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Your King Has Come - Indelible Grace
In my previous post on the weaker brother, I asked the following question:
When should you not drink that beer or wine in front of someone who is weak in the faith concerning alcohol?
Let’s first dispense with what I have heard many use for reasons not to drink alcohol in public.
- Many will say a Christian should not drink in public because it will hurt their witness. They appear to take a higher ground when it comes to drinking in public (or even being seen at certain establishments that serve alcohol), because they do not want to do any damage to the potential witness they might have with someone, and they feel that by being seen drinking, that will destroy their witness to the world. This one just makes no sense to me whatsoever. As I have heard the White Horse Inn guys comment, how can you tarnish a witness by drinking in front of people who already think it is perfectly okay to drink anyway? I just don’t see this as a reasonable, or even biblical, motivation for not drinking in public.
- Another common reason for not drinking in public is the fear that someone you know may see you and be offended by your actions. As with the first reason above, I do not believe this is a good or biblical reason for not drinking in public settings either. If someone (another Christian) you know who is against drinking alcohol sees you drinking in public, gets offended and makes a judgment concerning you, I do not believe you have sinned, but I do believe the “offended” brother has sinned. In other words, even though the “offended” brother may be considered weak in the faith because he doesn’t think it is right for him to drink personally, he has no right to get offended because you do not share that same conviction, and he is thus guilty of sin. Paul warned the person who abstains not to pass judgment on the one who does not abstain (Rom. 14:3).
So, the question still remains as to when one should and should not drink alcohol (or engage in any liberty he has as a Christian). To answer this, I think I must first point out what I believe are two different groups of Christians who are weak in the faith. They are:
- Those who fully understand and believe that everything in and of itself is clean, but who still lack the faith to actually participate in whatever is at issue (for me this is drinking alcohol). Paul said, “I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean” (Rom. 14:14). Granted, he was talking about eating meat (probably sacrificed to idols), but I think the same principle can be applied to the issue of drinking as well.
- Those who simply do not possess the faith that they can or should engage in certain activities which other Christians freely do without a moment’s hesitation or reservation. These individuals have a personal conviction that doing certain things is a sin, and therefore they cannot be involved in them. John Gill describes this group very well…
by “him that is weak in the faith”, is meant, either one that is weak in the exercise of the grace of faith, who has but a glimmering sight of Christ; who comes to him in a very feeble and trembling manner; who believes his ability to save him, but hesitates about his willingness; who casts himself with a peradventure on him; and who is attended with many misgivings of heart, faintings of spirit, and fluctuation of mind, about his interest in him: or one that is weak in the doctrine of faith; has but little light and knowledge in the truths of the Gospel; is a child in understanding; has more affection than judgment; very little able to distinguish truth from error; cannot digest the greater and more sublime doctrines of grace; stands in need of milk, and cannot bear strong meat; is very fluctuating and unsettled in his principles, and like children tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine: or rather one that is weak in his knowledge of that branch of the doctrine of faith, which concerns Christian liberty
Finally, the answer to my own question. When should a person not drink alcohol? I must confess that I do not have a 100% firewater-proof answer, but here is my best guess…
It is probably a good idea not to drink alcohol when in the presence of mixed company. And by that I mean, if you are in a setting where you either do not know the spiritual state of everyone around you, or you know there are some present who would fall (no pun intended) under the category of being a weaker brother or sister, then for the sake of their conscience and not causing them to possibly sin against God, it is probably a good idea to abstain at that point.
If you are with a group of Christians, however, and you know there are some present (like myself) who know and understand the truth about Christian liberty but who choose not to partake anyway, then I would say you should be free to enjoy your beverage.
The main question to ask, I think, in any situation, is this: Are there any brothers or sisters present who, in seeing me engage in this liberty of mine, will be swayed to do the same even though their conscience is/may be against it, thereby causing them to sin against Christ (because they are not doing it from faith), and also thereby resulting in me also being guilty of sin as well?
It truly is a thing of thought to think about it. In other words, ponder what Paul is saying in Romans 14, and ask God for discernment in everything you do (I will try and do the same).
