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Is It Wrong to Get a Little Drunk Sometimes? · Pastor John Piper's answers

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  Speaker 1: We talk about substances on the podcast quite a lot, alcohol, drunkenness, nicotine, spoking, vaping, chewing, tobacco,
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  Speaker 1: the abuse of caffeine, painkillers, morphine, and of course marijuana.
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  Speaker 1: You'll see my digestive all those episodes in the Aspesto
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  Speaker 1: John Book on pages two sixty nine to two seventy six.
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  Speaker 1: We're back talking about alcohol today because one of the
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  Speaker 1: most important texts on alcohol is in our Bible reading
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  Speaker 1: tomorrow Ephesians five eighteen, a timely text for us in
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  Speaker 1: the advent of this question from a Christian teenage boy
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  Speaker 1: who seeking to grow closer to God and facing temptations
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  Speaker 1: to drink. Obviously, it's illegal for a teen to drink
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  Speaker 1: in the US, so that's one angle we need to
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  Speaker 1: just stay here from the outset. But here's the question,
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  Speaker 1: Pastor John. Hello, I'm a Christian teenager trying to get
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  Speaker 1: closer to God, and I've been wondering if getting a
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  Speaker 1: little drunk every so often for fun or to help
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  Speaker 1: with some pain is sinful been drunk, I've stayed in
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  Speaker 1: control and haven't done anything bad. I even pray for
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  Speaker 1: God's help in making good decisions. I've never been so drunk,
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  Speaker 1: I forget things are act crazy and I don't intend
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  Speaker 1: to Is it still sinful to do this even if
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  Speaker 1: I don't do anything wrong or out of hand? Bestor John?
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  Speaker 1: Beyond the legal question here, what would you say to
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  Speaker 1: a Christian teenager asking this question?
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  Speaker 2: The most encouraging thing about this question is that this
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  Speaker 2: young man says, I am a Christian teenage. You're trying
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  Speaker 2: to get closer to God. That's encouraging because the Bible
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  Speaker 2: says draw near to God, and He will draw near
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  Speaker 2: to you. And for God to draw near to us,
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  Speaker 2: that's just glorious, right. I mean, when it's just drawn
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  Speaker 2: near to us, it doesn't mean in judgment. It means
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  Speaker 2: in fellowship and blessing in your presence, is fullness of
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  Speaker 2: joy at your right hand, our pleasures forevermore. And he's
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  Speaker 2: offering that to us as we as we draw near
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  Speaker 2: to him. That's what nearness means, pleasures and joy now
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  Speaker 2: and forever. So that's a beautiful aspiration for a teenager
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  Speaker 2: or an old man like I want the nearness of
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  Speaker 2: God with our young friend. So when he asks if
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  Speaker 2: getting a little drunk every so often is sinful, my
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  Speaker 2: question back is, is he really asking, Are you really
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  Speaker 2: asking or should you be asking? Does getting a little
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  Speaker 2: drunk every so often get me closer to God? Because
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  Speaker 2: that's the way everything started? Those may not be the
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  Speaker 2: same question for him. Is it sinful? Is it getting
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  Speaker 2: closer to God? There are religions that think that the
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  Speaker 2: use of some drugs puts you in a kind of
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  Speaker 2: mental trance where you do, in fact have closer experiences
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  Speaker 2: with God. Some Rastafarians and some Hindus and some Native
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  Speaker 2: American religion has used drugs that way. But Christianity has
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  Speaker 2: never viewed drug induced states as a bona fide way
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  Speaker 2: of getting close to God. And the reason for this
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  Speaker 2: becomes really clear when we look at the passage of
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  Speaker 2: Ephesians five that is referred to that leads up to
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  Speaker 2: verse eighteen, don't get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery.
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  Speaker 2: So let me read the verses leaning up to it,
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  Speaker 2: and I'll emphasize the words that I think are so
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  Speaker 2: opposite to drunkeness, which causes Paul to say, don't do that.
