by Missy Bell

Created on: May 30, 2008

The very fact that the question "is drinking a sin for Christians?" can be asked among the educated Christian circle is something I find somewhat absurd. While I am a firm believer that alcohol in excess is sinful and shameful under many circumstances, there are a few facts that remain debunking the view of the entire practice of drinking as a sin.

First and foremost, we must look at the teachings of Jesus if we are to claim Christianity as our ticket to heaven. He is, after all, the entire reason for our system of beliefs. If we study the gospels we can see that Jesus never says drinking is sinful. In fact, Jesus must have been "a drinker" himself, considering that in Israel at the time water was mostly unsanitary and could cause all sorts of nasty diseases, forcing most to drink wine on a regular basis as a major form of hydration.

True, the wine would have been somewhat less potent than our current concoctions, as it would have been common and yes, cheap wine that was often served at the dinner table with meals, so a state drunkenness would not have been so easily attained.

Even in the light of the above, it is also important to realize that the very first miracle performed by Jesus Christ was at the Wedding of Cana, and that miracle was changing water into wine. Not just cheap, watered-down wine, but very good wine, as stated by the banquet master at the wedding who proclaimed that he was impressed that the hosts had "saved the best for last", referring to the fact that the feast was almost finished and normally the good wine is given to guests at the beginning of the party and the cheap wine is brought out at the end (John 2:10).

The above miracle should give us a clue as to Jesus' opinion of alcohol under appropriate circumstances. However, we cannot leave what must be the Christian view of drinking at that. It is also important to look further into the New Testament at the Epistles of Paul.

In Romans 14:21 Paul addresses the issue of eating meat that has been offered to idols. He explains that while the eating of this particular meat is not a sin for a Christian, since we know that idols are simply not real gods, there are those new Christians who grew up believing that idols were truly representative of living beings who had some control over the world, and for them, eating the meat offered to such things in sacrifice would be appalling now that they have "found Jesus". Paul explains that while we might understand that this is not a sin, if someone else believes that this action is sinful, we should certainly not partake in the meat offered to idols in front of them. In fact, it would be better to "abstain from meat altogether than to cause a brother to stumble."

Therefore, if someone considers drinking a sin, then we should respect that person's feelings and abstain with them, in order to help them in their walk with Christ.

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