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Commentary on "Temperance"

RICHARD PEIFER

 

Day 2: Sunday, May 23, 2010 – The Bible’s First Drunk

Day 3: Monday, May 24, 2010 – Alcohol Today

Day 4: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 – “But Isn’t Alcohol Good for the Heart?”

 

Overview

“Noah’s experience is a warning and example for our instruction that even the “best” among us, even the strongest and most faithful, are not immune to temptation and even to outright sin. Drinking would have been bad enough, but it appears that Noah went on a binge. If Noah could fall like that, what about the rest of us?” (Teacher’s Quarterly, page 102)

 

Observations

Wow! Fully one half of the lesson is dedicated to the problem of alcohol abuse. I must assume that this tragedy is now crushing so many within Seventh-day Adventism that the church believes it must do something intentional to help stem the tide.

This tragedy is even more widespread. Alcohol abuse and binge drinking, along with all the other problems that come along with them, are epidemics among religious people in general.

The costs to individuals, families and society as a whole are incalculable. Having lost the war to Jesus, Satan is now the ultimate terrorist seeking to kill and maim as many people as possible. And he is especially happy when bystanders are caught up in the carnage. Alcohol is one of his favorite IEDs.

But here’s the real question. How much good have several lifetimes of temperance sermons, exhortations, threats, jobs losses, broken homes, and ruined health accomplished, and what have you done to improve the situation? Nothing!

One definition of insanity is approaching a problem in the same way, a way that has yielded the wrong answer, and expecting a different result.

Alcohol abuse, first and foremost, is a spiritual problem, not a behavioral problem. Yes, there are very strong physical and psychological side-effects, but behavior modification never can go far enough to solve the underlying spiritual issues. A 12-step plan may save someone’s life physically, and that’s a good thing, but it never will save them. If the person with an alcohol dependency doesn’t have Jesus as his or her “higher power”, then they have accomplished nothing with their sobriety. (These are not my words but those of a good friend who just celebrated his thirteenth year of sobriety.)

A person who is saved is, by definition, a child of God (see Romans 8:16, and many other passages). A child of God can have a problem with alcohol, but the Spirit will not leave him there. A child of God cannot be an alcoholic, because a person cannot have two identities. An alcoholic drinks because he is an alcoholic. A child of God drinks because he hasn’t learned to trust God in that area of his life. The first is the unavoidable result of having a terrible identity. The second is sin; nothing more, nothing less.

The Spirit says to the sinning child of God, “Is this behavior consistent with who you are?”

The child of God replies, “No, it isn’t.”

“Would you be willing to give this issue to me so that I can resolve it for you?”

“I don’t know. It’s so much stronger than I am.”

“I didn’t ask you if you thought you were strong enough to deal with it. I asked if you were willing to stop trying to fix it yourself. I AM; you are not. I AM more than able to defeat this in you from the inside out. I’ve already started the process by healing your spirit. Next, I’ll move to renewing your mind, then I’ll help you choose properly as you will your body to respond to me instead of to your flesh, and then we’ll rejoice together. There will be bumps and bruises along the way, but you need to remember that nothing you do on this journey can separate you from my love for you. You are mine and always will be. You are forgiven and never need ask for it again. I AM your life, and you, because you are my child, are a fellow-heir with Jesus. Are you willing for me to be God in your life? I won’t force you, but I AM begging you to be reconciled to me.”

This is the dynamic of the Christian life, whether dealing with alcohol abuse or any other sin that has trapped a child of God.

By contrast, the lost person does not have the indwelling Spirit to rely on. He has only himself, and is doomed to fail.

Rather than pointing its readers to Christ, here’s the kind of question this week’s lesson asks (Teacher’s Quarterly, p. 104): “What steps can you take to help ensure that you, or your loved ones, never start down this dangerous path, which promises nothing good but only sorrow and heartache?”

Knowing that behavior modification doesn’t work, even though it is their primary approach to spiritual maturity, Adventism suggests behavior “premodification” as the means of safety.

Rather than arguing against this with my own logic, here are Jesus’ words (albeit paraphrased by me). “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not [have the spirit of prophecy], and in your name [never touch alcohol, tobacco and dangerous drugs? Were we not vegetarians? Did we not keep the seventh-day Sabbath?]’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23).

 

Summary

  1. Alcohol abuse. It is an unspeakable tragedy and a body-destroying sin. It impacts believers and unbelievers alike.
  2. The entire history of Adventism is tied up with health, and yet that history is not up to the task. In spite of EGW’s exhortations, in spite of countless temperance speech contests at Adventist schools, in spite of study after study extolling the virtues of abstinence (from alcohol in this context), Adventists still suffer the results of the sin of alcohol abuse. In fact, I would argue that they are little different than any other religious group in this regard.
  3. Jesus is the ONLY answer to alcoholism, because alcoholism is a spiritual problem, regardless of its especially pernicious physical manifestation.

 

GO TO DAY 5

 

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