Drinks on Me! Alcohol, Prohibition and the Soulful Life

I grew up thinking that drinking alcohol was like drinking Satan juice. It was just bad the church told me. I can see that they had a point. My father would often drink a bit too much and tell me the same rambling stories of coming to America. What possible good can alcohol bring? But during my post-college years I was turned on to the abuse of legalism and the freedom of Christian living. Let the drinks flow! But with this “freedom” comes inevitable excess.

G.K. Chesteron once said that the drunk and the abstainer are both mistaken, they both regard alcohol as a drug and not as a drink. I think this really hits the nail on the head. Alcohol functions as drink and not drug. It’s wonderful as something that enhances our tastes and moods but destructive when it leads to drunkenness and dependency. Most of sin is not about outright evil but taking a good thing and abusing it. Both liberal and legalist miss the point of this drink.

Jesus puts alcohol in perspective. He CREATES alcohol as his first miracle in the gospel of John. Clearly Jesus is no prohibitionist.

He does it in the context of celebration. Alcohol can be used rightly in the context of community and especially celebration. But with all these things lies moderation and self-control which Paul summarizes by saying, “Do not be drunk on wine but be filled with the Spirit.” Alcoholic spirits should mesh with the Holy Spirit.

But finally Jesus uses alcohol as metaphor to explain the coming of His kingdom. Some whiskey can pack a punch but good wine can be divine. The flavor and beauty of wine can lead us to some transcendent moments. It’s but a faint hint on the beauty and joy that awaits God’s people when they have Christ as their King.

I’m in favor of a soulful life. A life filled with seeing all of life in it’s beauty and brilliance. A life that doesn’t need excess to truly experience. A life that sees good things in its rightful place under the reign of God. Maybe when Christians live more soulfully we’ll be more attractive to a soulless world.

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Playlists, iPods and the Eclectic Life

I was recently having a conversation with someone in our church about modern musical tastes. When I was growing up I saved all of my money to buy exactly one tape or CD a month. I listened to that album over and over until the songs were spinning in my head at all times. I only listened to one or two genres but I was absolutely devoted to it. These days if you ask anyone who grew up in the iPod generation about their musical tastes you’ll almost invariably get the answer, “a little bit of everything.” You’ll get people who listen to country, rock, rap, pop all the way down to indie music. In many ways this is wonderful. People now have more access to diverse streams of culture and knowledge than ever before. But is there a trade-off in all of this?

The trade-off to bredth is often depth. We are a little into a bit of everything but not entirely devoted to any one thing. This leads to what I would call the “Eclectic Life.” The Eclectic Life has a lot of different interests but zero passions. Our lives are filled with a little here, a little there, some friends you see occassionally, some fads that you chase whimsically until the next great thing comes along. The life eclectic has a ten minute attention span and probably didn’t finish reading this article. The eclectic life loves to skim but never to read. It has thoughts but no real ideas.

The great danger of the life eclectic is that it make spirituality almost impossible. Genuine spirituality is about the Devoted Life. Coming to Jesus involves a singular passion. Following Jesus requires an entire life-altering commitment that the Bible calls discipleship. Ministering in our culture requires us to call for people to make choices that will lead to passions. And ain’t nothing better than a life filled with genuine worthwhile passion.

Filed under: Music, Technology