As I approach this topic, I am reminded of a story of a Sunday School teacher who was trying to explain the dangers of alcohol to a class of little boys. She took a glass of clear water and placed it on a desk; then took a glass of alcohol and placed it next to the glass of water.
She dropped some worms into the water and they just swam around. She then dropped some worms into the alcohol and they immediately curled up and died. Holding the glass of alcohol in one hand and the glass of water in the other, she said, "Now, boys, who can tell me the lesson this teaches us?"
One little boy raised his hand and said, "I know the lesson if you ever get worms, drink a lot of alcohol."
Well, I know at the outset of this message that there will be some people like that little boy who either don't get it, or won't get it. When it comes to alcohol and drinking, the attitude of many is: "Don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up." So if you are one of those people, would you "unmake" your mind long enough to listen to this message.
Alcohol is a drug that claims more addicts than any other drug in America. Alcoholics outnumber drug addicts ten to one, and alcoholic deaths outnumber drug overdoses three to one. Alcohol causes more deaths than Aids, heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and crack combined.1
There are those who protest the classification of alcohol as a drug, but Dr. Marvin Block, former Chairman of the American Medical Association's Committee on Alcoholism, said, "Ours is a drug-oriented society, largely because of alcohol. Because of its social acceptance, alcohol is rarely thought of as a drug. But a drug it is, in scientific fact."2
Amazingly, it is the one drug that is accepted by the vast majority of Americans as legitimate in its use; available to young and old alike, and advertised profusely through television, radio, billboards, and athletic stadiums throughout the country. We have been conditioned to believe that practically everybody drinks, and something is wrong with the person who doesn't.
The average child will see alcohol consumed seventy-five thousand times on television before he reaches the legal drinking age. Every seven and one-half minutes on television an alcoholic drink is offered to someone, and fifteen times out of sixteen the drink is accepted.3 76% of people on television, who are shown drinking anything at all, will be drinking alcohol. Television actors will consume fourteen times more alcohol than soft drinks, and fifteen times more alcohol than water.
I realize that to take on the topic of drinking, whether in moderation or in excess, is to be a modern day John the Baptist crying in the wilderness. 71% of Americans drink, and the number of Americans who drink has doubled in the last twenty-five years. 75% of all high school students drink, and by the twelfth grade 93% of the boys and 87% of the girls have taken at least one drink.
Surprisingly, there may not be as much sympathy for this message from churchgoers as you might think. One-half of all ordained ministers drink, and one-third of all active churchgoers drink. Even in my own denomination 48% of Southern Baptists drink, and an estimated 16% of those who do drink become alcoholics, a higher percentage than virtually any other religious group in the nation. Furthermore, one-fourth of all active Southern Baptist church teenagers have used alcohol in the past twelve months.4
Quite frankly, I could have easily left this chapter out of this book. After all, this is the day of ducking the issue rather than telling the truth. But Solomon did not flinch in facing the topic of alcohol and drinking, and neither will I. His basic philosophy is summed up in this simple, but strong, statement: "Wine is a mocker, intoxicating drink arouses brawling, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise." (Prov. 20:1) He also expands on his thinking in the longest continuous passage on alcohol in the Bible, and drives his point home with devastating force (see Prov. 23:29-35).
I am going to address this issue for the same reason Solomon did for the sake of our children. Keep in mind, as you read this chapter, alcohol use typically begins now around the age of thirteen, but 35% of fourth graders (ages 9 through 10) have been pressured by classmates to drink.5
Whatever you are going to teach your children about alcohol, you better teach them early, firmly, and consistently, because if you don't their peers will.
I. The Bitter Destruction of Alcohol
Solomon doesn't mince words when it comes to the whole matter of drinking alcohol. He says "Wine is a mocker, intoxicating drink arouses brawling, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise." (Prov. 20:1) Solomon warns that the one who imbibes will be "led astray." The Hebrew word is shah-gah, meaning "to [cause to] go astray, stray, err." It is interesting to note that Solomon specifically warned his children of three things that would cause them to leave the beaten path of success and wander or stray into the swamp of failure.
