Leithart: Inebriation

I saw someone at iMonk's site link to this meditation by Peter Leithart.

I have no studies to back me up, but I dare say that removing wine from the Lord's Supper has produced an increase rather than a decrease in drunkenness. If wine is merely excluded from the Christian diet, it takes on an aura of mystery, of transgression. When we drink wine at the Lord's Table, we receive it as a gift of God, and give thanks for it. At the Lord's table, we are not drunk with wine, but we receive wine while singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord.

The central solution to the sin of drunkenness is not tee-totalism. The central solution, the solution of Scripture, is to enjoy the wine of this table as a gift of God, and to come to this feast of wine not to be drunk with wine but to be filled – to be inebriated – with the Spirit.

Comments

[Joe Thorn]

Great quote man. Repairing this problem for most of our churches is several steps away, but I agree with him.

[Steve McCoy]

I love the link from teetotalism to the LS. Correct, we are several steps from that, but that's why I love the quote. It shows our distance from what's good.

[iMonk]

There are, I believe, fairly obvious sociological studies on Christian fundamentalist teetotaling cultures vs Christian moderate drinking cultures, and if I remember correctly, the incidents of per capita alcoholism were considerable higher in areas where alcohol is a symbol of rebellion and excess.

I live in a "dry" county and booze is everywhere, as are all other drugs. The churches are furious that some residents want to go wet, because they say it will increase consumption, etc. I will reserve my opinion :-)

I have a couple of iMonk pieces coming on this. One will be about my exposure to the use of alcohol among Southern Baptists in churches and schools. The other may be an examination of Colossians 2:15-23, which may not be in everyone's Bible. ;-)

[Ryan DeBarr]

I believe that to be true. When I was younger and more reckless, half the fun of drinking was the danger and defiance of it. Walking into a pub as a full adult and ordering a beer is now so very boring.

And for what it's worth, parents who drink responsibly around their kind are teaching them moderation. Kids who's only concept of drinking is of wild, reckless behavior, will miss out on learning moderation.

It's human nature to project one's own weaknesses onto others. Many who claim that no one can drink moderately claim that because *they* can't drink in moderation- or do anything else in moderation, as frequently evidenced by their girth.

As an aside, a couple years ago, a friend asked me if I thought he should start drinking. Apparently, he was frequently invited to social events at work where everyone drank, and he was afraid that his not drinking put up barriers. I told him that was silly, and that he shouldn't drink for that reason. Especially because, not having imbibed before, he had no idea what his tolerance was and could easily drink too much.

Well, he didn't agree, so I just advised him to always limit himself to two drinks. He did do that, and a few months later he told me that drinking had NOT helped him socially. My own experience at work functions bears this out- people ask my why I'm not drinking, which opens many doors. However, he does still drink moderately on occasion simply because he enjoys it.