10 Reasons I Abstain from Alcohol Use

Even on a site that focuses on issues like evangelism and missions, I sometimes try to respond to questions my readers and/or students ask. Today is one of those days.

I know the issue of alcohol use is controversial. Jesus did turn the water into wine (John 2), and Paul did tell Timothy to use some wine for his stomach’s sake (1 Tim 5).  No clear prohibition against alcohol use in moderation is evident in the Scriptures. Thus, I have no qualms with my brothers and sisters who choose to drink appropriately and would differ from my conclusions here.  

Nevertheless, I have chosen to abstain from the use of alcohol. Here are some reasons why:

  1. I fear the warnings of Scripture regarding the power of alcohol. The admonitions about drunkenness are clear (e.g., Prov 20:1, 23:29-35; Eph 5:18, Titus 2:3). My concern is that any moderate drinking could, in fact, eventually lead to my drunkenness — especially with my family history of such.  
  2. I don’t want to be a stumbling block to others. My guess is that most churches include people who’ve struggled with alcohol abuse. As a pastor, I don’t want to encourage their own drinking by my permissible choices (1 Cor 10:23-24).    
  3. I’ve ministered to too many people whose lives have been wrecked by alcohol. In 35+ years of ministry, I’ve seen alcohol factor into ruined marriages, addicted teens and adults, automobile accidents, and early deaths. 
  4. I’ve seen the effects of alcohol in my family. Among my own family, I have memories of eruptions of anger, divorces of long-term marriages, and addictions to drugs – all influenced by the use of alcohol.
  5. I’ve taught international believers whose churches and denominations take a strong stance against alcohol use. They may lean toward legalism, but my liberty for alcohol use would cause unnecessary questions and concerns for those believers.  
  6. My wife detests what alcohol can do. She, too, has seen the effects of alcohol abuse in her family. Out of love for her, I choose to abstain.
  7. I’m preparing students for work among churches and agencies that themselves may forbid alcohol use. Hence, it would be unloving of me to model anything less or to ignore a student’s drinking that may hinder him or her in finding church employment.
  8. I’ve never seen abstinence to be a hindrance to evangelism. Even missionaries serving in places where alcohol use is common have told me that abstaining from alcohol hasn’t weakened their work. It’s disobedience that keeps us from doing evangelism—not abstinence.
  9. I don’t trust my deceitful heart. I don’t drink at all, but I know my heart is wicked. I don’t know where I’d go if I turned to alcohol (or anything else) to medicate my grief, to quiet my worries, or even simply to experience a good taste.  
  10. My employers require abstinence. That’s true, but I intentionally list this reason last. Even if they didn’t have that requirement, I’d still take my position for all the other reasons listed here.

So, just my thoughts . . . .  Feel free to differ with me as a brother or sister in Christ.

45 Comments

  • David nies-berger says:

    Thanks for this Dr. L. Very timely as we are working through this dynamic in our small groups at church. I regret making my brothers and sisters in Christ feel judged by my abstaining but outside of not wanting to be a stumbling block I ask myself ” what if the only time X gets to hear the gospel is during this time and I can’t present effectively because I’ve been drinking” That conviction was the final nail in the coffin for me.

  • Chuck Lawless says:

    Thanks, David.

  • Bill Pitcher says:

    Your convictions match and expand a bit on my own. Thanks for articulation them as clearly as you have.

  • Penny Strickland says:

    Thank you for this post. I agree with you for all the reasons you’ve listed…and then some.

  • Chuck Lawless says:

    Thanks, Bill.

  • Jim says:

    As always, Dr. Lawless, well thought out and articulated. I concur whole-heartedly. Too much to lose and nothing to gain messing around with that stuff.

  • Thanks Dr. Lawless. It is so unnecessary in our day to drink alcohol. Rather than “why not,” I have to ask myself, “why?”

  • Stephen Renalds says:

    Thanks for this post. I agree with it surely. Retired as a pastor, now 76.
    My summer job after high school graduation was in my uncle’s bus station. Too many times I had to clean vomit out of a bus or the restroom. Yuck!!
    One of my brothers, and two uncles were alcoholics to the end. A sad ending each time.
    The one time I tried a glass of wine – a relative offered it to me (a church secretary).
    After I sipped it she said: “Now that wasn’t so bad, was it!” Immediately I knew I had failed my Lord,

  • Shannon Ford says:

    You and I talked a bit about this during your teaching trip to L’viv, Ukraine. Your list is a great reminder of our witness and liberty which must be used to benefit those needing the Gospel. Thanks for capturing the missional aspect.