The first, which we have already dealt with, is the seductive adulterous woman. Referring to the person who allows himself to be trapped by the adulterous woman, he says: "In the greatness of his folly he shall go astray." (5:23b)
The second, with which this entire book is designed to help our children avoid, is the refusal to listen to the wise instruction of a godly father. "Cease listening to instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge." (Prov. 19:27)
The third, is drinking alcoholic beverages as described here in Prov. 20:1. In the longest and most articulate warning in the Bible concerning alcohol consumption, Prov. 23:29-35, Solomon pointed to at least four types of bitter fruit that the root of alcoholic drink eventually bears.
There is the bitter fruit of:
Emotional problems "woe and sorrow," (v.29a)
Social problems "contentions and complaints," (v.29b)
Physical problems "wounds and redness of eyes," (v.29c)
Mental problems "seeing strange things, and saying perverse things," (v.33)6
The question is raised: Does experience in the real world bear out Solomon's reflection in his theological world? Well, dad, consider the following:
The cost of "tastes great, less filling," is staggering. The use of alcohol and alcoholism financial cost the United States more than $98 billion in lost work time alone.7
To combat the colossal crisis caused by the 15.3 million Americans who use or abuse alcohol, federal and state governments have enacted over a thousand laws since 1980.8
There are those who try to defend the licensing and selling of alcohol because of the tax revenue it generates. But what is left unsaid is that for every one dollar in revenue that alcohol brings, it costs eight dollars to clean up the mess that it leaves behind.9
Physically, alcohol exacts a tremendous price as well. The consumption of alcohol has created the largest health problem in the United States when measured in terms of morbidity. It is the fourth largest cause of death after heart disease, cancer, and stroke.10
Alcohol is responsible for 108,000 deaths a year, and 62 people are killed every day in an alcohol-related automobile accident.11 Alcohol reduces the life expectancy of a human being by an average of ten years.
One-half of all homicides, one-third of all suicides, one-half of all fires, and one-half of all drownings, are directly due to alcohol.
Furthermore, 50% of all traffic fatalities, 25% of all accidental deaths, 50% of all airplane crashes, 93% of all hit-and-run accidents, and 80% of all crime is directly due to the influence of alcohol.
Worst of all, however, is the carnage alcohol leaves in its wake domestically. Separated or divorced men and women are more than three times as likely as married men and women to have been married to an alcoholic or a problem drinker (27.6% to 7.6%).12
Recently, a survey within my own denomination showed that 85% of all children in our Baptist Children's Homes are there not because they are orphans, but because they had to leave homes that were broken by alcohol.
I guarantee you there is not one father reading this book right now that cannot think of some marriage that has been destroyed, some wife that has been abused, some child that has been emotionally devastated because of the scourge of alcohol.
There is no need to belabor the point. Your home may very well be the exception. Indeed, as far as we know from Scripture, Solomon never had any problem with alcohol. But he obviously had seen its great danger and was warning his children just as we need to warn ours.
II. The Biblical Definition of Alcohol
Contrary to popular opinion, there is little ambiguity in the Scripture concerning alcohol and its consumption. Much confusion stems from the equating of alcoholic beverages described in the Bible with those bought, sold, and consumed today.
Notice that Solomon refers in Prov. 20:1 to "wine" and "strong drink." These are beverages made from grapes and grains.13 It is important for our study to take the second term "strong drink" first. The Hebrew term is shay-kahr. It refers to an intoxicating drink that would be made from barley, pomegranates, dates, apples, or honey.
It is important to note, however, that biblical scholars tell us that even this term "most likely [does] not [refer to] ‘liquor' for there is no evidence of distilled liquor in ancient times."14 Strong drink is universally condemned in the Bible. Priests were to avoid it (Lev. 10:8-9); kings were to avoid it (Prov. 31:4-5); Isaiah pronounces judgment on those who use it (Isa. 5:11). Norman L. Geisler, in an excellent article entitled, "A Christian Perspective on Wine-drinking," says unequivocally: "God is opposed to using strong drink as a beverage."15
The other term "wine" derives from the Hebrew yah-yin. This is the most common Old Testament word used for alcoholic drink, being found one hundred and forty-one times. It is a generic term. Sometimes it is used for an intoxicating drink, and sometimes for a non-intoxicating drink.16
As you will find in the rest of the Old Testament, Solomon makes a distinction between wine and strong drink.17 This is extremely important for the following reasons: A New Testament scholar by the name of Dr. Robert Stein, researched the wine-drinking of the ancient world in both Jewish sources and the Bible. He made a very interesting discovery.
