The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Should Christians Drink?

Episode Date: October 16, 2020

What exactly does Scripture say about drinking? Today, Jeff dives into the Bible to explain what it teaches and breaks down both the benefits of drinking, and the dangers of drinking excessively. Snippet from the Show "Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods. It ensures the will's mastery over instincts and keeps desires within the limits of what is honorable. "- CC 1809 Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail] Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit ascensionpress.com/thejeffcavinsshow for full shownotes!

You're listening to the Jeff Kavana show, Episode 188. Should Christians drink? Hey, I'm Jeff Kavans. How do you simplify your life? How do you study the Bible? All the way from motorcycle trips to raising kids, we're going to talk about the faith and life in general. It's the Jeff Kaven show. Ah, the weather is changing. It is getting colder here in the woods of Minnesota, and the leaves are falling, and wind is blowing. It's that time of year, and we're getting ready for winter here up in the north. Not as many people walking around the lake as I look out at it.

In fact, a lot of the geese are gone, and things are settling down a little bit, that time of preparation. You go outside and rake the leaves, and it's getting cold. and might go in for a little hot toddy, or maybe not. That's what we're going to talk about today on the Jeff Kaven show. We're going to talk about should Christians drink? And as I was preparing for this show and I was sharing some of the ideas with some of my friends, they responded in a couple of ways. One was, I've always wondered about that.

You know, what does the Bible say about drinking? And others were, uh-oh, here it comes. Well, we're going to talk about both aspects. We're going to talk about the positive aspects from the Bible when it comes to drinking, whether it's wine or strong drink. We're also going to talk about the warnings, which as I look through the Bible, I see some very serious warnings. This is not a show of judgment. This is a show of encouragement and possibly warning in your life. I started thinking about this. a few years ago, and it really was precipitated by something that went on at a men's conference years ago. I was speaking at a men's conference, and there were probably, I don't know, four or five men that were speaking at the conference, and there was about 1,500 men attending the conference. And after the conference wound up at the end of the day, all the speakers got together with a bunch of organizers, and they met, and they had a bit of a bar laid out there.

And I walked in and they said, well, what do you have to drink, Kavens? And I said, well, can I have some sparkling water? I just felt like having some sparkling water that night. And immediately I had two or three guys say, oh, come on, Kavans. What are you going to have to drink? And I said, really, I just want some sparkling water. And one of the guys made a comment that made me think. And it kind of bothered me a little bit.

He said, oh, Kavans hasn't fully converted. Well, I know what they were saying there and that drinking seems to be a part of the game and part of the social life, but it didn't sit right with me. Have you ever been in a situation like that where you felt like you were expected to drink just because you were together? Maybe you don't drink. Maybe you're a teetotaler, and you felt that pressure that you really should drink, or maybe you have a problem with alcohol. and you felt that pressure. Well, let's talk about all sides of this today. I've got a number of scriptures for you,

and I don't expect you to be writing this down as you drive. You certainly wouldn't drink and drive. Don't write things down when you're in the car. I'll give you all of these scriptures. All you have to do is type my name into a text message, Jeff Kaven's, one word. That's J-E-F-F-C-A-V-I-N-S, and you can text it to the number 33777. If you do that, you'll be on the list forevermore,

and we'll provide the show notes for you. If you want the special document that tells you how long it takes to read each book of the Bible, you can go to my website, jeffcavens.com, and we'll get that to you. Before we get into this, quick note coming up in June of 2021, Father Mike Schmitz and I will be leading a wonderful pilgrimage to the Holy Land. And you're invited this last year we had, wow, we had a lot of young adults that were going to be going with us until COVID struck, and we had to cancel that. It's on again for next June.

We're going to see how it goes, but you can go to my website and you can sign up and get your place on the bus with Father Mike Schmitz and myself. The Swoffords, Andrew Swofford, and Sarah Swofford, are going to be joining us along with some amazing, amazing musicians. That's coming up in June of 2021, a Holy Land pilgrimage. All right, the topic at hand, should Christians drink? Well, it's not quite that simple of yes or no. It's not just black and white, but it's something that we need to seriously take a look at. And I'm going to

go over some of the positive aspects of particularly wine when we look at the Bible. and even answer the question, did Jesus have a glass of wine? Well, we're going to go back into the culture of the Old Testament and the New Testament, and I'm going to give you some scriptures here that really give more of an affirmation about the use of wine in our lives. Now, there are some denominations that absolutely forbid it. In fact, they come up with kind of some funny, fuzzy theology when they look into the words of the Old Testament, and they'll talk about, well, real, really good wine was actually

wine that was the alcohol was extracted from it. It was more like Welch's grape juice, and that's really not really the case. There was one type of wine back in the New Testament era that was very, very low in alcohol, but there was also wine that was strong, and then of course there's strong drink. Well, let's jump in. In John chapter two, we see that Jesus attended a wedding and his mother was there, the Blessed Virgin Mary. And you may remember that the statement was made by Mary. She said they have no more wine. And after Jesus turned the water into wine, the comment was given, well, you saved the best wine till last, when typically you would serve the best wine first and then the crummy wine.

