Tripping People With Beer

—Chris Krycho

The following is one article in a series on dealing with alcohol Biblically. You can read the rest of the series here.

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In the previous articles in this series [Alcohol is of the Devil! and Alcohol is from God], I argued that drinking is not sinful and in fact is a blessing from God, and tackled one of the most common arguments against consuming alcohol. In this article, I am examining the other common argument against drinking, one that I think is much stronger but ultimately still not compelling.

Some teetotalers, recognizing that Scripture affirms the goodness of alcohol, argue that we should nonetheless avoid it to avoid tempting our brothers and sisters in Christ. They offer two passages in support of their view:

Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.
(Romans 14:20-22)

But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
(1 Corinthians 8:9-13)

These both seem to suggest that we should always abstain from any activity that could cause a brother to stumble. However, we need to look closely at the context of these verses to decide how to interpret and apply them correctly.

In Romans, Paul makes it clear that he is not establishing hard and fast rules about these particulars:

One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
(Romans 14:5-6)

He continues,

So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
(Romans 14:16-17)

From these verses, we observe that Paul was not saying in the latter part of Romans 14 that no one should eat meat. To the contrary, he explicitly affirms that those who eat meat honor God. He instructs the believers not to let anyone call their eating meat a sin—it is good. It is no coincidence that he later pairs eating meat and drinking wine: these are areas where one’s actions might cause a brother to stumble, but where freedom remains nonetheless. The point, then, is that liberty’s bounds are set by love for one’s brothers and sisters in Christ.

Turning to Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, we see that context similarly dictates the way we understand the passage. First, in the immediately preceding context, Paul wrote, “Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do” (1 Corinthians 8:8). The whole argument is set in this light: a Christian is neither better nor worse for abstaining.

Second, Paul’s statement that he will never eat meat marks a transition into a lengthy discussion of how he has curtailed his own freedoms for the sake of his mission, a discussion that he continues through chapter 9. (Note that the chapter and verse breaks do not exist in the original!) He did not eat meat or drink wine (9:4), did not marry (9:5), and worked for a living rather than accepting support1 (9:6). In short, Paul went far above and beyond even the other apostles in what he sacrificed for his mission, forgoing freedoms that he did not expect other Christians to forgo. This was Paul’s path, one other Christians may choose to walk, but certainly not one they are obligated to walk.

What is more, after wrapping up his explanation of the sacrifices he made for the gospel, Paul returns to his discussion of what the Corinthians believers ought to do, concluding,

Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof.” If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
(1 Corinthians 10:25-31)

Look closely: he explicitly tells the Corinthians not to worry about eating meat, unless they are explicitly put into a situation in which it would cause someone to stumble. Whether they eat or drink (or do not), they are to do it to the glory of God. So should we.

Further, Paul actually addresses the issue of people getting drunk on the Communion wine later in the epistle. His response was to eat and drink at home—not to refrain from drinking; see 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. (This is also an argument against those who claim it would be difficult to get drunk on the alcohol of the day; clearly, it wasn’t.) Finally, note that Paul treats his abstention from marriage and his abstention from alcohol in identical terms, so his abstention from alcohol cannot mean that we must abstain from it as well; see 1 Corinthians 9:4-5.

To summarize: Paul himself abstained from a variety of things he was free to partake of as a believer for the sake of his mission. He uses his own curtailing of liberties to demonstrate how our own enjoyment of those liberties must be fenced in by love. We may marry, eat meat, and drink wine, but only in a way that considers others more important than ourselves.

How do we apply this? First, we need to be consistent. We should not treat alcohol any differently than we would treat other sometimes controversial issues (e.g. eating meat sacrificed to idols, dancing, watching movies or television, etc.). Then, we should exercise our freedom within the bounds proscribed by love. Finally, it may be profitable for some individuals to abstain from alcohol (and other things!) as part of their ministry.

If I am aware that someone struggles or has struggled with alcohol, I will go out of my way to avoid putting them in a place of temptation. I do not even offer it to friends who have no such history without first ascertaining their own views; I don’t want anyone to drink in spite of their own conscience. Although I sometimes drink in public, I try to be sensitive to who is around when I do so. I would make a point to explain my position to any believers I saw who might have an issue of conscience because they saw me drinking. If I saw someone in a restaurant who I knew struggled with alcohol, I would refrain.

In our own homes, with friends for whom it is not a problem, and at times in public when we are not aware of others we might cause to stumble, we are free drink moderately—and we can be confident that we glorify God as we drink.

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1Note that this was apparently Paul's practice while he was initially ministering at Corinth. At various points in his ministry, Paul did accept and even ask for financial support from churches he had planted.