The wine of biblical times is not like the wine that we think of today. His research uncovered the fact that wine, for example, in the days of Jesus, was actually wine mixed with water. On average it would be three or four parts of water mixed with one part of wine. In other words, what the Bible calls wine was basically purified water.18
Stein points out that in the ancient world many beverages were unsafe to drink. Water could be made safe in one of several ways: It could be boiled, but this was tedious and costly. It could be filtered, but this was not always a safe method. The safest method was to put wine into the water to kill the germs one part wine with three or four parts water.
So, as one Old Testament scholar and Hebrew expert has put it:
Wine was the most intoxicating drink known in ancient times. All the wine was light wine, i.e., not fortified with extra alcohol. Concentrated alcohol was only known in the Middle Ages when the Arabs invented distillation...so what is now called liquor or strong drink (i.e. whiskey, gin, etc.) and the twenty percent fortified wines of today were unknown in Bible times.19
This sheds light on Solomon's admonition: "Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup..." (Prov. 23:31) He was referring to wine that was unmixed with water. Wine that we speak of today has a much higher level of alcohol than wine in Bible days. In fact, Dr. Stein notes that in New Testament times one would have to drink twenty-two glasses of wine in order to consume the alcohol in just two martinis today.20
In summary:
Though fermented wine was drunk in Bible times, and though the Bible approved of wine-drinking, one needs to remember that the alcoholic content was much less than that of wine today. What is used today is not the wine of the New Testament! Therefore, Christians ought not drink wine, beer, or other alcoholic beverages, for they are actually "strong drink" and are forbidden in Scripture. Even ancient pagans did not drink what some Christians drink today!21
Let me hasten to add that there are some legitimate uses of wine and alcohol found in the Bible. Sometimes it was used as a medicine. Evidently Timothy had stomach problems and Paul told him "use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities." (I Tim. 5:23) Wine, in the ancient world, was oftentimes used as a laxative. Paul prescribed this medicine for Timothy's digestive problems.
Sometimes wine was used as a sedative or a pain killer. So we read in Prov. 31:6, "Give strong drink to him who is perishing, and wine to those who are bitter of heart." Anybody who has ever had too much to drink can tell you of the numbing effect alcohol can have!
Finally, it was used as an antiseptic or a germ killer. That is why we read in the story of the Good Samaritan that he poured oil and wine on the wounds of the man who had been beaten by thieves. The fact is, when poured on a wound, alcohol can be a tool in the hands of God to destroy germs and bring healing. But when too much is poured into the human body, it can become a satanic poison that ruins a life.
III. The Best Decision for Alcohol
Now we come to the crux of the issue what is the best policy to follow and, more to the point, what should we dads teach our kids concerning alcohol? It really is very simple; there are only two choices we teach our kids to drink "only in moderation" or teach them (and lead by example) not to drink at all.
I want to say respectfully, but firmly, to every moderate drinker reading this chapter. In my estimation, moderation is not the answer to the alcohol problem, but I believe a major cause of it.
Two hundred years ago, Dr. Benjamin Rush said, "Many persons are destroyed by alcohol who were never completely intoxicated during the whole course of their lives." Recent research has shown that 72% of alcohol-related health problems, 67% of alcohol-related marital problems, 63% of alcohol-related violence, 58% of alcohol-related employment problems, and 55% of alcohol-related accidents and legal problems, are caused by light and moderate drinkers.