after that. But it's interesting that Jesus changed water into wine, and wine became really the source of the Last Supper, right? And we see that we in the Mass in the Catholic Church, what do we do? Well, we have wine that is changed. Transubstantiation. It becomes the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus. In Matthew chapter 11, we also see that Jesus was accused of something Apparently, he was with all kinds of people, and you know that he was not afraid to be with anybody, and the leadership accused him of eating and drinking with the wrong crowd. And I think that's interesting that Jesus, did he have a glass of wine? Well, as part of the culture in the first century, I would say, yes, he most likely drank wine.

We also see in Genesis 14, 18, that Melchizedek gave an offering. It was bread and wine, and that was a precursor to the Eucharist, and that was clear back in Genesis chapter 14. In Proverbs, it speaks of wine both positive and negative. It says in Proverbs 3, 7 through 10, it talks about how wine is health to your flesh, and it says, be not wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce. Then your barns will be filled with plenty. Your vats will be bursting with wine.

And so there's a certain aspect of wine when it's mentioned in the Old Testament that it is a blessing. It's a blessing. And in fact, in Proverbs, verses 1 through 6, the drinking of wine was symbolic of good. It was a good thing. And in terms of even worshiping the Lord, we see that in the book of Numbers, chapter 15, verse 7, that wine was even considered to be a sweet offering. A sweet offering. In other words, it was good. It was something that you could give to the Lord. It says, and for the drink offering, you shall offer a third of a hint of wine, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. So clearly we see in the Old Testament here that wine could be used as something good, as a blessing, and you see that in Numbers chapter 15.

Now, the one scripture that most people will point to in the Old Testament, which it is true, it is true, is that wine makes the heart glad. In other words, it's effects. The effects of wine makes the heart glad, puts people in a good mood, and it's a festive drink, it's jolly, it's great. And that's what it says in Psalm 104 and verse 15. It says that wine makes the heart glad. And if you've ever had a glass of wine at the end of the day, you will know that it can make your heart glad, kind of a take the edge off, sort of speak. Is there anything wrong with that? No, there's not anything wrong with that. We know that in our faith, all things, things in moderation. And that's really the key, isn't it? All things in moderation. But when it gets

a hold of you, it can have negative effects. In the New Testament, 1 Timothy 5 in verse 23, Paul writes Timothy, who apparently had some kind of stomach problem. And it might have been due to going into different cultures and Ephesus. Maybe it was due to the water that he was drinking. And so Paul even said to him, mix a little wine with the water. A little wine for your infirmities. And that was the advice of the great Apostle Paul to Timothy. And in Isaiah 256, it speaks of the feast of wine on this mountain. The Lord of hosts will make for all people's a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine, of aged wine well refined. So clearly that is a blessing. And in fact, I know what's interesting is that in

Isaiah 1, 21 and 22, it talks about watering down good wine as a negative thing. It's a bad thing. How the faithful city has become a whore. She who was full of justice, righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers. Your silver has become dross. Your best wine mixed with water. It's pretty clear. It's pretty clear. And then finally, in the Old Testament in Proverbs 31 and verse 4, it even tells us, and this is interesting because this kind of touches on modern day opioids and painkillers. It mentions that if anybody is about ready to die, They are losing their life. They're on the last hours of their life. It says, give strong drink to him who is perishing. And so that is considered a real blessing to those who are suffering and at the end of life. And I think you could carry that over into modern day pain killers. And as you know, modern day painkillers can be abused and they can become very, very negative and have negative. on your life and those around you. You know the stories. It's one of the biggest epidemics in the world today. Okay, so there's some real blessings in wine, and it's up to you whether you want to drink that wine and how much you want to drink. But there is a warning concerning drinking. And this is what I want to spend a few minutes talking to you about. This is very serious. If you look at the culture today

in America, and I would say around the world, you will see that wine has become strong drink has become a real stumbling block, not only for the individual and their life and their job and their relationships, but their relationship with the Lord as well. And so I'm going to take a break when I come back. I'm going to go through the warnings about it, and I'm going to ask you to seriously listen. You know yourself. This show might be a warning. It might be kind of a flag that goes up to say, you know, maybe I have a problem. Maybe I am abusing alcohol. You're listening to the Jeff Kaven show. Two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ chose corrupt, broken, imperfect, sinful men to be the foundation of his church.

