I have never written of this in the 11 years I have been a part of this online ministry, but that is the question that I had to face when I was first saved. I was working in an Off-Sale Liquor Store that my parents owned and they were going to retire soon and turn it over to my brother and me. Before that happened, we were both saved by God’s amazing grace (through the faithful testimony of a believer who sold life insurance to us) and the question then loomed in our minds, “Do we walk away from our job or do we take over the Off-Sale Liquor store that our parents have run for years with a great desire to pass the business on to us?” I will say that while we were under deep conviction of sin through the scriptures given to us by the faithful Christian, we were already considering quitting out job for we instinctively thought it was wrong to sell liquor to people who were abusing it. After we were saved some people told us, “You don’t need to give up this business that your parents worked so hard to establish. It’s not like a bar where people come and sit down for hours to get drunk and make fools out of themselves, which often leads to people telling dirty stories laced with profanity and getting into fights. They also said there are grocery stores, gas stations and even restaurants that sell liquor, and I’m sure some Christians work at those places without feeling guilty.” Besides their reasonings, we knew that our parents would be very hurt if we walked away from them, so we had to face this question head on. Should we go by our convictions that we had felt even before we were saved and leave, or should we please our parents and stay, with the added benefit of providing substantial income for our growing families?

Our consciences were telling us to leave but we still wanted “Scripture to be our guide.” It didn’t take long, and we were led to passages in Scripture that made it clear that we should walk away from this kind of business. Here are some of the scriptures which the Spirit of God led us to:

1 Thessalonians 5:22 says, “Abstain from every form of evil.” We knew that many people associated a bar or a liquor store with EVIL, for they knew (as we did) that many people ABUSED the liquor they purchased (not only by getting drunk but by not providing for their family due to their expensive addiction to alcohol). We knew Scripture does not actually condemn the “USE of alcohol,” but it does condemn the “ABUSE of alcohol” (see 1 Timothy 5:23 and then contrast it with Ephesians 5:18). We concluded it would be wrong to be “associated with evil” in this way.

Romans 14:21 states, “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 taught us that even if we didn’t personally drink liquor or drink it to excess, our selling liquor could cause fellow-believers to be emboldened to drink alcohol against their own former convictions. If they did their conscience would be defiled and their spiritual growth would be hindered.

1 Corinthians 7:17, 20, 24 reads, “But as God has distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk…Let each one remain in the calling in which he was called…Brethren, let each one REMAIN WITH GOD in the state in which he was called.” These verses really hit home and made it crystal-clear that we could not “remain with God in the vocation we were in.” Here is what William MacDonald says about this passage, “The general rule is that each one should remain with God in that state in which he was called. This, of course, only refers to CALLINGS THAT ARE NOT IN THEMSELVES SINFUL. IF A PERSON WERE ENGAGED IN SOME WICKED BUSINESS AT THE TIME OF HIS CONVERSION, HE WOULD BE EXPECTED TO LEAVE IT.” We were not aware of these comments when we left the business, but the scriptures themselves were clear to us. It was clear that we could not “remain in fellowship with God” in this business for the reasons cited earlier from 1 Thessalonians 5:22 and Romans 14:21.  (DO)  (673.3)