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  Speaker 2: Don't get drunk with wine. That's what he says in
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  Speaker 2: verse eighteen. But here's verse fourteen. Awake, oh sleeper, rise
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  Speaker 2: from the dead. And Christ will shine on you. Look
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  Speaker 2: carefully how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise,
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  Speaker 2: buying up the time, redeeming the time, because your days
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  Speaker 2: are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what
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  Speaker 2: the will of the Lord is. And then, by way
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  Speaker 2: of example, he says, and don't get drunk with wine
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  Speaker 2: or that's debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.
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  Speaker 2: So the reason Christianity doesn't use drugs, including alcohol, in
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  Speaker 2: search of closeness to Christ is that God puts a
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  Speaker 2: huge premium on being seen himself. He wants to be seen, understood,
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  Speaker 2: known for what he really is with our minds that
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  Speaker 2: He's given us in his own image, so that he
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  Speaker 2: piles up words that emphasize mental clarity, alertness, precision. So
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  Speaker 2: he says, be awake, not drowsy or sleepy or woozy
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  Speaker 2: in your perception of reality. Be alive, not dead, towards
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  Speaker 2: spiritual reality and the beauties of God and the world.
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  Speaker 2: Look carefully how you walk. In other words, they'll be
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  Speaker 2: careless where you put your foot, your mental foot, your
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  Speaker 2: physical foot, your spiritual foot. Be alert, be careful, look, look,
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  Speaker 2: And the word is acribos accurately carefully don't be unwise,
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  Speaker 2: but wise in other words, be able to use your
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  Speaker 2: mind clearly to assess situations and make good judgments. Purchase
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  Speaker 2: the time. In other words, there's a sense of urgency
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  Speaker 2: about the choices you make, and you want them to
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  Speaker 2: be shrewd and wise and good, and not blunder your
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  Speaker 2: way into any situation that would make you un alert
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  Speaker 2: or act in a stupid way. Understand what the will
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  Speaker 2: of the Lord is. The words involve all your mental capacities,
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  Speaker 2: don't be dull, don't let them be dulled with drugs,
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  Speaker 2: and heighten them with wakefulness and alertness and careful thinking
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  Speaker 2: and careful observation. In other words, just all of that
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  Speaker 2: is a lead in to don't get drunk with wine,
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  Speaker 2: but be filled with the spirit. And the implication seems
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  Speaker 2: to me to be the Holy Spirit is precisely the
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  Speaker 2: power of God in you, to make you wakeful and alive,
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  Speaker 2: and careful in your observations and alert in your senses,
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  Speaker 2: and wise in your judgments. The Holy Spirit doesn't come
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  Speaker 2: in to replace human faculties, mental faculties, faculties of observation
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  Speaker 2: or thinking, but rather to take them to a new
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  Speaker 2: level of spiritual acuman. I think that's really crucial. The
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  Speaker 2: Holy Spirit doesn't replace mental faculties of our reservation and thinking.
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  Speaker 2: It takes them to a new level of spiritual acumen.
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  Speaker 2: Because the Holy Spirit is given to bring about exactly
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  Speaker 2: what our young friend says he wants, namely closeness to God.
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  Speaker 2: That's the work of the Holy Spirit. He reveals Christ,
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  Speaker 2: the Holy Spirit leads us to Christ. To be full
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  Speaker 2: of the Spirit is to be full of the enjoyment
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  Speaker 2: of the nearness of Christ, which Paul says is the
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  Speaker 2: opposite of drunkenness, because drunkeness dulls the very faculties God
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  Speaker 2: has given for the enjoyment of Christ. And we're not
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  Speaker 2: even talking here about the thirty two percent of all
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  Speaker 2: fatal car accidents involving alcohol, or the eighty one billion
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  Speaker 2: dollars a year that are lost in business is owing
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  Speaker 2: to alcohol abuse, or the one hundred and seventy eight
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  Speaker 2: thousand people who die every year in America from the
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  Speaker 2: over indulgence of alcohol, or the devastation on marriages and
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  Speaker 2: the reeking of divorce. We're all talking about any of
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  Speaker 2: that right now. We're just talking about this man's desire
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  Speaker 2: to get close to God. Which is the fundamental error
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  Speaker 2: that I want to point out. At least I think
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  Speaker 2: it's in his mind. I don't know for sure, but
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  Speaker 2: from what he says, it looks like it. And it's
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  Speaker 2: really common, and it is common for all of us.
