking, I've found there's much to debate. Yet I've also discovered that we live in a day and age of justifications and grace. We can and will justify the pants off of every decision we make, even the ones we know we shouldn't, and then we'll ask for forgiveness later because we've learned that grace can do that for us. For some reason, we believe that we can push past every conviction God has placed on our hearts and, if we change our minds at a later date, ask for God's forgiveness at that time. And, since the bible doesn't specify every little thing we come up against in complete black and white, we look for the gray. We decide how we want to view it, we might even let the culture influence it, and that's the answer we go with. If it feels right to us, it must be right.
But will it bring you closer to God? That's the question I ask myself. If I do this, go there, surround myself with these people, stay in this relationship, talk this way, dress like that, watch that movie, read that book, entertain that thought, or drink that drink, will it benefit my relationship with God? Will it draw me closer to Him and teach me more about Him? Will it be a testament to who God really is? Will I be reflecting an accurate image of God and encouraging those around me to love and know Him more? Will I send the right message about what God desires of His people? Will others look at my life and see His light shining through? Will they see any difference between me and the world? Will our actions and choices lead them to Jesus, the Jesus of the bible, not the one we've created on our own?
To each his own. Sometimes there really isn't just one specific way. But there is one God, and our job is to be sure that in everything we do and say, we point the world to Him.
#919 - Because He is the standard of truth.
"You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial. Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others." - 1 Corinthians 10:23-24
Growing up, I don't remember anyone ever telling me "Alcohol is bad and so are the people who drink it." A lot of people blame their Southern Baptist roots for feeling that they were "forced" into living this prudent, strict lifestyle that caused them to rebel. To those I would say it wasn't your church's fault. We are all responsible for the decisions we made, and the Lord isn't going to let us throw the blame of our poor decision making on to "the church." He holds us to the standard of His truth. I didn't go to a church that preached either way about alcohol, truthfully. I don't remember hearing sermons that were totally for it or totally against it. I will admit that I have, however, heard a whole lot of sermons in my life so I could have forgotten about those. But my parents didn't drink nor did anyone in my family, so I was simply ignorant about the subject. It never crossed my mind, and having absolutely no rebellious streak in my body, I simply didn't have the desire to try it.
I did, however, have a hard time being around it. I knew full well I wasn't going to drink it, and while people were kind of (but not really) okay with that, they couldn't understand why it bothered me so much to be in the same room as alcohol. And the more I didn't want to be around it, the more there was a problem with that. No one ever said, "Hey, you know what, that is totally fine. I respect that about you and so we can go somewhere else." Rather, the assumption was that I would be respectful of their choices and stay put. After all, what's the big deal, right? It's just one drink. Pretty much everyone does it, and the bible doesn't specifically condone it. My friends would tell me, "Jesus turned water into wine." And I'd politely reply, "But it never said that he drank it."
I've learned over the years that my convictions are my convictions. That what the Lord has laid on my heart is specifically for my heart, and I'll be held accountable for that. Sure, God's word has a lot of specific instructions for His children, and those apply evenly across the board. But when it comes to the subject of drinking, I've found there's much to debate. Yet I've also discovered that we live in a day and age of justifications and grace. We can and will justify the pants off of every decision we make, even the ones we know we shouldn't, and then we'll ask for forgiveness later because we've learned that grace can do that for us. For some reason, we believe that we can push past every conviction God has placed on our hearts and, if we change our minds at a later date, ask for God's forgiveness at that time. And, since the bible doesn't specify every little thing we come up against in complete black and white, we look for the gray. We decide how we want to view it, we might even let the culture influence it, and that's the answer we go with. If it feels right to us, it must be right.
But will it bring you closer to God? That's the question I ask myself. If I do this, go there, surround myself with these people, stay in this relationship, talk this way, dress like that, watch that movie, read that book, entertain that thought, or drink that drink, will it benefit my relationship with God? Will it draw me closer to Him and teach me more about Him? Will it be a testament to who God really is? Will I be reflecting an accurate image of God and encouraging those around me to love and know Him more? Will I send the right message about what God desires of His people? Will others look at my life and see His light shining through? Will they see any difference between me and the world? Will our actions and choices lead them to Jesus, the Jesus of the bible, not the one we've created on our own?
To each his own. Sometimes there really isn't just one specific way. But there is one God, and our job is to be sure that in everything we do and say, we point the world to Him.
#919 - Because He is the standard of truth.
"You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial. Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others." - 1 Corinthians 10:23-24
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