Preachers liking liquor

It's been somewhat hip in the past decade for some Christian leaders to advocate alcohol use in moderation. I'm not a fan. I guess I'm a teetotaler. It's not because I fear it. It's a wisdom and Christian liberty issue for me. While I try not to smear my conviction about alcohol use too broadly, the use (and misuse of alcohol) in many church circles is is an old issue that surfaces cyclically. Every generation of believers should allow their practices to be submitted to the scrutiny of scriptural truth.

Unfortunately, there is a segment of Christian leadership (mostly youngish) in the American church today that may be uncritically promoting alcohol in a way that undermines their authority to speak to issues of morality.

John MacArthur has written an article of great diplomacy and wisdom entitled Beer, Bohemianism and True Christianity on his site that you should digest. MacArthur speaks from the wisdom of accumulated ministry experience and scriptural study that for this issue is difficult to refute.

When the apostle Paul speaks of eating meat offered to idols in 1 Corinthians 8, he is presenting a situation that has caused great relational schisms among Christians in the early church. As you follow his thought pattern in that chapter, you see that he concludes with this statement in verse 13:

Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

The principle is that genuine love for others joyfully limits liberty.

Read MacArthur's article and let me know what you think.