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  Speaker 2: We're all tempted to this at one time or the other.
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  Speaker 2: And the error is this. If your desire is truly
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  Speaker 2: to draw near to God, you don't calculate your behavior
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  Speaker 2: by asking how close you can get to sin. You
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  Speaker 2: want to get close to God, you don't ask how
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  Speaker 2: close can I get to sin? If you're asking how
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  Speaker 2: to get close to God, you ask how can I
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  Speaker 2: do every everything that would enhance closeness to God? Not
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  Speaker 2: how can I nuzzle up as close as possible to
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  Speaker 2: sin without really sinning. That's like asking is it okay
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  Speaker 2: to drive the car when I'm a little bit sleepy. Well,
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  Speaker 2: if your goal is to drive safely and get to
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  Speaker 2: your destination, namely God, you better pull over and take
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  Speaker 2: a nap and not indulge in sleepiness while driving. Not
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  Speaker 2: even a little bit of sleepiness. Open the windows, stick
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  Speaker 2: your heat out, drink something, slap your cheek, you know,
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  Speaker 2: just you're taking steps away from sleeping is not how
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  Speaker 2: close can I get the sleepiness and still drive? So
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  Speaker 2: my conclusion for our friend and for all of us
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  Speaker 2: is when when you look at the list of sins
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  Speaker 2: in Galatians five twenty one that keep you out of
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  Speaker 2: the Kingdom of God, you don't, well, can I be
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  Speaker 2: a little bit envious? Can I be a little bit angry?
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  Speaker 2: Can I be a little bit jealous? Can I be
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  Speaker 2: a little bit idolatrous? Can I be a little bit sensual?
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  Speaker 2: Can I be a little bit lustful? Can I dabble
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  Speaker 2: a little bit in sorcery? Can I enjoy a few
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  Speaker 2: moments of strife? You just don't ask those questions, not
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  Speaker 2: if your goal is really to be close to God
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  Speaker 2: as you can be. So let's not ask how close
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  Speaker 2: can I go to sin? But how full can I
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  Speaker 2: be of the Holy Spirit? Yeah?
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  Speaker 1: That's well said, A great warning for the teen years
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  Speaker 1: and for the entirety of the Christian life. Thank you,
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  Speaker 1: pastor John. A subtle question we all ask at some point,
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  Speaker 1: really not explicitly, so we need to make it explicit.
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  Speaker 1: Can I be a little bit angry, a little bit jealous,
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  Speaker 1: a little bit at all, a little bit essential? So key,
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  Speaker 1: Thank you, Pastor John Well. On the podcast, we've talked
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  Speaker 1: about alcohol, drunkenness, nicotine, smoking, vaping, chewing, tobacco, and the
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  Speaker 1: abuse of caffeine, painkillers, morphine, marijuana, those kinds of topics,
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  Speaker 1: all of those, and in those topics, Proverbs twenty three
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  Speaker 1: twenty nine to thirty five comes up a lot too,
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  Speaker 1: a text that applies to so many different substances. And
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  Speaker 1: there are other shared principles that apply to these substances
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  Speaker 1: as well, which I hope to show you how these
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  Speaker 1: texts work together in Pastor John's mind and my digestive
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  Speaker 1: all those past episodes on substances in the APJ book
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  Speaker 1: on pages two sixty nine to two seventy six. Thanks
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  Speaker 1: for joining us today. I have a question to ask
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  Speaker 1: Pastor John. Find a link to email us, and you
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  Speaker 1: can even find our complete episode archive at the same place.
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  Speaker 1: Askpastor John dot com every episode with audio and full
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  Speaker 1: transcripts available for you. Well. Staying in Ephesians, we turn
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  Speaker 1: our attention to Ephesian six twelve next time, which tells
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  Speaker 1: us that our struggle, our struggle is not against flesh
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  Speaker 1: and blood. So does a supply When it seems like
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  Speaker 1: our enemies are only flesh and blood people who are
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  Speaker 1: causing our relational, emotional, physical and mental pain. That's a
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  Speaker 1: great question. I'm Tony Rank. You see you Thursday.