Studies by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism indicate that 21% of even moderate drinkers become "psychologically dependent" on alcohol; that is, they think they need it. While another 14% are "symptomatic drinkers," meaning they are physically dependent, and have difficulty in controlling their drinking.22
It has been stated that one ounce of alcohol kills ten thousand brain cells. No wonder William Shakespeare said, "Oh God, that men would put an enemy in their mouth to steal away their brain."
A woman once asked Thomas Edison, "Why don't you drink liquor?" Edison replied, "To take alcohol into the body is like putting sand on the bearings of an engine. It just doesn't belong. I have a better use for my brain than to poison it with alcohol." It is now clear that consumption of alcohol, in any amount, is harmful.
Professor E. Don Nelson, of the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine, concluded, based on latest research, that "the less we drink the better off we are." He noted that in any amount alcohol kills cells in every organ of the body. Consequently, alcohol in any amount "causes permanent brain damage, primarily to the outer layers of the cortex, which governs complex thinking."23
Perhaps you have heard of the story of the two men who were talking, and one man said, "When I drink I drink vodka because people cannot smell it on my breath, and therefore they don't know that I have been drinking." His friend said, "If I were you, I would drink something else. For it would be better for people to know that you are drinking than to think that you are stupid."
These are not the only problems associated with drinking "in moderation." Recent statistical studies, for example, have established a direct relationship between moderate use of alcohol and breast cancer. In one study, consumption of only two-thirds of a can beer per week increased the risk by 40%, three drinks per week by 50%, and more than three drinks per week by 60%.24
Writer, Leonard Gross, summarized all of the recent research on this problem by stating:
Over the last fifteen years, the number of researchers in the United States and abroad, have developed the proposition that what passes for social drinking today in many parts of the world is fraught with biomedical hazards, among them: liver problems including cirrhosis, hypertension, cancer of the digestive tract...fetal damage even before confirmation of pregnancy, and the impairment of sober intellectual capacities.25
Dad, keep this in mind. The only place the alcoholic can come from is the moderate drinker. It is a fact that one out of every twelve people who ever take a drink, will be become an alcoholic or a problem drinker. The fact is, you may not be one out of the twelve, but one of your children may be. Is it worth the risk?
I read something interesting recently about prohibition that made me sit straight up in my chair and realize the truth of what I am saying to you. Prohibition is widely condemned as a national failure, and I know that nationally it will never become law again. But listen to the real truth about this national experiment on banning alcohol. Dr. William Bennett said:
One of the clear lessons of prohibition capitalizes that when we had laws against alcohol there was less consumption of alcohol, less alcohol-related disease, fewer drunken brawls, and a lot less public drunkenness. Contrary to myth, there is no evidence that prohibition caused big increases in crime.26
The facts are: As a result of prohibition, 180,000 saloons were shut down, and 1,800 breweries went out of business. In the ten years following prohibition, the death rate due to liquor decreased 42%, the death rate due to cirrhosis of the liver decreased 50%, the consumption of alcohol decreased by 70%, crime decreased 54%, and insanity decreased 66%.
My point? What worked nationally will work in the home. Whatever benefits derive from drinking (none of which I can call to mind) are far outweighed by the potential risk and actual cost. Remember, Solomon's purpose in writing Proverbs was to help his children "wise up in a dumbing down world." He flatly says, "whoever is led astray by wine and strong drink is not wise." (Prov. 20:1)
Just as discretion is the better part of valor, abstinence is the better part of wisdom. Alcohol and wisdom simply don't mix.
I am one who has a dad who was formerly a problem drinker. I appeal to you, my fellow dads, to hear me as you consider this issue, and determine what you are going to teach your kids, both by example and precept, concerning drinking alcohol. There are two words I want you to keep in mind influence and witness.
The Apostle Paul wisely stated: "It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak." (Rom. 14:21) My three sons are also my Christian brothers. One of the reasons why I am grateful that, by the grace of God, I have never taken a drink is because they can never use me as an excuse to begin drinking themselves.
Dad, meditate on this: 82% of teenagers will say yes to alcohol if their parents drink, but 72% of teenagers will say no to alcohol if their parents say no as well.27 That is influence!