  • Chris H. Borei says:

    Thank you for your well thought-out blog on this issue. I can see and understand many of the reason you list. I would, however, respectfully disagree with allowing the legalism of another ministry (which is not Biblical) to be any deciding factor or reason on an issue such as this. Just my view.

    Thanks again and God Bless!

    • Chuck Lawless says:

      Thanks for your thoughts, Chris. My point is that some friends around the world see no room for the use of alcohol and would, in fact, stand strongly against those who drink at all. I may disagree with the extent to which they go, but I would still argue that it would be wrong for me to ignore their perspective as I work with them. Blessings.  

  • Dana Barnhisel says:

    I agree with everything you said and would like to add one more reason I choose not to drink alcohol. It says in God’s word that Christians are to be different- to be set apart from the world. How are we being set apart if we drink alcohol? I didn’t grow up around alcohol so it has never been a temptation for me. I can enjoy the incredible gifts of this life by simply consuming my favorite beverage- Pepsi!

  • Andrew says:

    There’s definitely a generational difference in opinion on this issue. Older generations of Christians (mostly in the South) were taught that alcohol was a cultural taboo of sorts. Younger generations have seemed to dismiss this notion. Like many issues, it’s a matter of conscience. And each generation tends to lean a different way than the preceding one.

    I would also say there is a strong difference in opinion based on denomination and geographic areas. Southern Baptists seem to practice abstinence more than other denominations. Southerners seem to see alcohol as an inherent evil more than people who live in the North or out West.

    Thanks for your blog. I appreciate your ministry.

  • Rob Guilliams says:

    I have actually had a few times when the strict adherence to total abstinence that is required by the SBC has been a hindrance to my ministry. I’m a Navy Chaplain and when serving with a Marine Infantry battalion this policy actually made it harder for me to build relationships with many of the guys with whom I served . Having the freedom to have one beer or one glass of wine with dinner or in a social setting opens many doors with these warriors. When you’re at a Warrior Night after a big field exercise, when everyone is allotted 2 beers and you politely say “No thanks, I don’t drink,” you often get weird looks and whispers. I’ve overheard Marines say things like, “Why would I want to become a Christian. If you do you can’t drink anymore.” In some situations total abstinence is more of a stumbling block than having that one drink would be.

    • Andrea M says:

      You could politely reply that because you have a personal relationship with Christ, the feeling of dependence upon such things as alcohol and other distractions of this world are not necessary, and then go on to tell them what a difference Christ has made in your life. If you stand there and use that as a springboard, it might make them see that their lack of Christ has left them empty and that they are the ones missing out, which is the spiritual reality of the situation, you really aren’t missing anything but a potential buzz at the least and are opening yourself up to a potential addiction and a lost testimony at the worst in the situation. The Bible says that we have been called unto liberty, only not to use that liberty as an occasion to the flesh, but to lovingly serve one another in that liberty. If we allow the comments like that to get us to become like the lost, in any area, to prove that we can have just as much “fun” as them, then wouldn’t that also be a loss of a witnessing opportunity, because then they see us as just the same as them, and therefore, if we are just like them, then why do they need Christ? See my point? It isn’t legalism to say, I have Christ, I don’t need to drink to have a good time. I have a responsibility to Him to be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks me a reason of the hope that I have, not in pride and legalism, but in meekness and fear. I am also commanded to keep under my body, lest I become a cast away, worthless for Christ, because of my lack of self-control. The devil likes to use arguments that are so close to the truth that they look acceptable, but is it worth it to make one man feel like he could still have fun if he accepted Christ, and potentially lose the ability to witness to or minister to others in the same room who hold the opinion that Christians are to be different and not drink? Just trying to give you something to think about, because we are to provoke others to love, and good works, and to exhort the brethren.

    • Jim says:

      It seems that something is missing from your story. It is quite a leap from “No thanks, I don’t drink” to “You can’t drink if you’re a Christian”. You could just as easily be a recovering alcoholic. There must be something else going on that connects those dots. It does not sound like your stated answer is the stumbling block.

      As for getting weird looks, I would hope you would get those a lot. We are to be light and salt in the world. Throw either of those in someone’s eyes, and you will certainly get weird looks. I would be much more concerned if you never got weird looks. That would indicate that you had conformed to the world to the point where no one could tell the difference.

