Proverbs 23:29-35. 29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? 30Those who tarry long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine. 31Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. 32In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. 33Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things. 35“They struck me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink.”
In college I worked at a Domino’s Pizza. One day after work all the employees were hanging out, making fun of the manager because she had gotten drunk at a party the night before and did some pretty foolish things. She was there with us, embarrassed because she couldn’t remember any of the things she did. I remember thinking how stupid it is to get drunk.
My brother started drinking alcohol when he was a teenager. His friends talked him into it. He became an alcoholic. Sadly, drinking alcohol his whole life destroyed his kidneys and liver, and he recently passed away from that sickness.
I have a friend who had a scholarship to play football in college, but because he got drunk, did something stupid, and got arrested, he lost the scholarship and never played college football.
Proverbs is full of warnings about the dangers of being drunk, but none quite as vivid as this one. The drunkard is a person of woe, sorrow, strife and complaining. They have lost all sense and all judgment. Their alcohol use hasn’t just brought internal sadness, but also relational strife. As commentator John Kitchen points out, clearly this person is being led by their senses, not their mind and not their will. Their reality is distorted. Their perception is twisted. Their body is abused. Their heart is dull.
No, the Bible doesn’t forbid all alcohol use. In fact, alcohol is considered a gift from God that can bring joy to our hearts.
Psalm 104:14-15. 14You [God] cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth 15and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.
We all know that Jesus turned water into wine, and that he compared his kingdom to new wine. It is not wine itself that is vilified in scripture, it is drunkenness. And not just for the many reasons that Proverbs 23 gives, but because drunkenness is an act of faithlessness. It is a failure to rely on the indwelling Spirit of Christ in you. This is why Paul tells the Ephesians, do not be drunk with wine…but be filled with the Spirit.
What a contrast! Drunkenness and the Spirit led life cannot co-exist.
Why do people choose to drown their reality in alcohol? Like any addiction, there is a physiological attachment to the substance. But more deeply there is an emotional, even spiritual attachment to wanting to stay drunk or high. There is an escape taking place.
But in Christ we never have to escape reality. In Christ our reality is brand new. Our new reality is that in him we are loved, honored, and welcomed into the arms of God forever. Jesus has taken our woe and sorrow. He was wounded for us without cause. He was struck and beaten in our place, and, yes, he felt it.
Can you find satisfaction in the reality of such great love, rather than in whatever you are using to escape?
You: What are you addicted to?
You in Christ: How does the indwelling Spirit of Christ connect us to our new reality in him?
Christ in you: What step do you need to take today to overcome your addiction by faith?
Pray: Spirit, I want the joy and peace you give, not the false version alcohol gives. Amen.
To Live is Christ 