Tuesday, 01 July 2008
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So God, Jesus, and man walk into a bar...
Throughout my college years, I have met and/or seen many of my Christian counterparts in bars and clubs, myself included. I always had one of two reactions: 1) "What are you doing here?" and 2) "Hey...! It's good to seee you! Um... This is awkward."
I will admit, I ignored God a lot through those years so that I could have my "fun" without Him or having to even think about God while I was out. The ironic part was that the majority of the time, it was with my Christian friends that I would go out. We would all egg each other on and encourage having a great night with a great buzz. I did a lot of that my freshman through junior years of college; by the time senior year came around, I had sobered up and realized that graduation was right around the corner and I'd have to behave like an adult. It was at this time that I also came back to Jesus. To be honest, I was never the type of person to drink heavily or do really crazy things while out; it was always about simply having a good time and relaxing a bit from all the long hours of studying that we'd put in. So when I came back to God, I started questioning my behavior and what other people had thought of me during those years that I frequented the bars and parties with my friends (who after I moved away and quit partying, also quit hanging out with me.)
Looking back, there's some things that I'd do differently, but at the same time, all those things contributed to the perspective I have now. Not everyone who goes to the bar is out to get wasted and act a fool; some of them were just like me - simply out to spend some time with friends, and it happened to be a bar.
Now that I'm out of college, I definitely have cut back a lot on going out to the bars. Occasionally I will still go out to a bar with friends just to catch up and hang out a bit. When I go on facebook these days, I'll see pictures from fellow Christians who are just starting out their college years, going to bars and clubs. It leads me to think about the decisions that we make as Christians and whether or not others question our beliefs when we show up at places like bars and parties. My mentality now is: We are set apart from the rest of the world. When we show up at a bar or a club, aren't we just telling the world that we're just like them and we can do the same things they can? So then it seems as though we're not set so much apart from the world if we do these things.
My question is: Although it's not right for Christians to frequent bars, clubs, keg parties, etc, is it okay for Christians to occasionally drink at a bar? (By Occasionally, I mean once or twice a month.)
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Comments (12)
No...the Bible says to abstain from the appearance of evil.
As long as a person is being responsible (for example, drinking moderately, not driving afterwards, etc), I don't see a problem with them enjoying a drink or two with friends, no matter the location. I myself do go to bars on occasion (maybe once every month or two), and while I have gotten comments like, "Oh, I didn't think you were allowed to drink", it gives me a chance to clear up some misconceptions people have about Christians.
though i'm not old enough to drink (and i don't) all i can say is we're human. i personally don't like it when people drink espcially around me i don't think it's wrong to drink once in a while...
@the_skirt_girl@xanga - anything is evil if done in excessiveness. TV could be considered evil, the mall, food, anything. i'm sure you get what i'm trying to say.
I do not think it is wrong. I occasionally go out with friends to bars and have a margarita. Two things though: (1) drink moderately and responsibly and (2) make sure the company you are with does the same!
I partied my first two years of college. I realized, though, I did not like the lifestyle. It made me uncomfortable. I watched my friends, too, become drunk and act foolishly. Yes, we are young, but we cannot act childishly. The precious moments spent in bed complaining about drinking are precious moments lost with God. =)
why is it not right for Christians to frequent bars? the Bible says not to be drunk on wine , not "don't drink wine" (i think it's appropriate to insert any alcoholic beverage in place of "wine"). bars/pubs/etc were the social center of towns and villages in europe for more years than america has been a country. beer, wine, ale, mead, etc has been and is the drink of choice in many parts of the world-because of the undrinkable water.
why have we started preaching against alcohol? drink is not the devil, only one of his tools. and he only uses things that God gave us--he's entirely uncreative in that sense--to trip us up. he distorts things until they are evil.
well I know exactly what you mean. This post describes my fight in life right now; at least i know i am doing it, and i know it is a sin. I do not really know if it is right, even to drink in moderation. For instance, the Bible tells us that our body is a temple and that we should not put anything into it that will harm it; I was told by someone long ago that we are to protect our earth bodies, just as we would protect our souls, we can not consume anything that will cause perminant damage to either. Now priests talk about kicking back with a beer every now and then, thus, i really am at an impasse on the issue and it really hurts me not knowing for sure. I do know the drunkeness separates us from the animal kingdom, for if we engaged in it we'd be no better than animals, they do not know right from wrong --for them life is the highest value becuase they don't go to Heaven, they just want to be happy and die; humans have far greater values than life such as dignity, self-respect, and rightousness. So I am pretty sure that no drinking whatsoever is the requirement despite my wishful thinking.
@thepianist86 - wine is fermentation, I dont think any other alcoholic drink should be used in place of this sacred drink. Now, obviously the aposiles did not condone drunkeness on wine.
@Catholicforlife - wine is made by the fermentation of the sugars in grapes, yes. beer is made by the fermentation of the sugars in starches, ale is a type of beer with yeast, which speeds the fermentation of the sugars in the starch, mead is made by the fermentation of the sugar in honey. what is the difference? the fermentation is what makes alcohol aloholic.
@thepianist86 - I wont argue you. I think the Bible is right to mention wine and no other drink, for they must be some guidelines, dont you think? I admit I know little about the issue
i was told ale is not a beer classification, it is just an ale
@Catholicforlife - i think it entirely possible that there wasn't another drink to mention. the Bible uses a number of words that we translate as "wine." grape juice and fermented grape juice, for example. it's because of translation that we only use one word. i don't like the english language. *grin*