I believe this kind of attitude about consuming alcohol is disgusting. The Christian should be known as a sober-minded person. In 1^st Peter 5:8 we read the following exhortation, “Be SOBER, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (NKJV). The word “sober” here means “self-controlled,” which means the believer in Christ should NOT be controlled by a foreign substance such as alcohol. The believer’s mind should be ALERT at all times lest he comes under the control of the devil. The devil has used alcohol to destroy many people and a believer is not immune to this vice controlling him if he drinks to excess. And thus we read in Ephesians 5:18, “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.” Too much wine WILL CONTROL US! We will lose all SELF-CONTROL. The remedy for this is to “be filled (controlled) with the Spirit.” The last “fruit of the Spirit” mentioned in Galatians 5:22 is “self-control”; the Holy Spirit will keep our minds clear and alert. Please read the following scriptures which sound out a warning against alcohol abuse: Proverbs 20:1; 21:17; 23:29-35; 31:4-5.

As bad as it is to drink too much alcohol, it is even worse to “brag about it.” The believer is exhorted in 1^st Thessalonians 5:22 to “abstain from all appearance of evil” (KJV). If one is posting articles about drinking alcohol, bragging about have full bars in their home, and enticing people to their home by saying, “whiskey on ice is waiting for you at my home,” they are clearly telling the world that alcohol is a major part of their life. I would question whether these people are truly saved, for the believer’s mission in life is to be an “ambassador for Christ” and to tell people to be “reconciled to God” (see 2^nd Corinthians 5:17-20). We are here to represent the Savior who “loved us and gave Himself for us” (Galatians 2:20). We are NOT here to be self-indulgent braggarts! If some of these people that you refer to are truly saved, then they are living a carnal (fleshly, controlled by the sinful nature) life in bondage to sin, and giving unsaved souls a “mixed message.”

They are also giving other believers the wrong message and may cause them to stumble. We read in Romans 14:21, “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.” This simply means that if you are drinking alcohol in front of a fellow-believer who has a conscience against drinking alcohol, you may embolden him to start drinking, resulting in his conscience being defiled. This in turn will lead to his walk with the Lord breaking down and losing his testimony before the world.

You will notice that I was careful to speak of “drinking alcohol in EXCESS.” Scripture does NOT condemn the “USE of alcohol,” It condemns the “ABUSE of alcohol.” The Lord Jesus Himself turned water into wine (which contained alcohol) at the wedding in Cana (see John 2:6-11). The Apostle Paul told Timothy to “use a LITTLE WINE for the sake of your stomach and your frequent infirmities” (1^st Timothy 5:23). The Apostle Paul knew that wine, in and of itself, was not defiling when he wrote, “I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean” (Romans 14:14). This teaches us that drinking alcohol in moderation is alright, but even there we must be careful not to stumble a brother or a sister in Christ who has a conscience against it. And we should not stumble unbelievers by flaunting this liberty before them.  (DO)  (563.1)