STUDY THEME: INTENTIONAL CHRISTIANITY. 1-30-05
“AVOID ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE.”
PROV. 20:1; 23: 20-21, 29-33; ROM. 14: 19-21; EPH. 5: 15-18.
PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO PROVERBS 20.
Few families in America have not been touched in some destructive way by the scourge of alcohol and drug abuse. Perhaps someone in your family has struggled with these issues. Maybe someone in your family has experienced the pain and suffering inflicted y someone else’s abuse of drugs or alcohol, such as a car accident caused by a drunk driver.
Even though no one can deny the cost to our society physically, emotionally, financially, and morally, the abuse of alcohol and drugs continues on a rampage throughout our culture. What is the wise, responsible, and biblically informed course of action with regard to the use of alcohol and drugs? The Bible explains what God’s will is in regard to these matters.
In a society in which drug abuse is prevalent and consumption of alcoholic beverages is commonplace, adults have many opportunities to drink and an increasing number of opportunities to abuse drugs. Social drinking is considered not only acceptable but also essential in many circles. Christians should be vigilant to apply biblical principles to their lives in this area of life and avoid the dangers posed by alcohol and drugs.
The harsh reality is that alcohol and drugs are common denominators in many tragic deaths, acts of violence, spousal and child abuse, sexual assault, suicide, and countless other miseries.
They are major contributors to divorce, bankruptcies, and losses of employment. The use of alcohol and other drugs destroys many lives including those of Christians who fail to heed biblical warnings regarding their destructive effects.
As we study this week’s lesson, we will be reminded of the Christian’s obligation to avoid alcohol, illegal drugs, and the abuse of legal drugs. The passages of Scripture deal primarily with the use of alcohol, but the applications in our lesson will include the abuse of other substances that can create an intoxicated state. These include illegal drugs, prescription drugs, and over-the-counter medication abuse.
PLEASE READ PROVERBS 20: 1.
Genesis 25: 29-34 recounts the story of how Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of soup. In a moment of weakness Esau traded a valuable inheritance for one meal. Only a foolish man would trade something of great value for something that was so cheap. Every day, however, foolish people trade marriages, children, health, and many other relationships and things for the temporal pleasure of alcohol and drugs. A foolish person lives only for the moment, but the wise person is disciplined and cherishes those people who are truly valuable.
Dr. Frederick Lemere was asked, “What is alcohol?” He said “for some, alcohol is a magic carpet of escape from life’s trials and tribulations: although it is a “temporary and futile escape.”
“It gives a false feeling of courage to the fearful, confidence to the insecure, and superiority to the inadequate. It gives solace to the lonely, sleep to the insomniac, rest to the weary, relaxation to the tense, calmness to the disturbed, and oblivion to the desperate…. It is an escape from boredom.”
That this was recognized years ago is evidenced by the proverb: “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” No problem is solved, no boredom conquered, no confidence established except temporarily. It is an escape, a temporary escape, but costly, and may result in enslavement.
The temporary pleasures of alcohol occur because of the action of alcohol on the brain. Dr. Lemere called it “temporary suicide.”
Weariness does not vanish, the knowledge of weariness does. The brain is simply put to sleep progressively. Those sections of the brain, which differentiate man from the beast, are the first to become inoperative under the attack of alcohol. The physical side of man is last to feel the effects.
Intoxication resulting from drinking alcoholic beverages is universally condemned. Physicians agree that when it is frequent it injures health and shortens life.
Authorities on crime and accident are in total agreement that the intoxicated person is a menace to society.
In production and commerce the drunkard is an admitted liability. The intoxicated man at the time of his intoxication is a man of low character. Poverty, abandoned children, broken homes are the result of intoxication in many cases. Alcohol is the road of avoidance of responsibility; it is a detour from reality, but reality is always there when the detour is ended.
A veteran returning from Korea invited a drinking comrade to visit his home. “But stay sober, Jim,” his host asked, “my folks are total abstainers.” The guest arrived. No one measured the alcohol concentration in the blood. We guess it was about 0.05 percent as so far he was only mildly elated, at ease, and happy. He behaved all evening.
The host’s parents liked him, “but, said the father, “he was intoxicated.” “No”, said the host, “just mildly high.” That’s about the best you can do with intoxication. One thing is sure. No once can definitely determine what amount of alcohol will affect him.
