Proverbs 20:1 says:
“Wine produces mockers; alcohol leads to brawls. Those led astray by drink cannot be wise.”
Proverbs 20:1, NLT
If you seriously examine what the Bible says, you will find that Scripture does not completely forbid drinking wine, beer, or other alcoholic beverages. Jesus turned water into wine, and wine was commonly consumed in biblical times. It was also often diluted with water, although it could still cause drunkenness when abused.
The Bible’s consistent and unmistakable warning is against drunkenness, addiction, and allowing alcohol to control us.
Those who took a Nazirite vow abstained from wine and other products of the grape. Jesus was not a Nazirite. He was a Nazarene because He grew up in Nazareth. Scripture does not command every Christian to abstain completely, but it certainly does not present intoxication as wise, safe, or spiritually beneficial.
Proverbs 31 says:
“It is not for kings, Lemuel, to guzzle wine. Rulers should not crave alcohol. For if they drink, they may forget the law and not give justice to the oppressed. Alcohol is for the dying, and wine for those in bitter distress.”
Proverbs 31:4–6, NLT
That raises an important question: How do you want to live? Do you want to live like someone who is perishing, or do you want to exercise the wisdom and self-control expected of a king?
Consider How Your Freedom Affects Others
First Corinthians 8:9–13 teaches that Christians must consider how their choices affect other believers. Even when something may be permissible, it may not be beneficial if it causes someone else to stumble.
If your drinking encourages someone around you to return to a life of sin and addiction, that is not loving. God would not be pleased with our using personal freedom in a way that contributes to another person’s destruction.
Anything that takes control of your mind, judgment, or behavior is dangerous because God intends for Him alone to rule your life. Believers are supposed to be led by the Holy Spirit, not led by alcohol.
Solomon does not merely tell us not to get drunk. He shows us what alcohol can produce:
“Wine produces mockers; alcohol leads to brawls. Those led astray by drink cannot be wise.”
Consider some of the consequences associated with alcohol abuse:
- Violence and assault
- Domestic abuse
- Drunk-driving crashes
- Broken families
- Crime and disorderly conduct
- Poor judgment and reckless decisions
- Addiction and dependency
- Serious physical health problems
- Premature death
A person convicted of driving while intoxicated may face enormous expenses, lose driving privileges, and even be required to blow into an ignition interlock device before starting a vehicle. My neighbor where I once lived had one of those devices.
Solomon was calling out these dangers approximately 3,000 years ago. He was warning his sons, and by extension sons and daughters today, to beware of alcohol’s power.
Today, we could add warnings about illegal drugs, misused prescription drugs, marijuana products, gummies, and other intoxicating substances. There are many things that can lower your inhibitions, causing you to say things you would not normally say and do things you would not normally do. You may wake up the next morning wondering what happened.
What Looks Attractive Can Lead Somewhere Dark
Proverbs 23 gives us an uncomfortably honest picture:
“Who has anguish? Who has sorrow? Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining? Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns, trying out new drinks.”
Proverbs 23:29–30, NLT
Alcohol can appear to offer freedom. It may seem to help you unwind after a stressful day, relax around other people, forget your problems, or have more fun.
But what seems like an escape can lead down a very dark path.
It can lead to anguish and sorrow. Some people become angry and violent when they are drunk. Others talk too much, behave foolishly, or become difficult to be around. People may get hurt without remembering how it happened. Some are beaten or abused and cannot recall who did it or why. Over time, their bodies may begin to fall apart.
Solomon continues:
“Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is, how it sparkles in the cup, how smoothly it goes down. For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake; it stings like a viper.”
Proverbs 23:31–32, NLT
The warning is not merely about what is in the cup. It is about becoming captivated by it.
When You Think You Are Using It, but It Is Using You
Years ago, when I previously lived here on Minnesota’s Iron Range, I tried to disciple a man who had been told that if he drank again, he would return to jail. He attended Bible study, and because he could only travel by bicycle, I could usually find him.
Sometimes he would backslide. I would find him in a bar, walk inside, and ask him to come out with me. He would leave, repent, and start moving in the right direction again.
Then one day I found him sitting in a bar, staring at his beer as if he were in love with it.
He told me, “I don’t care what you say, Pastor. I’m not coming out.”