      • Wendy Strydom says:

        Aha! I like your way of thinking in saying:” As for getting weird looks, I would hope you would get those a lot. We are to be light and salt in the world. Throw either of those in someone’s eyes, and you will certainly get weird looks. I would be much more concerned if you never got weird looks. That would indicate that you had conformed to the world to the point where no one could tell the difference.”
        Spot on! Yes, we are the light and salt, let us show them how to live/ act. Sort of WWJD ♥

  • Chuck Lawless says:

    Thanks for your thoughts, Rob.

  • Donna B says:

    While I can claim many of your reasons as my own, number nine is all the reason I need.

  • Mary Ann hurst says:

    My thoughts exactly Dr. Lawless.

  • L. Forrester says:

    Honest question: The Bible contains strong warnings about the misuse of not only alcohol but also money, sex, and food. Inordinate or corrupted desires for these things have caused countless heartaches as well. Why single out alcohol for abstinence?

    • Chuck Lawless says:

      Fair question. I agree that these other things can be misused and often are. In fact, the Bible assumes we will fast from some of these things. My addressing the issue of alcohol is not intended to ignore these other issues.  

  • Andrea M says:

    There are several good books that have been recently written on this subject as well, and I would like to also point out that there is a very strong difference between the alcohol content of the wine in that day that was mentioned in the wedding feast at Cana, and the wine that Paul prescribed to Timothy for his stomach troubles, and the wine that you find on store shelves and restaurants today. Today’s bottle of wine would fall under the category of “strong drink” in the Bible’s terms, and is strictly prohibited in the book of Proverbs and in the New Testament we are commanded not to be drunk with wine, a different alcohol content from that of their table wine in the day, which means that the writer was referring to strong drink with his use of the word “wine” in this context. The table wine of that day would have been such that one would need to drink more than a gallon before he could become intoxicated, which isn’t even close to the alcohol content of the wine of today. To say that we have liberty is true, but the outlook must not be focused on what we are able to do in the flesh for self-gratification, but what we have been freed from, so that we can live in the spirit and in obedience to the calling that God has placed on our lives. If we think that God just saved us to keep us from going hell and that we have no responsibility to Him, and therefore have liberty from any form of restrictions, then we have missed the point. Romans 12:1-2, and several other passages talk about yielding our bodies as a living sacrifice, unto righteousness, to good works, to serving one another, never to run around and living in the sin that bound us before trusting Christ. Sin is sin, whether for the lost man or the Christian, if God said it is sin, then if a Christian participates in it, it is still sin, and needs to be forsaken. While I agree that it is not laid our that table wine is a sin, the use of strong drink is most definitely prohibited for the Christian. Why? Because we are to be filled with the Spirit of God, not intoxicated with anything that would make us lose control of our faculties. We are to be Sober, and vigilant. Can anyone really say that they are in complete control of their faculties if they have been drinking? No, not really, because even “one harmless glass of wine” lowers one’s inhibitions and reflex control, which means that they have lost control of their faculties to a degree already and are therefore more susceptible to the attacks of the devil and their reasoning skills have been dulled. There is no way to be Sober as the Bible commands by drinking “strong Drink” of any kind. Again, if it is the same alcohol content as the table wine in the Bible, then there is absolutely no problem, but anything stronger is forbidden. The issue isn’t so much should we, because once we know the terms that are used we know what is acceptable and what is not. The question is why would we want to lose control of ourselves, to any degree, when our sufficiency is found in Christ, and our job and calling is to be filled with the Spirit of God and allow Him to control our lives? Our focus is to be serving Him, and we are never serving Him if we are living life in contradiction of what He has commanded and taught in Scripture.

  • Logan says:

    Thanks for the good thoughts and article. I personally have no moral objection with moderate drinking. To me personally, if I ever drunk alcoholic drinks for the alcohol rather than the taste, I knew I would have to give it up. I use a similar way of thinking on food and other things. I hope my comment makes sense.

  • Tom says:

    I think much of the “enjoyment” of alcohol is the ceremony of it. Selecting a good one, setting an abundant table, cracking open a attractive bottle, filling glasses, making toasts, and sharing good conversation with loved ones. What proponents of alcohol often forget is that all of this can be enjoyed with a good bottle of imported sparkling spring water.

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