Judgment, reason, sensation and emotion are the mental processes first impaired by alcohol. It is here that alcohol really becomes the great deceiver. A person----and not necessarily a drunk person---under the influence of alcohol thinks he is smarter, wittier, more charming, better looking, ---and we could go on and on, -than he actually is.
Perhaps the best description of what alcohol does is: “It is a temporary suicide.”
Yet, in our zeal to caution against the misuse of drugs and alcohol, are we equally zealous to warn against overeating? Gluttony is also a sin.
PLEASE TURN TO PROVERBS 23.
PLEASE READ PROVERBS 23: 20-21.
Does this proverb prohibit us from associating with obese people? No, that is not the thrust of the proverb. What is condemned by this proverb is undisciplined, unrestrained appetites, whether for wine or for food. Gluttony is the lack of wisdom emphasized in this verse. As a wise course of behavior, we should avoid people who fail to exercise self-discipline in their lives, people who do not restrain their appetites. All to often we succumb to the influences and practices of those with whom we associate. People’s choice of friends always influences their decisions.
This proverb illustrates Paul’s admonition in 1 Cor. 15:33, “Do not be deceived: Bad company corrupts good morals.” Young people often take their first drink of alcohol or first illegal drugs at parties or among friends. Adults often feel compelled to drink socially at business functions or office parties. Sometimes we may not be able to avoid being around those who are drinking alcohol, but we should not seek out those situations.
Probably everyone here knows someone who was once prosperous but lost everything because of an alcohol or other drug addiction. While attending Draughon’s Business College in Oklahoma City in 1934-35 I washed dishes in a small downtown café for my meals.
I got acquainted with the cook. He had been a bank executive in the Okla. Panhandle. He became an alcoholic and lost everything; His family, his money, his reputation, and his self-respect. So he came to the City.
He ended up as a cook in this small café, kept his bottle behind my dish-tub, and lived in a shabby hotel near the cafe. He only looked forward to the next drink. I liked the guy but had no desire to join him with his habit.
Vs. 20 warns us not to associate with such people lest we end up participating in their excesses.
PLEASE READ PROVERBS 23: 29-33.
With six questions Solomon graphically described the condition of those whose gluttony led them to abuse alcohol. What can those who linger over wine, those who go looking for mixed wine expect in their lives? Instead of the anticipated escape from pressure or the alleviation of suffering, they will find woe…sorrow…conflicts…. complaints….wounds for no reason, and red eyes. A more accurate description of the consequences of alcohol and drug abuse would be hard to find.
In the ancient world wine was often mixed with water, honey, or spices. To linger over wine or to go looking for mixed wine suggests a person who requires the effects of alcohol to cope with life. This person cannot leave the wine alone and goes looking for more.
In contemporary American culture, there seems to be a perverse fascination for the consumption of alcoholic beverages or the use of drugs---especially among young people. Individuals often regard themselves as sophisticated or mature once they begin to experiment with alcohol or drugs.
Solomon recognized the alluring appeal of alcoholic beverages and cautioned us not to be enticed by it. One can almost imagine an advertisement for wine with the slogan: “It gleams in the cup and goes down smoothly.” The image is of something pleasing to the eye and pleasurable to consume.
But Solomon warned that the image is deceptive: “In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper.” Concealed in that alluring appearance lies a poison that can destroy one’s life. In fact, Solomon explained that those who partake will see strange things and will say absurd things. Once again the deadly deceptiveness of alcohol is emphasized.
Proverbs makes abundantly clear that the misuse of alcohol, or anything else with the potential to dominate us, will destroy our lives. The road to that destruction will be littered with broken marriages, abused spouses and children, lost dreams, demolished careers, squandered resources, and ultimately a futile life.
Given these potential results, wisdom counsels us to avoid the destructive effects of alcohol and drugs in our lives. We do not have to experience the awful consequences of substance abuse to know that we should avoid them. Those who are wise will heed Solomon’s warnings about the dangers of drinking and eating in excess, even if they have never experienced the dangers that he mentioned.
