Alcohol is off limits.
That’s very Southern Baptist. Assemblies of God, too. In fact, quite a few denominations espouse teetotaling, quoting New Testament text that seems to say exactly that.
Even the Old Testament is filled with words to that effect. One good example is Proverbs 20:1:
“Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.”
Who can argue with that, even if they are part of a more liberal branch of the Church? We’ve seen the news reports telling of alcohol-fueled escapades that escalate into ever-more serious altercations.
Even the New Testament throngs were contemptuous with those who drank to excess. When the disciples were gifted the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room, onlookers immediately thought the worst in Acts 2:13:
“But others mocking said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’ ”
Facts in: Those guys are excessively rowdy, and their speech is unintelligible. Conclusion out: There’s a party going down, and they’re soused.
Yet there is a wine we want to be filled with, one that is fermented and full of intoxicating flavors. Ignore those killjoys that say New Testament wine was strained grape juice. We don’t want the weak stuff. We want to be knocked off our feet.
John 15:5 gives us the words of Jesus:
“I am the vine; you are the branches…”
He didn’t mean an apple vine, or an olive vine, or a cherry vine. He spoke of himself as a grapevine, and from a grapevine, our harvest is fermented into wine. Read of Jesus’ actions in Matthew 11:19:
“The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”
Jesus consumed the wine of his day, and some considered him a drunkard. That begs the question, what sort of wine are we to consume?
Mark 14:23 tells us:
“And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it.”
In the very next verse, we see what’s in the cup:
“And he said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.’ ”
Now we’re back to our question, what wine are we to drink? Jesus is the vine, and he offered himself to his disciples in the most intimate way possible. In the cup he gave them his life, so that they might receive salvation and carry the upcoming message of the cross to people everywhere.
We are to be filled up with the wine of Christ, drunk on the excess of his saving grace, and delirious with the heady infusion of the Holy Spirit. When people drive by our homes and churches, we want them to look at us askance and deride, “It’s wine. There’s nothing else that could account for such raucous rowdiness. Nothing else at all!”
They’ll be right, too, for we’ll be filled with the wine of salvation, of Jesus’ death turned into life, and of our relationship with the God of all creation.
That’s heady stuff, and there’s no alcohol involved!
When we’re drunk on Christ, we’ll put the world’s party-goers to shame.
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