That was the last time I saw him.
That image has stayed with me because it illustrates the danger of addiction. You begin by thinking you are using the substance. Eventually, you discover that the substance is using you.
Addiction is a terrible form of bondage. Whatever we can do as believers to help people escape it is worthwhile.
The Saddest Part of Addiction
Proverbs continues:
“You will see hallucinations, and you will say crazy things. You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea, clinging to a swaying mast. And you will say, ‘They hit me, but I didn’t feel it. I didn’t even know it when they beat me up. When will I wake up so I can look for another drink?’”
Proverbs 23:33–35, NLT
That final sentence is one of the saddest descriptions of addiction in the Bible.
There is pain, regret, embarrassment, and sometimes a terrible hangover. The person may say, “I should never do this again.” But then the addiction turns everything around: “When can I find another drink?”
For someone else, it may be another pill, another drug, another bet, or another destructive habit.
Sin always promises more than it can deliver and costs more than we expected to pay.
The person pursuing alcohol eventually finds anguish instead of happiness, sorrow instead of joy, and regret instead of wisdom.
Be the Person Someone Can Call
I once knew another man whose wife called me and said, “My husband is drunk again. Right now, he is on the roof of our house, yelling at people and throwing beer bottles at them. Can you come over?”
I went to the house, helped him get off the roof, and talked with him. He was deeply sad and regretful. I assumed he would not remember anything the next day, but he did.
We helped him go to Teen Challenge, where he received help overcoming his addiction. Interestingly, he eventually chose to attend another church instead of mine because, as he put it, I knew too much.
That was all right. What mattered was that he was getting help.
There was another occasion when he fell off the wagon while his wife was away. He called me and said, “Can you help me? Can you come get me?”
And I did.
Perhaps I became his 2:00 a.m. friend. I was no longer his pastor, but I was still someone he knew he could call when he desperately needed help.
Maybe you can be that kind of person for someone.
You may be able to listen without excusing the sin, speak truth without abandoning the person, help someone enter a recovery program, or simply answer the telephone when someone reaches the end of himself.
Be Filled with the Holy Spirit
Ephesians 5:18 says:
“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”
Ephesians 5:18, NIV
Do not be controlled by wine, alcohol, drugs, or anything else that alters your judgment. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Be guided and controlled by Him.
There is no regret that comes from being guided by the Holy Spirit.
When people become drunk, they may not even know what they are doing. They lose their inhibitions, sound judgment, and self-control. They may say things they would never say while sober and do things they would never otherwise do.
This is the opposite of the life the Holy Spirit produces in believers:
“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
Galatians 5:22–23, NLT
Some people become angry when they are drunk. Their behavior certainly does not demonstrate patience, gentleness, or self-control. Alcohol can work against the very qualities the Holy Spirit wants to develop within us.
During holidays, celebrations, and social gatherings, alcohol can be easy to find and difficult to avoid. The Bible does not completely condemn drinking, but it clearly condemns drunkenness. It also warns us against using our freedom in a way that causes another person to fall into sin.
If drinking alcohol leads you toward drunkenness, do not drink it. If your drinking could pull someone else back into addiction, love that person more than you love your freedom. If you sense that alcohol is beginning to control you, do not defend it or minimize it. Bring the problem into the light and seek help.
Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Do not allow alcohol to pull you down or eventually destroy you.
Alcohol may promise relaxation, confidence, freedom, or escape. But when it takes control, it can steal your wisdom, relationships, health, dignity, freedom, and even your life.
God offers something far better. He calls us to live alert, wise, loving, and self-controlled lives under the influence and direction of His Spirit.
If alcohol or another substance is beginning to control you, do not wait until everything falls apart. Admit what is happening. Bring it into the light. Talk with a trusted Christian friend, pastor, counselor, physician, or recovery ministry. Ask God for help, and allow other believers to walk beside you.
If you know someone who is struggling, do not give up on that person. You might be the person God uses to help lead them out of bondage.
Preserve your self-control. Protect your testimony. Consider the people around you. Above all, seek to be controlled by the Holy Spirit rather than anything that promises freedom while quietly making you its slave.
Sin always promises more than it can deliver and costs more than we expected to pay. But there is no regret in being guided and controlled by the Holy Spirit.
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