PLEASE TURN TO ROMANS 14,
4. PLEASE READ ROMANS 14: 19-21.
In Romans 14 Paul dealt with potentially divisive issues in the church. He identified two groups in the church as the weak and the strong. The groups had different ideas about whether to eat meats and keep special days. Many Jewish Christians were zealous about avoiding unclean foods. They observed special feast days. The strong were mostly Gentile believers and people like Paul who did not believe that what a person eats is a moral issue and that each believer makes his own decision about this.
Although Paul did not believe that eating meat was a moral issue, he warned that it could become a moral issue. For one thing, it was potentially divisive. Also it could lead to one group judging the other and the other group placing a stumbling block in front of others.
Thus in vs. 19, Paul exhorted both groups to follow after or pursue the things which make for peace. Edify means to “build up.” “We must pursue what promotes peace and builds up one another.” The opposite of promoting peace and harmony is doing what causes dissension and strife. Instead of building up the fellowship, this disagreement tears down what God is trying to achieve. Thus Paul wrote, “For meat destroy not the work of God.” How could eating meat destroy God’s work? Paul answered this question in the last part of vs. 20, “It is evil for that man who eateth with offense.”
At first sight Paul’s words “all things are pure” may sound as if he was supporting moral relativism. This is the distorted view of morality that is so strong in today’s world. It teaches that nothing is always right or wrong. Each person is free to make his or her own moral rules.
Paul had stated this same truth earlier in vs. 14. “I know and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. Still, to someone who considers a thing to be unclean, to that one it is unclean.” The key to this verse is the word unclean. This is koinon, a technical term used by Jews to describe something ceremonially unclean. In Paul’s view, the clean and the unclean rules no longer applied. He used Jesus as his authority, thinking no doubt about Jesus teachings in Mark 7: 14-23.
Jesus taught that uncleanness comes from within, from a sinful heart. Based on this teaching, Mark added, “as a result, He made all foods clean.” The word pure in Rom. 14:20 is kathara, which is kin to the word used by the Lord to teach Simon Peter in Acts 10:15 “What God hath cleansed that call not thou common.”
Paul believed that eating meat was not wrong in itself, but “it is evil for that man who eateth with offense.” “It is wrong for a man to cause stumbling by what he eats.” If someone believed that eating “unclean” meat was wrong, seeing a brother eat it might lead him to do the same. By doing what he considered wrong, he was going against his conscience, and this may have encouraged him to ignore his conscience in areas of real sin.
He was like someone who runs through a warning light at a railway crossing. He may have continued this and lost his life.
Based on the danger of leading others astray, Paul proposed a vow in vs. 21: “It is a noble thing not to eat meat, or drink wine, or, do anything that makes your brother stumble.” You can almost hear the unsaved man saying, “Am I my brothers keeper.” For the Christian the answer is “Yes!” Christians who consider their drinking to be harmless need to consider not only its long-range effects on themselves but also what it does to others.
This is the second biblical principle that supports total abstinence. The first is the harmful effect on the person drinking. The second is the harmful effect on others. These two principles are the basis for my abstinence. Even if I knew that my drinking would not end in alcoholism (which I don’t know), I would not drink because of the harm it would do others.
When our children were growing up, we didn’t want to send them down the alcohol road by our own example. We feel the same way about our twenty-one grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. I have friends who are alcoholics or problem drinkers. I don’t want to be a stumbling block to them either. I don’t want my reactions slowed by alcohol when I get behind the wheel. I don’t want my moral convictions blurred by alcohol when I face temptation.
No one who drinks can say with honesty, “I’m hurting no one except myself.” One of the biblical principles of abstinence concerns the harm one person’s drinking might cause others to experience.
I recall something my pastor said when I was a teenager. He said that he looked at alcohol through eyes that had seen its destructive power. Pastors are among those who are called in to try and help clean up the destructive power of alcohol. They see the broken homes, the abused family members, the ruined lives, and the shattered dreams.
PLEASE TURN TO EPHESIANS 5.
PLEASE READ EPHESIANS 5: 15-18.
In Ephesians Paul often used the verb walk as a metaphor for the conduct of one’s life. Something Paul used the term for the lifestyle of unbelievers, but most frequently it describes the life of Christians. In. Eph. 5 Paul used the term three times to describe the manner in which believers are to live. They are to “walk in love” (v. 2), “walk as children of light” (v.8), and walk---not as unwise people but as wise” (v. 15).
