Sipping Saints

“Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise” (Proverbs 20:1).

This nation is fast becoming a sodden society of too many intoxicated citizens. Alcohol is now the modern golden calf, and millions of people, young and old, male and female, have been seduced by it.

The teetotaler, the prohibitionists, and all the others who have for years fought against this flood of booze have been laughed out of existence. We laugh to scorn those old-fashioned little ladies who went around smashing barrels of whiskey and shutting down bars and honky-tonks, and taking pledges of abstinence.

We liberated moderns and have made it fashionable to drink. It is now considered sophisticated, urbane, and cool – to drink socially.

People are offended nowadays when you refuse their offer of a complimentary drink. They try to make you feel unneighborly for not joining them, or that you are putting on a “holier than thou” attitude. Even President Carter couldn’t keep drinks out of the White House.

“Be not among winebibbers…” (Proverbs 23:20).

To me, the real tragedy is that so many who call themselves “Christian” are now drinking. I call them “sipping saints,” because that is how it all begins – one sip at a time.

A recent poll revealed that 81% of all Catholics now drink and 64% of all Protestants. These shocking figures keep mounting higher each month. The permissive attitude toward social drinking is fast creeping even into the most conservative, evangelical church circles.

I have spoken at Charismatic conventions where thousands of “Spirit-filled” saints of God lifted hands in praise and adoration to God – and after being dismissed, numbers of them walk out into the parking lot, open their car trunks and pull out a couple of six-packs and pass them around to fellow worshipers. Others order mixed drinks with their restaurant meals, in between the praise sessions. They return to speak with “pickled tongues.”

“And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands” (Isaiah 5:12).

The prophet Isaiah has a message for the entire Charismatic movement – in both Catholic and Protestant circles.

“God’s people are in captivity to these things because of a lack of knowledge . . . But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness” (Isaiah 5:13-16)..

The prophet Hosea said, “. . . wine and new wine take away the heart . . .” (Hosea 4:11).

This suggests that sipping saints have divided hearts.

Spirit-filled people lay claim to being “kings and priests” unto the Lord. The Bible emphatically states,

“It is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink, lest they drink and forget the law . . .” (Proverbs 31:4,5).

The writer of Proverbs suggests happy, overcoming Christians don’t need wine, that it is only for the depressed and dying.

“Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts” (Proverbs 31:6).

A fine Christian lady wrote to me saying:

“We are good church-going Christians. We love the Lord, and we see nothing at all wrong with serving wine in our home. We drink moderately, and our children are learning to drink under our supervision. They do not overindulge. We have never seen anyone drunk in our home.

“You are simply trying to make us feel guilty and are pushing your fundamentalist morals on us. We were not raised under the legalistic taboos like you evidently were. Frankly? sir, our drinking habits are none of your concern.”

God bless that dear lady – but one of these days it will be my business. It starts becoming my business when those teenagers go out with their friends and get stoned.

Just today, one of my students, a converted alcoholic, told me how she became a drunkard. Her parents taught her how to drink moderately. At parties, birthdays, and when company came, everybody took a social drink. It was served at meals. She admired and loved her parents. They despised drunkenness, yet they had a bar in the house.

This young lady started going to teenage parties and began to drink socially with her crowd. That led to drinking in clubs. Soon she was getting stoned in parked vans. Finally, when problems began to pile up, she began to lean on wine heavily. She ended up in a mental institution, a hard-core alcoholic.

That same story is repeated to me over and over again from coast to coast. How many, many times I’ve heard it, “My parents were considered good Christians. They went to church. But we always served wine or beer at our house. My big brother drank moderately and he was my hero. I drank to be like my parents and big brother, but I couldn’t handle it. But they made me think drinking was the thing all good people do.”

Am I prejudiced? Narrow-minded on the subject? You bet I am! And I have reason to be. My own brother, a minister’s son, started drinking beer moderately – just to be sociable with friends. He wound up a heavy drinker, leaving his wife and lovely children to pursue his habit. Thank God he is saved today and back with his family.

But I sent my brother Jerry with a team of converts to Europe to testify about what Christ did in delivering him from the power of alcohol. The Christians in Europe gladly rejoiced in the testimonies of deliverance from dope and prostitution – but they didn’t want to hear a word about Jerry’s deliverance from alcohol. Why? Because European Christians guzzle wine and beer like water. It broke his heart.

I have heard all the excuses for the drinking among Christians in Europe – and I can’t accept any of them. They blame it on impure water. They talk about it being rooted in their culture and customs. They drink “because they have always done it.”

How deeply offended some of the pastors were in Paris, France, when I refused to drink their wine. American missionaries, who themselves easily adopted the European customs, told me I should “do as the Parisians do, while in Paris!” Yet, how deeply offended I was when some of these same ministers were so stoned they couldn’t stay awake during my crusade.

There is an alarming rate of alcoholism and heavy drinking in Christian circles in Europe. They do get drunk! They are not all moderate! None of their excuses make it right. And what phoniness for American Christians to drink “only in Europe.” They won’t touch a drop here in the States, but they think it’s “cute” to join the brethren over there in sipping a few!

I am deeply offended by drinking Christians because of the terrible example it sets for young people! This nation is now facing a plague of drinking among teenagers. The two most popular words in school today are “cruising and boozing.” Drunkenness is spreading in our schools like a wildfire out of control. Kids tell me that as many as 80% of their class not only drink but get stone drunk. We face the possibility of having over one million young alcoholics next year.