And because these broken and perfect men chose to remain in relationship with Jesus, they became saints. And they were used by Jesus to transform hearts and minds 2,000 years later. I invite you to check out my book, Broken and Blessed, where you'll find practical tools to overcome habitual sin, to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. and to walk with an imperfect church toward a perfect God who is calling all of us to perfection over time. To order the paperback book or audiobook, broken and blessed, visit ascensionpress.com

or Amazon. Okay, we're talking about should Christians drink? And the answer is not yes or no. The answer is somewhere in the middle there, perhaps. So before the break, we were talking about the positive aspects of wine. But now we're going to look at a warning. And so I'm going to start with Proverbs 20 in verse 1, which says that wine is a mocker. Wine is a mocker. Don't be led astray. When the scripture says that wine is a mocker, it means that people who drink too much wine, they have too much strong drink, they can say stupid things. You know what I mean? It's a mocker. You can say stupid things. Your guard is down and you can become a fighter. I know of people

who can have two beers or a couple glasses of wine and their whole personality changes. They start to have loose lips. I've met people before businessmen that when we sat down and we started talking and they had two, maybe three glasses of wine, they had loose lips. They just started talking, you know. And I met a real good friend of mine. He's a lawyer. And he says, you know, I have a rule in that is that if I'm doing anything related to work, especially law, giving advice, I simply don't drink. I don't drink. Because I may say things that are not wise. And that's one of the things we can learn from Proverbs chapter 20 in verse 1 is that wine can be a mocker. Does it fit the bill? Do you fall into that category? If you do, you might consider making changes in your life. Proverbs 21-17,

love wine. If you love wine, it says, you will not be rich. You will not be rich. Uh, if you're a lover, and this doesn't, this isn't just wine, but this is, you know, the person that says, I got to have the best meats. I got to have the best clothing. I got to have the best of everything. The lover of pleasure. That person, it's not going to be rich. The scripture says in Proverbs 21, whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man. He who loves wine and oil, that's the best oils, will not be rich. You see, it has an effect on your life. And, This is wisdom from the Bible. In my Bible here, I got my now becoming my well-worn, great-adventure Bible. I underline in Brown wisdom scriptures. I've got a lot of those underlined in my Bible.

Proverbs 23, verses 20 and 21, talks about drinking to excess. And that is a problem in our culture, isn't it? where people drink to excess, to excess, don't let this be the center of your social life. Don't feel obligated that every time you get together, you've got to provide alcohol. I'll be honest with you. This is one of the things that sort of rubs me wrong is that for us to get together, we have to have wine, we have to have strong drink. we have to have a beer. And I just think that that is a negative connotation for reasons that we'll discuss in a few minutes here about being around people who are weak and who are struggling with

alcohol in their life. This doesn't have to be the center of our life. Sometimes I feel, well, maybe I'm not being a good host, you know, just because I don't offer a drink to somebody. The scripture says in Proverbs 23, be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat. For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty and slumber with rags. They'll be clothed with rags. That's not good news, is it? And by the way, you know, when we speak about being drunk and intoxicated, you know that one of the most mentioned topics in the entire Bible, is gluttony. And oftentimes, gluttony and the drunkard are put together in the same sentence.

Being a drunkard, a gluttonous person, somebody who's just feeding themselves, drinking too much. So that's Proverbs 23. Also, if you keep reading on in chapter 23, and you move on to verses 25 through 32, it says, let your father and mother be glad. Let her who bore you rejoice. My son, give me, your heart and let your eyes observe my ways for a prostitute is a deep pit adulteress is a narrow well she lies in weight like a robber and increases the traitors among mankind who has woe who has sorrow who has strife who has complaining who has wounds without cause who has redness of eyes those who tarry long over wine, who go to try mixed wine. Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. In the end, it bites like a serpent. It stings like an adder.

