Alcohol and God's Blessing

Recently the Southern Baptist Convention voted on and passed a non-binding resolution that called for total abstinence concerning the use or manufacturing of alcohol and prohibiting anyone who partakes of alcohol from leadership in the SBC. While it is non-binding in itself, it is suggested that it will prompt particular member churches or organizations to adopt binding resolutions proscribing, within their sphere of authority, the use or manufacturing of alcohol.

The topic of alcohol and the Christian life is interesting to me as a relatively new believer, having come to Christ at age 42, being one who has a history of drinking alcoholic beverages. This history includes multiple instances of drunkenness in my 20's, decreasing instances in my 30's, and now a total distaste for the idea of drinking until intoxicated. Yet, I continue to enjoy alcoholic beverages, in moderation. I even manufacture beer at home on occasion and enjoy the entire process, from deciding on the ingredients, managing the fermentation process, and partaking of the result. It's a craft for me, a hobby, and I've produced some batches that were very fine indeed, surpassing in quality (in my opinion) the vast majority of what could be purchased from a vendor. I've also produced some complete losers, worthy of immediate disposal.

So the topic of what God's word teaches concerning alcohol is of course very important to me, for I do not wish to sin before God by violating His commandments. If His word shows that I am sinning, I will immediately destroy my craft brewing equipment and cease from purchasing and using alcohol.

In this article I am not going to mount a defense of imbibing alcoholic beverages. That is not my intention here. What I bring to your attention are two articles that deal with the subject and deal with it in a God honoring, scripturally based fashion. Whatever side of this issue you come down on, I expect you will be edified by the articles offered.

The first article "Concerning alcoholic beverages" is from Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He writes in support of the SBC resolution and does so using Scripture. The second article is from a blog entitled "ConcernedSBCer" and is a response to Patterson's article. The author has chosen to remain anonymous. While I will generally be loathe to link to a Christian who chooses to remain anonymous when speaking or writing concerning Christian topics, I find from this individual's writing that he/she is not choosing anonimity to allow the usual kind of abuses that come with a lack of accountability. The author is also using Scripture as the ground and authority for his argument.

As for the meaning of the title for my article, it will become apparent as you read the articles above.

Enjoy,
Michael Herrmann

UPDATE (May 23, 2007):
As things go on the net it was only a matter of time before the links in the article would become obsolete. That day has come.