Theology Evolved?

Yeah, I am asking that question. I am a born again Christian. Yes that means I follow Christ, I live for the Lord, I have seen the light. I understand there is a standard I follow in calling myself that. But of those standards I cannot stand that religion has any right to tell people they cannot produce alcoholic beverages or control what kind are sold.

I am referring to this article written in the LA Times on March 10, 2008 later republished on March 28, 2008 in the Record Searchlight.

The barebone details are that in Alabama it is illegal to brew your own beer or sell beer with an alcohol content over 3.9% following decade old laws based on the prohibition. And as groups try to fight this the SBC is throwing their weight into saying that it is immoral acts, quoting "Be not drunk with wine but filled with the Spirit". This is ridiculous because it does not say anything about brewing, or drinking beer, just the abuse thereof.

I am a Christian, I also consume a beer on occasion. I do not get drunk, I actually enjoy the taste of a well crafted beer. There is a complexity in beer that wine at times even has a hard time competing against. There is something delicious about it that just sits well.

I do not promote getting drunk, it is just plain stupid, you might as well hand your decision making abilities over to a 3 year old at that point and then blame them later for you downfall. But a drink is fine. Legislating the decision to enjoy a drink just seems like it is going too far in my opinion.

Please, read the article and tell me what you think.

I kinda laugh because I end up googling around, and these sites all pop up listing all the biblical reasons why Christians should not do anything listed above.

I have a very basic reason for all those listed.


They are illegal. That is right against the law. And hence you should not do them. The sites, I read, did not list this as a reason. Ridiculous.

Yes, this was a rant blog.


Thanks for putting up with my momentary lapses in intelligent blogging. And theirs.

Zach

There is a rumor floating around that are a group of Christians, both men and women, that get together for fellowship, reading a book of nonreligious thoughts on christian spirituality, and drinking... BEER.

Yes they are consuming alcohol while discussing theology. Is this safe? Aren't they going to become consumed by this barley beverage? Will theology fall to the wayside of belching and hangovers? Does God allow these things to mingle?

I would dare say that this is an okay thing. For one thing if rumors are true, the group only drinks one beer per person, and actually do it for the learning of different tastes of beer. For learning to enjoy beer, rather than for the desire of getting drunk or even a buzz. The beer tends to start the group off which tends to go for at least an hour discussing the various aspects of original sin, grace, and church leadership.

So far nothing wrong, except some wonder, why can't they drink tea, or perhaps a healthy juice blend? I mean the bible condemns Christians from drinking alcohol right? Not that I have found, like many things the bible calls for moderation, asking to avoid drunkenness, which is not a bad thing to avoid.

One can wonder also if alcohol is present in this place, and a recovering alcoholic should come to this place at some point, and the beer is chilling for the next meeting, and the recoveree peeks into the fridge and sees these beverages, will the Christian who hosts this be causing his brother to stumble if he see a Christian with alcohol and decides it is okay for him to drink. To this I say something perhaps a bit edgy, should not this recoveree take a bit of responsibility for him or herself and remember that they are avoiding these things for an entirely different reason, that they are prone to drinking far too much and should know better than to drink?

It is one thing to offer a known recovering alcoholic a beer, yes that would be causing them to stumble. So, yes that would be wrong, if not cruel. But to simply own it and for them to be around it is no cause of fault to the host. They have no responsibility over the other person's problem and should not worry about these things. If they know the person is a recoveree they can as courtesy perhaps hide the alcohol from sight, but this is their choice and neither option is right or wrong.

So I guess my end thought in all this is, know your weaknesses, the bible doesn't forbid drinking, just drunkenness. And if you have gotten drunk before, there is grace sufficient for that too, just know that a life of doing that will hinder your spiritual walk with God, because if drinking is more important than God or anything else, that means it has become an idol, and idols only separate us from God. But if you can drink in moderation, you can still discuss theology soundly, you can still live the Christian life.

Okay hopping off my soapbox now.

Zach