The Priest and the Bottle

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"The LORD then spoke to Aaron, saying, 'Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you may not die--it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations--and so as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean, and so as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them through Moses.'" - (Lev. 10:8-11, NASB)
   In addressing the issue of alcohol within the Christian community, there is an often overlooked principle in Scripture that cannot be ignored. In the Old Testament, the priests were not permitted to drink when they were going to enter into the temple of God, period. To do so would invite death. By abstaining from drinking, they established what is right and wrong as examples for the people of God.  These are not my ideas, these are God's ideas, outlined in the verses above. The Old Testament is often ignored in matters of faith today and noted as outdated or invalid. However, the Bible has shown that God often works in patterns. 
   The temple in the Old Testament proved to be a pattern of the spiritual life of believers today. God's presence dwelt in the temple prior to Jesus's arrival, but after Jesus's departure the believer became the temple of God. (1 Cor. 3:16-17, 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16;  Eph. 2:21) Once a person accepts Jesus as LORD and receives salvation, they become indwelt by the Holy Spirit, making them a temple of God. Furthermore, we ascribe to an idea referred to as the priesthood of the believer. It means that as believers we no longer need someone to enter into the presence of God for us. Through Christ's death and resurrection, we can boldly go into the presence of God ourselves, making us, in essence, priests unto God.
   As priests unto God, we are held to a higher standard, a clean and holy one, which is separate and distinct from the standards of this world. By abstaining, we make the same distinction for the followers of God today. Proponents of the idea say things like, "The Bible only says we are not to be drunk with wine," or , "Jesus turned the water into wine, so He must be okay with us consuming it," or, "Paul told Timothy to drink some for his stomach, so it must be okay for health reasons." Removed from their Scriptural context they seem to support the idea of drinking, but the whole counsel of Scripture tells us otherwise. There are a number of issues that are not addressed directly in the Bible, such as illicit drugs and abortion, but they are addressed indirectly through the principles found in the Bible. However, consumption of alcohol is not one of them.
   There is not enough space in this short post to cover the entirety of Scripture on the subject of alcohol, but it is not necessary either. Even if the Word of God was silent on the subject of alcohol,  two basic principles outlined by Paul should cover it: (1)"All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything." (1 Cor. 6:12, NASB) (2) "Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble."  (1 Cor. 8:13, NASB) 
   Whether we are talking of movies and music, drugs, relationships,  or any other matter of life, we have to determine as Christians if this is profitable for our spiritual health and life and if it causes others to stumble.  Rather than seeing how close we can get to sin and still be safe, we should flee from even the appearance of it. (1 Tim. 6:11; Prov. 4:15). 

   

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