CULTIVATING THE MIND OF CHRIST

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USE AND ABUSE OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

 “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is 
ragging and whoever is deceived
 thereby is not wise.” (Prov. 20:1). 

In a more contemporary rendition, we can translate the above passage thus: “Beer is a mocker, whiskey is ragging; whoever is deceived thereby is stupid.”

This is a testimony of the word of God. Romans 3:4 says, “Let God be true and every man a liar.” If God’s word says it, then no matter what men say to justify it, is useless. Beer, whiskey, stout, ale, rum, etcetera make one tipsy, leading to serious physical, moral, relational and spiritual flaws.

Nevertheless, the pictures that television commercials, newspaper, magazine and billboard advertisements, etcetera present to us do not tell us this truth but go a long way to convince us that consuming alcoholic beverages are not harmful but that they are socially acceptable and actually make one a man or woman worth his or her salt in the committee of distinguished persons. One former university don and politician, late Senator Chuba Okadigbo wrote on the wall of Senior Staff Club, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria in which he affirmed that, “Best brains are washed in alcohol.”     

One Guinness Stout television commercial says, “1759 (that is 5:59pm local time) is when men meet to share in the goodness of Guinness Stout,” but adds that people, “should drink responsibly.” Why the warning if it is not harmful? Nigerian Brewery Plc.’s, commercial on Star Larger Beer, one of its brands depicts Star as “Shine Shine Bobo… with its many million bubbles” that will give shine to your life.

The idea that beer, ale and wine are harmless has hoodwinked many intelligent people, and a great amount of advertising has built up this delusion. Beer and lighter liquors can be as harmful to the nervous system as any poison can. Any damage to the nervous system affects every organ of the body, even our skins, toenails and the hairs of our heads!

Consumption of alcoholic beverages is an age old practice, which have come to stay with their far-reaching consequences on individuals, families and societies. These appeal to base human nature in its search to escape reality. They have destroyed lives, wrecked marriages and families; put businesses out of existence and brought good names to infamy.

 It should be noted that alcohol does not help but destroys.

Alcohol is the greatest form of drug abuse. In Bible, alcohol was used as drugs – antibacterial (Tim. 5:23) and as disinfectant (Luke 10: 33-34) but today it is no longer used as drugs but as items of entertainment by those who consume them.

Of all drug abuses, alcohol ranks amongst the highest. This is because it has come to be socially and religiously (in some circles) accepted. Someone has rightly observed that two of the most outstanding parties the world over are Political and Cocktail (wine/alcoholic) parties. This socially accepted practice has become a great problem considering the damages it causes to the society in general and individuals in particular. This is not to talk of the agonies families of those trapped in alcoholism endure.

WHY DO PEOPLE CONSUME ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES?

    It is important at this point to ask, “Why do people consume alcoholic beverages? Why do Christians also consume alcoholic beverages?” My findings reveal that people generally consume alcoholic beverages because of the following:

1.     Habits (acquired from friends, by observing parents and peers).

2.     To share good times with friends.

3.     To control anger.

4.     To sleep well at night.

5.     To think well.

6.     To handle a nagging wife at home

7.     To forget one’s sorrows.

8.     To clear one’s eyes and head.

WHY DO SOME “CHRISTIANS” CONSUME ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES?

1.     Old habits die hard.

Some people who were drinking (moderately or heavily) before becoming Christians have not seen the need to divorce their old habits of alcohol consumption and so cling to it as if their lives depend on them.

2.     “Jesus turned water into wine.”

Christians who drink contend that there is nothing wrong with drinking. They are quick to refer to Jesus miracle of turning water into wine at Cana. This wine, they argue was not non-alcoholic but contains a measure of alcohol. They argue that not only did Jesus turn water into wine but that He actually drank wine going by the reference in Matthew 11: 18-19.

3.     Paul advised Timothy to “drink little wine for stomach’s sake.”

Christians who drink continue to do so because Paul encouraged Timothy, a fellow Christian and preacher of the Gospel at Ephesus to “Take little wine for” his “stomach’s sake” (I Tim. 5:23). Today, they are drinking because of their “stomach’s sake” (tongue-in-cheek).

4.     Christians drink to “drown away their sorrows” (Pro. 31:6-7).

The world is in too much of a trouble that from time to time one needs to steal away and not focus too much on them. Doing so will only be too disastrous. To drown away their sorrows, they have to do with one or two bottles of alcoholic beverages. But are we Ostriches?

5.     It is an acceptable social hospitality that one has to present wine to his/her visitor. Entertainments of our visitors are important. It is good to be hospitable. But would we make sane people insane? When people visit with us with their heads clear, how would we feel if they leave our homes tipsy and with faltering steps? (cf. Habakkuk 2:15).