Now, this talks about, you know, circumstances that we've heard about in the news or we've observed at parties in high school and college or maybe even among the people you're at. right now. We find that people who drink a lot are equated to robbers and increases the traitors among mankind. And it even talks about people who are filled with strife and complaining. And this is one that's really interesting right here, who has wounds without cause. It speaks of the person who get so inebriated that they end up driving their car into other cars or they fall and they hit their head or they break an ankle and they can't even remember. They don't know how they got that bruise on their arm. They don't know how they got a chipped tooth. They don't remember last night

those who linger and search for drink. It goes on into different categories and says, even about kings. It says in Proverbs 31 versus 4 through 5, it's very interesting. It says that strong drink is not for kings. It's not for kings. Now, does that mean that a king can never have a glass of wine or the president of the United States can never have a glass of wine? I just heard earlier today that as I was taping this, that Amy Coney Barrett, after one whole day of answering questions at the Senate Judiciary meeting. She said, I had a glass of wine. I think I deserved it at the end of the day. Is there a problem with that? No, no. But if you're going to go into a courtroom, do you think she'd do that? No, I don't think so. She has wisdom. It's not for kings. It's not for leaders because it says in Proverbs 31 that regarding leaders and kings and judges, justice is perverted. That's what happens. when we drink a lot, is that justice is perverted. And it's not something that you want to involve yourself in in the carrying out or the discharging of your duties, if you are a person

who is in a position of authority. And then in Leviticus 10, this is interesting. Leviticus 10 in verse 9. It has a prohibition on alcohol when mixed with worship. That's right. Mixed with worship. In other words, the person who goes to worship God at mass or spends time in prayer and wants to hear the voice of the Lord, alcohol is not suggested because it has a way of mixing up your thinking. That's right, the mixed drink can mix up your thinking. And that's a negative right there. And it's even more specific in the Bible when not just kings and people in authority, but priests. That's right. In Ezekiel 44, in verse 21, says, no priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. And so, again, that's tied to this issue of worshiping. But perhaps one of the most

Evil and negative effects of drink is what Josea talks about, one of the great prophets who spoke to the northern kingdom of Israel, along with Amos, before they were taken away in 722 by the Assyrians. Josea said that wine enslaves the heart. Wine enslaves the heart, and it takes away understanding. Now, this is something, in other words, in other words, we're talking about addiction here. This is something that we really have to come face to face with, and that is addiction. It's not just a one-and-out type of thing for many people. It's not one drink and out, but there is a serious addiction problem. I was reading the other day about addiction and how this can actually run in families. And I think there's something to that.

I don't know what it is in the DNA, but it can be a problem for people, even among family members, addiction. And addiction isn't constrained to just wine. It could be an addiction to food. It could be an addiction to gambling. It could be addiction to pornography, whatever it might be. There are certain things that are in life that give way to addiction. And once you're addicted to something, you become a slave to it. it. And it will affect every aspect of your life. It'll affect your marriage. It'll affect your relationship with your children, especially if you get into hiding drink around the house, or going home a certain way, or hiding it even in the house in front of people, drinking vodka with water, thinking, you know, everyone else is thinking that you are simply drinking

spring water, when the truth is, you know you're addicted. You are the slave. You're the slave of substance. And if that's the case, then you need to call a spade a spade and say, you know, this is not for me. I need help. If I'm going to be the disciple that the Lord has called me to be and I'm going to be the father, the mother, if I'm going to be the husband or wife, or I'm going to be a friend of others, I have to do something about this addiction in my life. Now, Paul, when Paul was talking to all the various churches that he was establishing and going around and speaking to and writing letters to, he noticed something about the Corinthians and that the Corinthians in their former way of worship always, always brought wine into the temple. You see, they would go in and they would

sacrifice meat to idols, and then they would go into the back of the temple, and they would drink, and they would visit with prostitutes. He talks about this in 1st Corinthians 6 and verse 12, and he says that when it comes to drinking, when it comes to anything like this, he says, all things are lawful. We're not talking about the temple stuff, but when it comes to drink, all things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. They're not helpful. In Hebrews chapter two, or Habakkuk, rather Habakkuk in the Old Testament, chapter two in verse 15, he says, woe to him who makes his neighbors drink. You pour out your wrath and make them drunk in order to gaze at their nakedness. In other words, drinking or giving drink to other people to manipulate others

like Lot's daughters did to Lot is wrong. It's sin. We don't give strong drink or wine to others to weaken their decision-making. Isaiah 5 in verse 11 talks about drinking all day. Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may run after strong drink, who tarry late into the evening as wine inflames them. Wow. And then, there's a few other scriptures here. Indulge me for a moment. Now, you're going to get all of this in this show notes. What about simply inheriting the kingdom of God? What about inheriting the kingdom of God? Paul wrote to both the Galatians and the Corinthians. And he said to the Galatians, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. He says, I warn you, as I warned you before. Boy, that's strong

talk, isn't it? I warned you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. And he said to the Corinthians, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. It's interesting that John the Baptist, when he began his amazing ministry as the forerunner of the Messiah, down in Matthew's Gospel, down at the Jordan. It said of him earlier on in Luke's Gospel, chapter 1 in verse 15, that John the Baptist shall not drink. No drink will come to him.