But also think of the word witness. I Cor. 10:31 says, "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." Everything you are to take into your body you ought to be able to do it to the glory of God and for His pleasure. No Christian can say with a straight face, or a clear conscience, that he can drink what is the biblical equivalent of strong drink to the glory of God.
Dad, I am saying to you as firmly as I can, teach your children total abstinence from alcohol, and you be a total abstainer as well. General Robert E. Lee was correct when he said, "My experience through life has convinced me that abstinence from liquor is the best safeguard to morals and health."
I read a story recently of an ancient king who was seeking a driver for his chariot. Several men came to apply for the job. He asked each one this question: "If there were a cliff on one side of the chariot, how close could you drive to the edge?" The first man confidently answered, "I could drive within a foot of the edge." The second man said, "I could drive within six inches of the edge." The last man said, "Sire, I would drive just as far away from the edge as I possibly could." He got the job! The best and safest decision we can all make concerning beverage alcohol is to stay as far away from it as we possibly can.
Abraham Lincoln said it well and said it best when he said, "Alcohol has many defenders, but no defense." Truer words were never spoken. This late, and great President, also made this resolution:
Whereas, the use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage is productive of pauperism, degradation, and crime; and believing it is our duty to discourage that which produces more evil than good, we therefore pledge ourselves to abstain from the use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage.28
Dad, would you not only join me in taking that pledge, but leading your children to do the same? I can assure you, with God as my witness, you will never regret it if you will.
1 Ronald M. Sailler and David Wyrtzen, The Practice of Wisdom: A Topical Guide to Proverbs (Chicago: Moody Press, 1992), p. 11.
2 Jack VanImpe and Roger F. Campbell, Alcohol: the Beloved Enemy (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1980).
3 Zig Ziglar, Raising Positive Kids in a Negative World (Nashville: Oliver Nelson, 1985), p. 29.
4 See Richard Land, "Alcohol: Some Sobering Facts," Light, September/October, 1994.
5 Bottom Line, June 15, 1995.
6 John F. Waldorrd and Roy B. Zuck, eds., The Bible Knowledge Commentary (Wheaton, Illinois: Victor Books, 1985), p. 957.
7 Light, January/February, 1995, p. 7.
8 H. Wayne House and Kenneth M. Durham, Living Wisely in a Foolish World (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1992), p. 107.
9 Ronald Schiller, "Why Americans are Drinking Less," Reader's Digest, n.d., p. 48.
10 Mike Evans, The Return (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986), p. 219.
11 And; House and Durham, p. 107.
12 Tom Strode, "Alcoholism Increases Chances of Divorce," Baptist Press, 10-4-91.
13 Robert L. Alden, Proverbs (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1983), p. 148.
14 R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer, Jr., Bruce K. Waltke, eds. Theological Word Book of the Old Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1980) Vol. 2, p. 927.
15 Norman L. Geisler, "A Christian Perspective on Wine-drinking," Bibliotheca Sacra, January-March, 1982, p. 47.
16 For example, the word is used in Isaiah 16:10: "No treaders will tread out wine in their presses." This refers to the juice that is being mashed out of the grapes by the feet, therefore a non-intoxicating wine. But here in Prov. 20:1 Solomon refers to it as an intoxicating drink.
17 In all but two of its twenty-three uses in the Old Testament (Num. 28:7; Ps 69:12; [H13]) It appears in connection with Yayin "wine" usually following it, once preceding it. (Prov. 31:6) TWOT, p. 927.
18 Robert H. Stein, "Wine-drinking in New Testament Times," Christianity Today, June 20, 1975, pp. 9-11.
19 TWOT, Vol. 1, p. 376.
20 Stein, op. cit.
21 Geisler, op. cit., p. 51.
22 Schiller, p. 49.
23 Nashville Tennessan, August 14, 1984.
24 Robert B. Fischer, "Muddled in Moderation," Moody Monthly, May, 1989, p. 10.
25 Ibid.
26 William J. Bennett, The Devaluing of America (New York: Summit Books, 1992), p. 118.
27 Land, Light, September/October, 1994.
28 Willie W. White, ed. Out of My Treasure (Joplin, Missouri: College Press, 1964), p. 278.