6.     Bible does not explicitly condemn drinking but drunkenness. Prospective elders are not to be controlled by wine, not that they should not drink at all (I Tim. 3:3). So, if it was not wrong for elders to be controlled by wine, Brethren should taste a little of it. After all, “it does not hurt to sip little.” So, the argument goes.    

7.     “John Baptist was not eating and drinking but Jesus did” (Matthew 11:18). Some people like John may not naturally like wine but some people like Jesus do. Those who do not should not condemn those who do. It is a matter of choice and body constitution.

8.     Environment. Environment is a factor to people consuming alcoholic beverages. The Ijaws of the Niger-Delta who live in extreme cold weather and those who live in riverine areas drink locally produced gin because of cold weather. The argument goes that if they do not, they would develop serious health problems and die.     

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONSUMPTION: A STEP IN WRONG OR RIGHT DIRECTION?

Alcohol consumption is retrogressive. The first sip is a step in the wrong direction. One author captures it this way, “Social drinking is to alcoholism what that first dose of deadly dope is to addiction- a starter! It is what that first session of heavy petting is to overt fornication or adultery – a begging, a door opener, a graven invitation for more frequent and larger intakes. It is what lusting or coveting of another’s possession is to outright theft or brazen robbery. Some of the sure fruits of alcoholic beverages through the ceaseless centuries have been broken lives, broken vows in marriage, shattered homes, mistreated children, wrecked hopes, and injured souls.”

 One never gets drowned in water if one never gets close to a river. The evil effects of alcohol consumption are terrible. Elkins and Taylor (1986:11) observed, “Considered as a tree, strong drink is evil in its roots, its trunk, its branches and its leaves; the person who wants to please Christ and the Spirit of holiness cannot pluck from its infamous fruits and partake in controlled or uncontrolled amounts. Every drop is deadly; every link with it is lethal; every sup of it is sinful.” Considering the effects of alcoholic consumption, God’s word, says in Proverb 23: 20, 29-32.

Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh; Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? Who hath redness of eyes? Who hath babbling? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red when it giveth its colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

One’s control over alcoholic beverages begins and ends when they are bought and their cocks opened but afterwards, alcohol takes over. When wine is in the wit is out. A Japanese proverb says, “First, the man takes a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes the man.”

EFFECTS OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONSUMPTION

Someone called alcohol, “The waters of eternal destruction.” Drinking can be as dangerous a pulling the pin of a hand grenade and then forgetting to throw it. The evils of alcoholic consumption are many. It injures the body, it ruins the soul, it disables the mind and is unfit for daily life; it brings poverty, it leads into bad company, it is opposed to religion and morality; it injures family and friends; it tempts others, it leads to crime.

One bitter soul asked the following rhetorical questions after hearing someone extol the goodness of alcohol: 

"Is liquor glorious when it turns men into monsters, adults into addicts, or women into harlots? Is it glorious when it kills or maims for life tens of thousands annually? Is it glorious when it withholds food, clothing and shelter from the mouths of innocent wives and precious children? Is liquor glorious when it brakes down inhibitions and causes the wine-inflamed to commit fornication or adultery? Is liquor glorious when it breaks up homes as it has done in millions of cases in the past and still does more of infamous same? Is liquor glorious when it becomes an active, ardent ally to so many glaring and grievous crimes annually?"

          (Garland Elkins and Robert Taylor, Social Drinking: Unjustified, Unsocial,Unwise Unscriptural, P. 21, 1988, Getwell Church of Christ, Memphis, Tennessee).

Kieran Murphy (1998:1), asked, “Can any good thing come from imbibing alcohol? Perhaps. But the dangers of drinking alcohol are so great and the warning of scripture so clear, why then do people take the risk?”

We will briefly examine some of the evil effects of alcoholic consumption. Consumption of alcoholic beverages can cause several health concerns to one's body such as:

1.     Cirrhosis of the liver.

2.     Pancreatitis, epilepsy.

3.     Polyneuropathy.

4.     Alcoholic dementia.

5.     Heart disease.

6.     Increased chance of cancer.

7.     Nutritional deficiencies.

8.     Sexual dysfunction.

9.     Death from other sources.

Socially:

1.     Alcoholism will definitely affect one socially.

2.     One can lose his or her job as a result of coming to work drunk or from hang over.

3.     Drinking causes reduced judgement, which creates legal problems such as drunk driving.

4.     One may lose his/her spouse as a result of constant drinking.

5.     Family and friends may stay away from one who habitually drinks.

AREAS WHERE ALCOHOLIC CONSUMPTION AFFECTS CONSUMERS

1. Brain and Nervous System

Alcohol is a brain killer – Medical authorities’ state, “Every time you take a drink, you die a little.”