You see, he had a clear, clear mission. And part of that mission was he wasn't going to be involved in alcohol at all. In Ephesians 5, I know I've got a lot of these, but you know what? This is a good show just to remind us. Ephesians 5 in verse 17 and 18 says, not to be wise, unwise rather, don't be unwise or drunk, but you should be controlled by God. Here's exactly what he said. He said, therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is, and do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery,

but be filled with the Holy Spirit. You see, we as Christians, we as representatives of Jesus, we who believe his worldview and follow his ways, we're not going to be controlled by liquor. We're not going to be controlled by wine. We're not going to be controlled. We're going to know the will of the Lord. We're going to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And in one of the scriptures that really is, wow, I mean, it really makes me think, you know, about wherever I go, whatever I do, I have to make sure that I don't cause other people to stumble. Have you ever thought of that when you go to a dinner party or you're invited, you know, invite people over to your house? Maybe they struggle with alcohol. Maybe they are currently in AA. Maybe they lost a son or a daughter to drunk

driving. Paul said to the Romans in chapter 14, it is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. You see, these are things that we, as Christians, we have to take into consideration in society, in social gatherings, family reunions. What is it to just give up a glass or two of wine because you know your brother or your sister would stumble? Give it up.

Love them. Love them. You know, Paul had a basic view of all of this that was balance. And he kind of comes to the conclusion that whatever you do, whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you drink, he says, whatever you do, do as to the glory of God. Do all to the glory of God in 1 Corinthians 10. Give no offense to Jews or Greeks or to the church of God. And so it's balance. Everything is done to the glory of God. And you know when you're over the line. and if you have to tell people, well, I know how much I can drink before it's wrong. Maybe you're at that edge already.

This is not something that we experiment with. It's not something we toy with. We take it seriously because there's a high cost and there's a lot on the line. Titus even said in Titus, too, that older men and ladies should be sober. They should be sober. and Paul wrote to Timothy in chapter 3 and said that elders are not given to wine or deacons. And so these are the guidelines that the Bible gives us. In the Old Testament, we have the good things about wine and the warnings.

In the New Testament, we have the good things about wine and the warning. And now we have to ask ourselves the question, how does this impact? me. I think this is a good thing. If you get the notes to this show, this is a good thing to go over with your to-be teenagers or the teenagers in your home currently. Or it's a list for you to really meditate upon and to ask yourself, do I have a problem? Am I being responsible? Am I loving my brothers and sisters around me? Am I clear-headed when I am carrying out or discharging the duties of my job, my responsibilities at home? Am I worshiping God with a clear mind so I can hear God and walk according to his ordinances? And my word, never, ever, ever pressure someone to drink.

That's their decision, not ours. They're not going to be accepted. If you're not going to be accepted, they drink or don't drink. That's not the way we judge people or relate to people. And we must treat alcohol as we would treat anything that we could be addicted to as a possible problem that we need to watch and we need to bring to the Lord and walk accordingly. Well, that's a lot of information in one show, and I know it is, but it's been on my mind, it's been on my heart, and you can go into groups of certain Christians, and you won't eat, this isn't even an issue because they are teetotelers, they, they just made the decision, I'm not going to drink. And maybe that's the right decision for you. But if you made the decision that you are going to drink, then it comes down

to holiness, glory to God, responsibility, and love. That's what I have for you today, deep in the woods of Minnesota, where it's turning into fall. We're going to be indoors. a lot more. And during COVID, alcohol has been a problem for a lot of people who have been quarantined. Don't let it get out of control. Can I pray for you? I love you. And again, I want to give you all these notes and you just have to text my name, Jeff Kavins, to 33777. We'll get it all to you. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord, I lift up my brother. I lift up my sister to you today, and I ask you, Lord, to bless them. I ask you, Lord, to help them make a sober decision about those things that they are going to consume or not consume in their life.

Lord, we ask you to convict us if we are out of line. We ask you to help us to walk in grace if we're not, but we are around other people. Lord, may we do all things for your glory. May we advance your kingdom and raise you up in all that we eat and drink in Jesus' name. Amen. Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. I love you, my friend, and I pray you have an amazing week. Thank you.