Drunkenness as sinfulness

With the removal of Perry Noble as pastor of New Springs Church, a lot has been said in the last few days about alcohol and drunkenness. Many people are urging complete abstinence from alcohol, something that I practice. But in the midst of the conversation, I wanted to add a note on the issue that I know I need to remember. As one prone to legalism, I need a frequent remember that dealing with this issue cannot just be about rules.

I recently read an article by John Piper addressing the issue of modesty. His main point, as I understand it, is that addressing modesty cannot be about rules only. He argues that addressing modesty starts with “God and the gospel and the Bible and the Spirit and faith and joy.” In other words, even if a church were to enact a dress code to ensure that all members were dressing modestly, this rule in itself would not be able to deal with the deeper heart issues involved. These rules would not be able to destroy the sinful desires that lead to immodest dress. This same argument could be made concerning alcohol and drunkenness.

I am not opposed to rules concerning alcohol. I do not drink, and I will discourage my kids from doing so. And while they are underage, I will surely emphasize the law that tells them not to drink. But at its core, drunkenness is a sin issue (Ephesians 5:18). As such, it cannot be dealt with through rules alone; it must be handled through repentance and faith in God. As 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 indicates, drunkards are demonstrating their alienation from God’s kingdom. They are sinning against the commands of a holy God. Paul says such people will have no part in God’s kingdom. Of course alcoholics can be forgiven and cleansed, and Paul is not saying that a Christian will never get drunk in the same way that there is no guarantee that a Christian will never lie or be greedy. But this does mean that drunkenness is a sin that places us in need of the cleansing power of the gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 6:11).

Many families today have been affected by alcoholism, drunkenness, or drug abuse, so we will likely all face these issues at some point. And we must deal with them as sin issues. When alcoholism or drug abuse hits our family, we are prone to want to blame the drugs and alcohol. We want to paint our family members as essentially good people that were derailed by an evil or dangerous substance. Perhaps if better rules were in place, these problems never would have arisen. But James teaches that our sin comes from our own evil desires. These desires give birth to sin, which leads to death (1:14-15). And though Jesus does not specifically mention drunkenness in Mark 7, he does speak of all the evil desires that come from within our own hearts that then defile us (7:21-23). So if drunkenness is a sin, it comes from within, from a heart that needs to be replaced (Ezekiel 36:26), just like so many other evil and wicked desires. We sin because we want to sin, not simply because we have been tricked into sin or stumbled into sin or failed to have the right rules in place.

Ultimately all sin destroys. The destruction brought about by the sin of greed might not be as obvious to some as the destruction caused by drunkenness, but Paul is clear that the love of money is terribly destructive (1 Timothy 6:9-10). In the same way that rules will never defeat the sin of greed, rules will never defeat the sin of drunkenness. Rules have their place. Putting solid guidelines in place can be of benefit in our walk before the Lord. But ultimately they will never solve the problem of hearts turned away from God. We must deal with sin issues as just that, sins against a holy God. The ultimate power to defeat the sin of drunkenness comes neither from the principle of moderation or the rule of total abstinence, but from faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

So why do I say any of this? A sinful tendency of mine over the years has been to glory in my own rule keeping. When I have had this attitude I am nothing more than the Pharisee of Luke 18, thanking God that I am not like those other people who commit those other sins. And when I have done this, my own rule keeping has done nothing more than alleviate the sin of drunkenness while I have plunged headlong into the destructive sin of pride. So while I believe in the wisdom of keeping certain rules that prevent certain behaviors, I know I need the constant reminder that the true power to defeat sin in my life comes not from following these rules, but from repentance and faith in the gospel of Jesus. So when I deal with my kids and alcohol, I need to be reminded not just to teach them rules (whether commands from God or rules that I believe are good, solid principles to follow), but I must proclaim to them the gospel of Jesus, which is the only power to set them free from their sin, whether that sin be drunkenness or pride over never having been drunk.