A common effect of the heavy use of alcohol is deterioration of the brain and nervous system. Brain cells are not replaceable. Ethyl alcohol is a poison, and it will cause instant death if the concentration in the body is high enough. The cells in our brains and nervous systems are very delicate and easily damaged. These are the most easily damaged of all the cells in our bodies. It is natural that they would be the ones affected first and most seriously by alcohol.

Yes, alcohol destroys. In fact, alcohol is an anesthetic closely related to ether. Drinkers who keep at it find that the nerves going to their arms and legs are affected. A paralysis, especially of the legs, is produced. This, medical experts call “neuritis.” Doctors think this is caused by a prolonged vitamin deficiency brought on by the habitual use of alcohol. It can be painful and very incapacitating.

Continual use of alcohol will cause a general deterioration of the entire nervous system. This can be reversed only by a considerable time of complete abstinence and a high vitamin intake. 

2. Heart

Alcohol can contribute to heart diseases. It makes the heart beat faster, causing a marked fatigue of the heart. The heart becomes flabby and dilated and is unable to perform the same amount of work as an unaffected heart. Beer drinking over a period of years sometimes causes an enlargement of the heart popularly called “beer heart.” This condition causes a weakness and flabbiness of the heart muscles. Vigorous exercise becomes impossible. Alcohol damages the stomach. When we stop to consider that 170,000 persons die of cancer every year, and that the most common site of cancer is the digestive tract, it is time something is done to awaken us to the dangers of this health-destroying habit! 

3. Reproductive System

Alcohol affects the reproductive system. Medical authorities may be quoted by the score to show that a great many cases of venereal diseases are contracted under the influence of alcohol. Alcohol is the most successful artificial excitant to sexual excesses. In a moderate amounts, it lowers self-restraint and self-control. Excesses alcohol consumption in both sexes is a contributing factor to sterility. Statistically, it can be shown that many congenital malformations and mental defects found in children as the result of conception when one or both parties were under the influence of alcohol. 

4. Ulcer and Indigestion

Alcohol can play a part in causing stomach and duodenal ulcers, and it can prevent the healing of these ulcers. The delicate pink lining of the stomach becomes thickened and leather-like when one continues to consume alcohol.

Digestion, instead of being a pleasant process, becomes a serious problem. The drinker is plagued with indigestion and gastric distress a great deal of the time. The alcoholic does not eat enough vitamin-containing foods. The lack of Vitamin B can open the door to neuritis, muscle weakness, nervousness and mental disorders. 

5. Liver

Our livers are the largest gland of your bodies, weighing from 40 to 60 ounces. It secretes bile and is important to the digestive action. It stores glycogen and purifies the blood. The liver cells are very sensitive. Damage to them brings serious consequences. Alcoholic beverages are acknowledged to be the main causes of cirrhosis of the liver; the organ becomes uneven, hard, lumpy and shrinks in size. This slows the flow of blood and causes dilation of the veins. 

ALCOHOL AND THE THINGS THAT DO NO MIX WITH     THEM

        There are a number of things that do not mix with alcohol. Some of these are highlighted as follows: 

Alcohol and religion

Whiskey and religion are like liquor and driving an automobile – THEY DO NOT MIX!

Alcohol and health

Medical authorities now tell us that, “Every time you take a drink, you die a little.” This is because alcohol affects brain cells. Brain cells on the other hand are not replaceable.

Alcohol and driving

Social drinking is a road killer. LET’S TALK ABOUT ALCOHOL says that, “Two drinks make it unsafe to drive for two hours; three drinks make it unsafe for four hours.”

Alcohol and marriage

Social drinking is a marriage destroyer. Howard Whiteman, a popular Columnist in The Knoxville Journal of January 19, 1960 wrote, “Mix matrimony with heavy drinking, chill, and stir briskly, and you get marriage-on-the-rocks.”

ALCOHOL DESTROYS INTERNALLY, EXTERNALLY     AND ETERNALLY

Alcoholic consumption destroys consumers Internally, Externally and Eternally. It destroys one economically, too.  

INTERNALLY

Alcohol is destructive to its consumers. Just like immorality (fornication or adultery) whoever commits it hurts his/her own body. Alcohol destroys one’s internal organs. Come to think of it, alcohol does not contain vitamins, multivitamins, minerals or trace elements but things that are rather destructive to one’s body.

EXTERNALLY

Socially, alcohol is destructive. Think of the social perceptions of the man or woman who is given to consuming alcoholic beverages. Sometimes he/she is not regarded, his/her words not taken seriously and his/her influence dwindles. No one can be a good Christian who drinks alcohol.

ETERNALLY

    Because of the attendant consequences of consuming alcohol, which invariably leads to drunkenness, the consumer endangers his or her eternal destiny (I Corinthians 6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-21).

