Is it a sin to drink alcohol?

Interesting. I debated this topic at least weekly while I attended a Private University. I respect your thoughts... and here's mine.

Jesus did turn water into wine and there have been many people who have debated on whether or not it was just regular grape juice (fruit of the vine translation) or alcoholic (fermented translation). These are both debatable. What is not debatable is the fact that drunkenness IS a sin and drunkards will not inherit the Kingdom of God. This is made clearly in the Bible in several books (Galatians 5:19 is one of them).

19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

The Old and New Testament both state that "priests should not take in wine or strong drink." It's interesting that they used 2 separate descriptions of the subject. If this is true, and Jesus is our "High Priest" as referred to several time in the Bible, then did he really turn harmless water into alcohol? Just something to think about.

This clearly states that drunkenness is a sin. So what about drinking in moderation?

If this were the case, then this is the grayest subject in the Bible. What is moderation? Did God really give us the power to define a sin by allowing us to conclude what moderation is?

For some, drunk is 15 beers. For some, drunk is 2 beers. Does that mean that 2 beers is a sin for some and not for others? What is drunk? Does buzzing count?

The Bible also teaches us to judge everything we partake in by the fruit that it produces. Take into account all of the death, destruction and division that alcohol has caused in families, marriages and lives and I have to ask myself one question: Why would I want even an ounce of that in my body? That’s not very good fruit.

Here’s some fruit to help judge:

· More than 100,000 U.S. deaths are caused by excessive alcohol consumption each year. Direct and indirect causes of death include drunk driving, cirrhosis of the liver, falls, cancer, and stroke.¹

· At least once a year, the guidelines for low risk drinking are exceeded by an estimated 74% of male drinkers and 72% of female drinkers aged 21 and older.²

· 65% of youth surveyed said that they got the alcohol they drink from family and friends.⁷

· Nearly 14 million Americans meet diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorders.⁵

· Youth who drink alcohol are 50 times more likely to use cocaine than those who never drink alcohol.³

· Among current adult drinkers, more than half say they have a blood relative who is or was an alcoholic or problem drinker.¹

· Across people of all ages, males are four times as likely as females to be heavy drinkers.¹

· More than 18% of Americans experience alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence at some time in their lives.⁶

· Traffic crashes are the greatest single cause of death for persons aged 6–33. About 45% of these fatalities are in alcohol-related crashes.⁴

· Underage drinking costs the United States more than $58 billion every year — enough to buy every public school student a state-of-the-art computer.²

· Alcohol is the most commonly used drug among young people.¹

· Problem drinkers average four times as many days in the hospital as nondrinkers — mostly because of drinking-related injuries.¹

· Alcohol kills 6½ times more youth than all other illicit drugs combined.²

· Concerning the past 30 days, 50% of high school seniors report drinking, with 32% report being drunk at least once.²

You think stats exist like this for the subject of obesity? Not even close, and 99% of the time, obesity only effects the individual… it doesn’t kill the people they run into.

U.S. College students spend 66 billion dollars a year in alcohol, 60% of all high school students get drunk before the time they graduate, 8% of the 60% become alcohol dependent for LIFE, only 12% of all alcohol consumers drink leisurely and are considered “sober drinkers.” If a Christian is arguing that drinking is ok as long as you don’t get “drunk,” then they are only standing up for 12% of the drinking population.

Yes, we should let the focus of our Christian walks be to grow in Christ and follow him with a reckless abandon, but could it be possible that things such as alcohol have put us into an invisible vice? I’ll never say that drinking alcohol is a sin or leads you to hell. I will say to do some research and make a wise decision. If alcohol is such a taboo topic in the world of believers, then why entertain it?

Lastly, The Bible tells us to do things that are wise, even if the outcome may not be considered a sin. After researching the Bible and life statistics, drinking alcohol just doesn’t seem very wise.