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,
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
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
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?"
(
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
It was wine that led
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).
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,
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.
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!
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