SERVANTS OF GOD BEWARE OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE  CONSUMPTION

It was wine that led to the curse of Canaan. Noah, a righteous man, one who had found favour with God among the people of his generation was pulled down by alcohol. After surviving the flood, planted and reaped what he had sown, he got drunk, became naked and subsequently cursed his son, Canaan and all his generations. Imagine one moment of drunken stupor and the negative effects it has on destinies of generations (Genesis 9:20-24).  

It was wine that led Lot to impregnate his two daughters. He had escaped the doom of Sodom and Gomorrah but could not overcome his drinking habits. In his drunken stupor, he got his two daughters impregnated. I am sure that if he was not drunk he would not have slept with his daughters. Because his daughters knew that one of his weaknesses was alcohol, they made him drunk and he fell to their evil scheming (Genesis 19:30-38).

We should sound a note of warning: No matter how spiritual you are, when you give yourself to consumption of alcoholic you are bound to fall. Alcohol and Christianity do not mix. Therefore, “Let him who thinks he stands beware lest he falls.” (I Cor. 10:12).

WAYS TO DEAL WITH DRUNKENNESS

I want us to take a look at steps that should be taken to deal with drunkenness. First, we should realize that one derives nothing good from drinking alcoholic beverages. They do not give vitamins, minerals, or trace elements. They are just drains, draining our pockets, endanger our testimonies, make us look stupid, make us take stupid decisions, etcetera. I dare say that one of the worst inventions of mankind is alcohol.         

STEPS TO OVERCOMING ALCOHOLICISM

1.     Realize that alcoholic consumption destroys you economically.

Consider the drains and the large hole that alcohol consumptions leave in your pocket. For instance, if you are given to drinking two bottles of Gulder, Star or Stout every day at one hundred and eighty to two hundred Naira (N180.00 – N200. 00) per bottle daily you spend an average of three hundred and sixty Naira to four hundred Naira (N360.00 – N400. 00) daily, not to talk of “Pepper Soup with which to wash it down.” Now, this translates to two thousand five hundred and twenty Naira to two thousand eight hundred Naira (N2, 520.00 – N2, 800. 00) weekly; ten thousand, eighty Naira to eleven thousand two hundred Naira (N10, 080.00 – N11, 200. 00) monthly and between one hundred and twenty thousand, nine hundred and sixty Naira to one hundred and thirty four thousand, four hundred Naira (N120.960.00 – N134, 400. 00) yearly! In ten years, you must have spent over a million Naira on nothing that does not contribute anything to your health but takes away from it.    

Mr. Peter Ukponu, a 42 year old foodstuff dealer in popular Balogun Market, Lagos, Nigeria had these to say, “Before the recession, I used to enjoy liquor, but all has now changed.” Why? He adds, “If your morals cannot check you, your pocket certainly will.” (The Spectator, July 17 -23, 2009 P. 20).

2.     Remind yourself that this is but a habit that you picked somewhere along the path of life. If you think that alcoholic consumption is your life now, listen to what Jesus has to say in Luke 9:23-25, “If you save your life you will loose it but if you your life you will save it…” What does this mean? If you insist on saving your life (habit) you will loose your real life but if you loose your life (habit) you will save your true life.

3.     Hate alcohol

Hate it for what it does to your body, for what it does to your pocket (economy); hate it for what it does to your relationship, for what it does to your influence, for what it does to your spirituality.

You cannot love what you hate. Hate them with a passion. Resist the urge to consume them. As much as you can, stay away from where they are sold and do not befriend anyone who consumes any kind of alcoholic beverage.

4.     Think critically about your influence as a Christian.

Ask yourself, “What are the examples am I setting for other Christians 
     by consuming alcoholic beverages?”

5.      Turn to God in prayer.

           With God all things are possible. Go to God and resign yourself to Him.
           Tell Him of your willingness to stop drinking and ask for His help. With
            the help of God, you ”Can do all things because He is the one who  gives                you strength.” (Phil. 4:13).     

6.     Cultivate the relationship of those who do not consume alcohol. Keep yourself familiar with those who argue against the use of alcohol. Help to teach against alcoholic consumption.

7.     Go for counseling.

It would be important for you to go for counseling if you think it is difficult to overcoming your drinking habits. While you do that read books on alcoholism and listen to tapes on the testimonies of those who overcame it in one way or another. By doing these, you will get the strength to overcome yours.  

CONCLUSION

Someone had written, “We need mental suasion for the man who thinks; moral suasion for the man who drinks; legal suasion for the drunkard maker and prison suasion for the statute breaker….” What benefits are there in consumption of alcoholic beverages? The answer is NO BENEFIT at all.

We have taken time to look at the subject matter. It is my hope that this discussion will at least help someone to be benefited from it.  

God bless all of us in Jesus name!