The tipsy point

Photo: Humour Captured

I have been a pastor for 37 years now. I have seen many good people, marriages and families destroyed by the affects of alcohol. I have sat with the inebriated in the midst of a family intervention and seen firsthand the power of this drug over the soul. It has a devastating effect on all who are in relationship to the addicted.

Alcohol is defined as “pure spirit of wine – pure or highly rectified spirit (called also ethyl alcohol) – the spirituous or intoxicating element of fermented or distilled liquors.” Personally, I made a decision to abstain from alcohol. I haven’t seen much pure about this spirit, and I have seen too many people changed into another person as a result of imbibing.

I have also witnessed good leaders imbibe and risk their personal lives, their marriage and families, as well as their vocations. I have seen them blindly arguing over their rights to drink “in moderation,” thinking that they were superior to its powers. However, history is clear, whether you be a minister, politician, movie star, or sports hero, no one is immune from the potential damage an individual’s decision to drink can have.

An attraction to alcohol has been common to every generation since the flood. One of the oldest manuscripts in the world speaks clearly to this social condition. It warns that “wine is a mocker and beer a brawler – whoever is led astray by them is not wise” (Pr 20:1). This book warns that alcohol is deceptive and counsels that drinking is unwise.

Our generation laughs and makes jokes about it. Matt Groening, the U.S. cartoonist for The Simpsons, once toasted, “Alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.” George Bernard Shaw commented that “alcohol [was] the anaesthesia by which we endure the operation of life.” A comedian, in one of his more philosophical moments, joked that “alcohol isn’t the answer to all of life’s questions, but it does help you forget the question.”