In vs. 15-18 the initial command is: “Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk.” The word then indicates that Paul was drawing a conclusion based upon his previous comments in the letter. Paul had just instructed his readers to walk in love and to walk as children of light. Then Paul further elaborated upon the very manner in which he intended his readers to walk as Christians. “Be careful then how you live.”
Believers are to walk not as unwise people but as wise. To live as wise people means that Christians will be making the most of the time God gives them. Although somewhat obscure in meaning, this clause suggests that we will utilize our time to live wisely and obediently, not squandering God-given opportunities through foolish and ungodly behavior. Redeeming the time means to “make the most of every opportunity.” A wise person views life from God’s perspective and lives on the basis of God’s revelations and instructions. The wise are those who have a reverent fear of God and live by His commandments.
The reason Paul gave for paying careful attention to our Christian walk is because the days are evil. In other words the days in which we live are full of temptations to engage in evil. We are bombarded with enticements to live unwisely rather than as wise people who take advantage of every opportunity to promote godliness.
Since the Book of Proverbs often equates the rejection of God’s wisdom with evil, the days are evil might also imply living in an age in which God’s Word is scorned and rejected. The days are evil because people have unwisely ignored the creator’s instructions. The days are evil might also apply to times fraught with persecution and tragedy. To cope in the midst of the pressures and difficulties of life, we need God’s instructions and encouragement, not the world’s.
We live in a time when evil influences and evil leaders dominate. But just as the champion runner strips himself of every weight that would slow him down, so the Christians should lay aside every encumbrance in his or her walk with God. Drinking alcoholic beverages is an encumbrance Christians need to avoid so they can be more effective witnesses for Christ.
Because of these evil days Paul issued two pairs of commands. Each pair has a negative command followed by a positive command. The first pair of commands is “don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” In this context the phrase the Lord’s will probably refers to God’s revealed will concerning His redemptive plan and how believers are to conduct themselves. Only a fool cares nothing about God’s will as revealed in Scripture.
The second pair of commands contrasts two actions: “Don’t get drunk with wine…but be filled with the Spirit.” Getting drunk leads to reckless actions because the wine has control of the person. On the other hand, someone filled with the Spirit has come under the control of God’s Spirit. In Galatians 5: 22-23 Paul wrote, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” He adds in vs. 25: “If we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit.’”
Contrary to some explanations, Paul did not teach that a believer might be filled with varying amounts of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a person: one cannot receive a person incrementally. The person is either entirely present or entirely absent. To be filled with the Spirit refers to the extent of the believer’s submission to the Spirit’s control, not how much of the Spirit the believer possesses.
Vs. 19 shows what being filled with the Spirit leads to: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”
Each believer receives the Spirit at conversion, but we need daily to allow Him to fill us and to guide us. Many people who were once slaves of alcohol have become Spirit-filled followers of Jesus Christ. Paul wrote to the Corinthians in that persistent drunkards will miss the kingdom of God. In 1 Cor. 6:9-11 he reminded them that some of them once were drunkards, but in Christ they became new people. The secret to living a new life is allowing the Spirit to fill you day to day.
Although the N.T. does not specifically mention the misuse and abuse of drugs, Paul’s command in Eph. 5: 18 not to get drunk on wine should be extended to the misuse and abuse of drugs as well. When one comes under the control of any substance, whether alcohol or drugs, he or she is not under the control of the Holy Spirit. It is the Lord’s will for every believer to enjoy the blessings of the Holy Spirit’s power and presence in their lives.
When alcohol or drugs control the mind and body of someone, the Spirit’s work in that person’s life is stifled. Every Christian has a decision to make on this question: Do I want chemical substances or the Holy Spirit to control me? The answer to that question should be obvious and simple, but too many Christians are struggling with it today. If you are someone who struggles with this issue, make your choice right now to overcome alcohol and drug use and abuse with God’s help. Every believer needs to be filled with (controlled by) the Holy Spirit.
THE STUDY THEME FOR FEBRUARY IS “GOD’S TOUGH LOVE.” HOSEA 1: 1--3:5
THE BIBLICAL TRUTH IS THAT BECAUSE GOD LOVES HIS PEOPLE, HE RESPONDS TO THEIR UNFAITHFULNESS WITH DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS. A.V. DAUGHERTY